Keeping Your Aid
Annual Reapplication Requirement
Maintaining Required Enrollment
Withdrawing, Dropping, Canceling, or Auditing Classes
Leave of Absence
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
All Awards are Subject to Change
Annual Reapplication Process
Federal and institutional need based aid is not automatically renewed. You must complete the FAFSA Application Process for each academic year that you want to receive aid. For priority consideration the FAFSA processor (Federal Student Aid Programs) must receive and accept the FAFSA by February 15. Please submit your form early to ensure adequate time for mailing and receipt by the processor. To meet this deadline, you may need to report estimated federal tax data. There is no penalty for filing estimated figures, but you must correct your estimates on your Student Aid Report (SAR) once your actual federal tax returns are completed. For more information about the Priority Deadline Policy, see Priority Deadline Policy.
Back to TopMaintaining Required Enrollment
To retain each type of award, you must remain enrolled for the number of credits listed below with regular or pass/fail grading option through the end of the Schedule Adjustment period. Dropped, audited, wait listed, and retroactively dropped courses cannot be counted toward required enrollment. If you borrow a Federal Stafford or PLUS Loan, and you drop below half-time at any point during or after the semester, your loan funds for that semester will be canceled and returned to your lender.
The following awards will be prorated for part-time enrollment:
Awards Required Enrollment Percentage of Award Perkins Loans 9-21 credits 100% 6-8 credits 50% 0-5 credits 0% Pell Grants*
&
SEOG Grants12-21 credits 100% 9-11 credits 75%* 6-8 credits 50%* 1-5 credits 25%*
*Full-time Pell Grant of $375 or less per semester may be canceled for part-time enrollment.
The following awards will be canceled if you do not maintain the required enrollment:
Award Required Enrollment Federal PLUS Loan 6 credits Federal Stafford Loan 6 credits or
24 Grad Units*Frederick Douglass Grant 12 credits UM Grant 12 credits UM Scholarship 12 credits Educational Assistant Grant 12 credits Guaranteed Access Grant 12 credits Part-time State Grant 6 credits Senatorial Scholarships+
Delegates Scholarships+12 credits or
48 Grad Units*
* Students may receive Senatorial and Delegate Scholarships for part-time enrollment (6-11 credits) with special permission from the Maryland State Scholarship Administration (MSSA), 410-974-5370.
*Definition of Graduate Units
For Graduate students, enrollment may be calculated based on Units rather than credits. This system for defining enrollment takes into account workload differences between courses.
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Course Number Graduate units 000-399 2 units per credit hour 400-499 4 units per credit hour 500-599 5 units per credit hour 600-898 6 units per credit hour UMEI 005 6 units per credit hour 799 12 units per credit hour 899 18 units per credit hour
Withdrawing, Dropping, Canceling, or Auditing Classes
It is extremely important that you speak with your Financial Aid Counselor before reducing your enrollment or changing course grading options to audit. Your awards will be canceled or reduced if you fail to maintain Required Enrollment (page 6). Courses that are audited, canceled, dropped, or retroactively dropped do not count toward Required Enrollment.
If you withdraw from a course with a W, the withdrawn courses will still be counted toward Required Enrollment levels, but only for the following types of aid programs: Pell Grant, SEOG Grant, Federal Work-Study, Perkins Loan, PLUS Loan, Stafford Loan, Frederick Douglass Grant, UM Grant, the UM Scholarship, Delegate Scholarship, Educational Assistance Grant, Guaranteed Access Grant, Part-Time State Grant, and Senatorial Scholarship.
Please review the Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) policy before withdrawing from any courses. Repeated failure to complete attempted courses can lead to a violation of SAP policy.
Back to TopLeave of Absence
If you experience personal or academic difficulties during a semester, you may request a Leave of Absence for the last 60 days of that semester. If you are granted a Leave of Absence of less than 60 days and you reenroll for at least 6 credits during the following semester, then your financial aid will not have to be adjusted and you will not have to begin repaying any of your student loans.
If you withdraw from a semester without taking a Leave of Absence of 60 days or less, and the length of time between your withdrawal date and the beginning of your next enrolled semester exceeds 6 months, then you will have to start making payments on your student loans.
Requests for a Leave of Absence must be submitted in writing to the Records Office. Forms are available from
Records Office
1101 Mitchell Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
301-314-8257
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)
You must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to be eligible for student financial aid. The SAP policy defines minimum standards for grade point average, a minimum ratio of completed credits to attempted credits, and a maximum time frame for completing a degree. For a complete description of the SAP Policy, refer to the SAP Policy.
Back to TopAll Awards Are Subject to Change
All financial aid awards are subject to change. The most common reasons for adjusting aid include insufficient enrollment, overawards due to receipt of aid from other sources, and reclassification to instate tuition rates.
Awards may also be reduced or canceled due to default on federal student loans, changes or discovery of inaccuracies in any of the information on which your awards were based, or failure to: make Satisfactory Academic Progress, maintain degree seeking status, maintain required enrollment and complete follow-up steps as required by the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA), or comply with other federal or university aid regulations. Some scholarships may also be canceled for failure to maintain grade point average requirements.
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