Financial Aid

dollar bills rolled and stuck in potting soil made to look like it's growing

 

Financial Aid Options and Processes

All financial aid begins with the FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid).

Types of Financial Aid

  • Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
  • Federal Direct Graduate PLUS loan
  • Grants
  • Scholarships
  • Special Aid for Military Members

Note: Graduate students must be registered in minimum 5 units to receive any financial aid, including direct unsubsidized loans.

Scholarships

All students are encouraged to actively search for scholarships. Scholarship Universe is a scholarship matching system designed exclusively for University of Arizona students. By answering questions on the site, you will be matched to specific scholarships for which you may be eligible, based on your individual profile.

Loans

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan:

  • Graduate degree seeking students enrolled at least half time (5 units) in graduate level courses
  • Non-degree seeking students are not eligible for federal student loan funds*

 

Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan:

  • Contact Financial Aid Coordinator to request Grad PLUS Loan
  • The U.S. Department of Education is your lender.
  • You must not have an adverse credit history. A credit check will be conducted. If you have an adverse credit history, you may still be able to receive a PLUS loan if you meet additional requirements.
  • The maximum PLUS loan amount you can receive is the cost of attendance (determined by the school) minus any other financial aid received.
  • Accept award in Uaccess > Triggers credit check. Credit must be approved.
  • Award will not exceed COA (Cost of Attendance)

Private Education Loans

Private Educational Loans are not part of the Federal Direct Student Loan Program. These are credit-based loans a student can apply for when other aid is not sufficient to cover all educational expenses. A co-signer may be required/preferred for undergraduate borrowers.

Military

There is a great deal of financial assistance available to military members and their dependents. Students should contact Clara Gonzalez.

Accepting Loans

Step 1: ACCEPT LOANS

  • Students must log into UAccess Student Center
  • Click on ACCEPT/DECLINE AWARDS
  • Click the applicable school year
  • Select the loan/s that they want to receive
  • They can either accept ALL, or put in the amounts they would like to accept.

**Remember that whatever amount they choose will be divided into TWO – Fall semester and Spring semester.**

Step 2: NEW LOAN COUNSELING

Step 3: COMPLETE YOUR MASTER PROMISSARY NOTE (MPN)

Payment Methods and deadlines

Information on payment methods and deadlines are available. These dates are labeled with the applicable term.

Loan disbursement

It is important to remember that when students accept loans for the fall, they are divided into two equal halves for fall and spring disbursement. Therefore, when you accept aid for Fall 2019, you must be mindful that it will be divided between Fall 2019 and Spring 2020. There is no additional money available during the summer. You can choose to accept less of the load during fall and spring to enable you to have money available for the summer term.

Processing

The FAFSA takes two to three weeks to process. The disbursement dates for student subsidized and unsubsidized loans usually happen within 24/48 hours of being accepted. The maximum unsubsidized loan award for graduate students is $20,500.00 yearly and $138,500 over the course of a lifetime.

NOTE: There is a loan fee on all Direct Subsidized Loans and Direct Unsubsidized Loans. The loan fee is a percentage of the loan amount and is proportionately deducted from each loan disbursement. The percentage varies depending on when the loan is first disbursed, as shown in the chart below.

Grants

TEACH Grant

Qualifications
  1. Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FASFA)
  2. Be enrolled at UA as a degree seeking student
  3. Maintain a 3.25 cumulative GPA while enrolled at UA
  4. Complete TEACH Grant Entrance Counseling from the Department of Education
  5. Complete an Agreement to Serve and Promise to Pay from the Department of Education
Important to know:
  • You must complete an application every year.
  • The amount you receive is based on the number of units you take.
  • If you decide to receive the Grant, there is no minimum number of semesters. In other words, regardless if you apply and receive the award for one semester or four semesters, you must still commit to teaching for four years in a high needs school.
Post-Graduation requirement
  • Serve as a full-time teacher in a low-income school, as a highly-qualified teacher, and in a high-need field (as listed in the Nationwide List for the state in which you will be teaching) for the majority of classes taught for at least four years within eight calendar years of leaving the program for which you received the TEACH Grant
  • Write to the Secretary of Education (within 120 days of completing or otherwise leaving the program of study for which the TEACH Grant was received) confirming that you are employed as a full-time teacher in accordance with the terms of the TEACH Grant.
  • Submit upon completion of each year of teaching service, documentation of the service in the form of a certification by a chief administrative officer of the school

Note: If you fail to meet any of these terms, the TEACH Grant funds you receive will convert into a Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan, with interest accrued and capitalized from the date of original disbursement. Once this grant is converted to a loan, it cannot be converted back to a grant.

Student Center Guide

Account Inquiry: View every fee and account activity, complete your Web Refund Enrollment for direct deposit, pay tuition, and more.

Financial Aid Authorization: all students must submit this to authorize the University to disburse your funds to pay off tuition and fees. Federal regulations require that you must grant permission to the University of Arizona to apply any remaining federal financial aid (federal grants and student loans) to other charges on your UA Student Bursar account after tuition, mandatory fees or UA contracted housing charges have been paid.

My Financial Aid Status: Find out the status of your financial aid.

View Financial Aid: Click on this and select the current aid year to see what you have been awarded for the entire year – and what the breakdown per semester will be.

Accept/Decline Awards: Accept or decline your Stafford loans.