Graduate Student Financial Aid

Financial Aid: Apply Every Year!!! The FAFSA for the 2019-2020 academic year the FAFSA will be available October 1, 2018! The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is available at: www.fafsa.gov Student needs to have their tax return for 2017 and W2’s in order to complete the FAFSA. And obtain an FSA ID (username and password). If forgotten it can be retrieved at https://fsaid.ed.gov UTRGV RECOMMENDED PRIORITY DEADLINE: January 15. To apply for financial aid in the summer, submit a summer notification at www.utrgv.edu/finaid available December 15.

Important! Students must be ADMITTED to their respective degree-seeking graduate program to be eligible for any financial aid and be taking graduate courses only. **Certificate Programs or students admitted on Conditional Status are not eligible for financial aid**

What types of aid are available? Grants: Free money based on financial need (GTAG or TPEG)* Loans: Money that must be paid back (Stafford, PLUS) Work Study: Money earned from a part-time job on or off-campus; based on financial need All financial aid programs require enrollment of at least 6 hours of graduate courses. Scholarships: Free money based on financial need and/or merit **Some scholarships may require FAFSA *These grants are extremely limited in funding and thus applying soon after FAFSA or summer notification become available increases likelihood for eligible students to receive them.

How can I keep my Financial Aid? ***Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)*** Three factors taken into consideration in determining Satisfactory Academic Progress: Quantitative (Grade Point Average minimum) 3.0 for graduate students or 3.25 for doctoral students. Qualitative Student must pass 75% of their overall attempted classes. Calculation will occur at the end of every semester of enrollment. To calculate your percentage, add up all the hours you have passed and divide it by all the hours you have ever attempted (includes DP, F, DF, W) Maximum Time Frame Masters students have 63 hours to obtain a degree* Second Masters students have 45 hours to obtain a degree Doctoral Students have 99 hours to obtain a degree *Certain programs that are longer in length have different MTF lengths (ie. Physician Assistant and Occupational Therapy programs)

UTRGV Online Scholarship Application 2019-2020 UTRGV Scholarship Application Available in September 2018 Deadline: February 1, 2019 www.utrgv.edu/applyscholarships

Outside Scholarships South Texas Academic Rising Scholars (STARS) at South Texas Academic Rising Scholars (STARS) at www.starsscholarship.org Hispanic Scholarship Fund (HSF) at www.hsf.net Deadline: March 31st Deadline: March 30th

Thank You! For any questions or additional information you may visit www.utrgv.edu/finaid or contact us at GradCentral: (833) 887 – 4842 Monday – Thursday 8 am – 6 pm Friday 8 am – 5 pm www.utrgv.edu/askrio or visit us at either Edinburg or Brownsville campuses Jose.e.sanchez01@utrgv.edu