Applying for Financial Aid

There are only 6 basic steps necessary to apply for Financial Aid.

1. Apply for Admission
   • You must apply to a degree-granting program at the University of Maryland.
   • To be considered for Merit-based Aid from UM , prospective freshmen students must submit all admissions materials by November 1. Transfer students will need to submit the admissions application no later than March 1 for the fall term. Spring transfer students will need to submit the admissions application no later than November 15 to be considered for Merit-based aid.
   • Priority consideration is given to applications received before the priority deadline, February 15.
2. Every January, Complete the FAFSA. University of Maryland school code is 002103-00
3. UM Priority Deadline is February 15th
   • For maximum consideration for aid, 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 the Student Aid Report (SAR) once your actual federal tax returns are completed.
   • The priority deadline is February 15th.
   • The Priority Deadline Policy provides additional details.
4. MD residents should apply for Maryland State Aid
   • To be eligible for many state aid programs, you must submit a FAFSA listing a Maryland school postmarked by March 1st. Some programs require additional steps. For more information, visit the Maryland State Scholarship Administration (MSSA).
5. Review your Student Aid Report (SAR)
   • Four to six weeks after you submit your FAFSA, the federal processor with send you a Student Aid Report (SAR). The SAR is a summary of your FAFSA data. Please review it and make sure all your information is correct. If you need to make corrections, do so online at www.fafsa.ed.gov, or mail a corrected SAR to the federal processor. If all your information is correct, keep your SAR for your records.
   • The federal processor will also send us a copy of your SAR data, you do NOT need to send your SAR form to UM.
   • Disregard any verification notices on your SAR. If your SAR states that you have been selected for federal verification, please do NOT send your tax forms to UM. We have a separate verification process and will notify you if additional information is needed.
6. Award Notification
   • One to two weeks after we receive your SAR data, we will review your data and determine if we need to clarify or verify any of your information. If we do, we will send you a request for additional documents. Please make sure you provide the students name and social security number and all required signatures on all documents, especially tax forms.
   • In April we will start sending prospective students Financial Aid Notifications through email with instructions on how to log into their financial aid award online.
   • In May we will send Financial Aid Notifications to all current students.