Applying for financial aid to help you with your account balance, or with education and living expenses while in school, involves knowing what your options are and being informed on the types of aid available. Various types of financial aid have regulations that you must follow to maintain eligibility. There may even be limits on the amount of aid they can have been awarded. This section will walk through what you can do to ensure that eligibility.

Tasks to Complete

You must apply for aid before your eligibility can be determined. Different types of aid have different requirements, and you may have to complete additional tasks before those amounts can be determined. Stay up to date on those requirements by checking emails and your TUportal.

Enrollment Status

Federal grants and loans require you to maintain at least half-time enrollment. Most institutional grants and scholarships require full-time enrollment. Your enrollment status may affect your eligibility for different types of aid. Registering full time can ensure you are considered for the maximum amount of aid.

Academic Progress

You must make academic progress and remain in good academic standing to retain your federal, state and institutional eligibility. The federal Satisfactory Academic Progress policy requires you maintain a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 2.0 or higher, pass at least 67% of your attempted credits and complete the degree within 150% of the program’s credit length. State grant progress requirements will vary from agency to agency. You must meet the federal standards to retain institutional eligibility, as well as file the FAFSA by the priority deadline. Academic merit scholarships may also require different GPA standards. 

Dependency Status

Your dependency status is determined by several factors. A dependent student is someone who is under age 24 and required to file the FAFSA with their parents’ biographical and income information. An independent student is a student who does not have to report parent information on the FAFSA due to their age or unique situation (such as time spent in foster care). The FAFSA has questions to determine the your dependency status. An accurate dependency status is important because it affects how much federal loans you may borrow both annually and over the course of your degree program, as well as what income must be reported on the FAFSA.