My college will only give me $2,000 from an outside scholarship worth $5,000

Location: Mississippi College, Clinton, MS, USA
I hope the location is detailed enough…

I am a freshman in college currently in my second semester. I am in the honors college, which provides a full ride scholarship at my school. This includes tuition, housing, and books.
I also received a $5,000 outside scholarship made out to the college before I started. The honors college has a policy, which states, “If you are receiving outside scholarships from a third-party foundation or scholarship fund, the maximum refund you can receive in cash is $1,000/ semester.” I signed a contract saying I understood this policy. It led me to believe that I would receive $1,000 split into my first 5 semesters at college.
However, upon visiting the business office to get it sorted out, they informed me that I would only be able to receive $1,000 per semester for the first two semesters. Both my mother and I were very persistent trying to figure out how to get my money in the first semester, but to no avail. We were also pressed on time, but I did not sign any contract at all just to clarify.
Right now, it is about to be refund time, and I just really want to know why I can’t have my other $3,000 and if the school is doing any unlawful/shady things that I could potentially make a case for, or at the very least bring up to the upper management of the school.
Sorry for the long post, but I hope someone has some kind of advice
-broke, dumb college kid