The Spring 2021 semester may just be starting, but now is the time to take a few minutes to look forward to next fall and beyond. If you haven’t already, it’s time to complete your 2021-2022 FAFSA!

Way back on October 1, 2020, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as the FAFSA, became available for students across the nation to complete. The FAFSA is required for any UMBC student planning to apply for need-based Federal, State or institutional financial aid for the Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022 and Summer 2022 semesters.

Why is it important to think about this now? March 1, 2021 is UMBC’s priority deadline, which ensures you receive priority consideration for many types of aid, including the UMBC Grant. March 1 is also the State of Maryland’s deadline for consideration of financial aid from the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Missing the deadline means missing out on many types of financial aid.

Before sitting down to complete the application, you and your parent(s), if applicable, will need to have all 2019 federal tax return information on hand. The FAFSA should take between 30 minutes and an hour to complete, but you can speed up the process and avoid costly mistakes by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to transfer information directly from the IRS to your application. 

One more thing – UMBC’s school code is 002105, and we show up on the FAFSA as the acronym “UMBC.” You’ll need to include this code to let the Department of Education know they need to send your application to our office.

As always, feel free to contact our office with any questions you have about the financial aid process here at UMBC. 

You may just be getting settled into a routine for your Fall 2020 semester, but don’t get too settled – it’s time to start thinking about the Fall 2021 semester and beyond. That’s right, it’s time to complete your 2021-2022 FAFSA!

As of today, October 1, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, more commonly known as the FAFSA, is available to complete. The FAFSA is required for any UMBC student planning to apply for need-based Federal, State or institutional financial aid for the Fall 2021, Winter 2022, Spring 2022 and Summer 2022 semesters.

Before sitting down to complete the application, you and your parent(s), if applicable, will need to have all 2019 federal tax return information on hand. The FAFSA should take between 30 minutes and an hour to complete, but you can speed up the process and avoid costly mistakes by using the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) to transfer information directly from the IRS to your application. 

No time today? No problem! But be sure to make time before March 1, 2021. March 1 is UMBC’s priority deadline, which ensures you receive priority consideration for many types of aid, including the UMBC Grant. March 1 is also the State of Maryland’s deadline for consideration of financial aid from the Maryland Higher Education Commission.

One more thing – UMBC’s school code is 002105, and we show up on the FAFSA as the acronym “UMBC.” You’ll need to include this code to let the Department of Education know they need to send your application to our office.

As always, feel free to contact our office with any questions you have about the financial aid process here at UMBC. 

With the start of the Fall 2020 semester, many students are still looking to finalize a schedule that best meets their needs, which often involves dropping one or more courses. Before you commit to dropping a course, it is important that you understand how it may affect your financial aid.

The schedule adjustment deadline for the Fall 2020 semester is Thursday, September 10. This deadline represents the final day to make schedule adjustments, change your course grading method or drop a course without receiving the grade of “W.” This date is also incredibly important when it comes to your financial aid.

Dropping courses before September 10, 2020

Courses you drop on or before Thursday, September 10 can impact your financial aid. If the course(s) you drop changes your enrollment status from full-time to part-time (fewer than 12 credits for undergraduate, fewer than 9 credits for graduate), then your financial aid will be adjusted to reflect your actual enrollment. If the course(s) you drop does not change your enrollment status, then your financial aid will be unaffected.

Dropping courses after September 10, 2020

Once the schedule adjustment deadline passes, dropping a course will see you earn the grade of “W” on your transcript. Whether or not the financial aid you have been awarded for the semester requires adjustment will depend on how many courses you decide to withdraw from. As long as you remain enrolled in at least one course – and earn a passing grade – withdrawing from one or more courses after the schedule adjustment deadline will not require an adjustment to your financial aid. This is true even if you are moving from an enrollment status of full-time to part-time.

However, if you decide to withdraw from all of your courses before completing at least 60 percent of the semester, you may become ineligible for a substantial portion of your financial aid. This is also true if you fail all of your courses, withdraw from all of your courses or have some combination of the two.

When will my aid be adjusted?

All financial aid applicants receive a financial aid offer that assumes they will be enrolled as a full-time student. If you are planning to enroll as a part-time student, you can proactively complete and submit an “Enrollment Update” form to notify our office. This form allows us to adjust your financial aid based on your anticipated enrollment. All other part-time students will see their financial aid adjusted after September 10, but before the first part-time disbursement date for the Fall 2020 semester, September 15. If you withdraw from all of your courses, our office will review your account and notify you of any changes within two to four weeks.