Key Terms and Conditions

General Eligibility Requirements

To be eligible to receive federal, state, or institutional financial aid, you must meet the following conditions. If you fail to meet one of these conditions at any time during the period covered by your financial aid offer, your award may be revised or cancelled:

• Be a U.S. Citizen or Eligible Non-Citizen;
• Not be in default on a prior educational loan or owe a repayment on a prior educational grant;
• Have earned a HS diploma, G.E.D. or has completed homeschooling at the secondary level as defined by state law;
• Be admitted to and maintain enrollment in an eligible program as a regular degree or certificate-seeking student;
• If male, be registered with the Selective Service Administration, no longer required as of 2021-2022 award year,
• Not have been convicted of a drug offense resulting in termination of eligibility for federal benefits, no longer required as of 2021-2022 award year
• Meet the academic progress standards for maintaining satisfactory academic progress for financial aid,
• If incarcerated in a federal or state penal institution, the student must enroll in a prison education program (effective as of July 1, 2023) at a participating institution. 

Accepting, Reducing, or Declining Awards

You can view updated information about your financial aid awards online. Follow these steps to access your awards:

• Sign into the myUCCS Self Service,
• Click the Financial Aid tab in the Finances section,
• Click the "View Your Award Status" button,
• Under the Finances section click "Accept/Decline Awards", and select the current academic year.

Additional Financial Assistance

If you receive additional funds which were not listed on your financial aid award notice (scholarships, grants, loans or other financial assistance.), report them immediately by logging into myUCCS and clicking "Report Private Scholarships" or contacting the financial aid office. If there is any change to your financial aid eligibility because of the additional financial assistance, you will receive email notification. Please be aware that your current financial aid award may be adjusted or reduced, even if your aid has already disbursed.

CARES Act Disclosure

The CARES Act Disclosure can be found here.

     The CARES Act Disclosure - Effective July 1, 2020 - can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - Sept 30,2020 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - Dec 31, 2020 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - March 31, 2021 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - June 30, 2021 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - Sept 30, 2021 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - Dec 31, 2021 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - March 31, 2022 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - June 30, 2022 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - June 30, 2022 (revised July 15) can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - Sept 30, 2022 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - Dec 31, 2022 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - March 31, 2023 revised July 30 can be found here.

HEERF - Quarterly Reporting - June 30, 2023 revised July 30 can be found here.

Course Degree Applicability

It is presumed that the courses you are enrolled in will apply to your general education requirements or to your requirements for a major. If a course is found not to meet any degree requirements, the Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to adjust your enrollment status for the purpose of determining award eligibility.

Federal Direct Loan Borrower Rights and Responsibilities

As a Direct Loan borrower, you are expected to understand your rights and responsibilities. For more information, review the Direct Loan Borrower Rights and Responsibilities page.

Direct Loan Borrower Rights and Responsibilities

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Federal Loan Borrowers

As a Federal Direct and/or Federal Perkins Loan borrower your loan will be submitted to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS), and will be accessible by guaranty agencies, lenders, and institutions determined to be authorized users of the data system.

Federal Direct Loan Fees

You will receive a Loan Disclosure statement from Direct Loan Servicing explaining all fees. Your financial aid award letter reflects the amount of your original principal balance. Click here for more information on loan fees.

Full-Time Enrollment

An undergraduate student is considered to be attending full-time in a semester if enrolled in at least 12 undergraduate credit hours during that semester. Full-time graduate students need to be enrolled in 5 graduate hours.

UCCS requires students to be enrolled in classes to receive financial aid. Enrollment levels help determine the amount of financial aid a student will receive.

The chart below can help you to determine your enrollment status for UCCS financial aid programs.

*Certain courses and credit levels may be aided differently. For more information contact the financial aid office.

Grant Title IV Authorization

If you are a federal financial aid recipient and would like to allow your financial aid to pay your T.A.A.P. (textbook affordability and access program).

Per Federal financial aid (Title IV) regulations, you can voluntarily authorize the University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) to pay your current year non-allowable charges with your Title IV (Federal) Financial Aid.

Examples of non-allowable charges include, but are not limited to, parking permits, late fines, and library fines.

If you would like to grant this permission, sign into your portal, click on Student Financials, choose “Grant Title IV Permission” then select the “FIN_AID” permission form and follow the prompt or view our guide here.

Loan Proration for Graduating Borrowers

Per Federal regulation, UCCS is required to prorate an undergraduate student's annual Direct loan limits, when they are enrolled in one semester and will graduate in the same academic year. This mostly will affect students that will graduate from their program of study at the end of the fall term. Click her for more information on Loan Proration. 

Overawards

An "overaward" is when your need based awards exceed your financial need, or the total of your awards exceed your cost of attendance. If you have been overawarded, federal regulations require UCCS to adjust your awards which may result in a bill.

Common reasons an overaward can occur are:

• receiving additional financial assistance
• change in residency status
• change in enrollment status
• changes due to completion of verification

Processing Time Expectations

Please be aware that the Office of Financial Aid experiences seasonal changes in volume. These changes may affect expected processing times.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students applying for, and those receiving Federal and State of Colorado financial aid from UCCS are required to maintain satisfactory academic progress (SAP) towards a degree. Maintaining SAP requires students to meet completion rate, maximum fundable semester hours, and minimum grade point average expectations. Click here for more information regarding SAP.

Summer Financial Aid

Summer financial aid consists of unused financial aid eligibility from the prior Fall and Spring terms. If you are offered and accept the annual maximum limits of grants, loans, or other aid for the academic year, your financial aid eligibility for the Summer term will be limited to private loans.

Transfer Monitoring

The U.S. Department of Education requires all schools to initiate a Transfer Monitoring process for any student who begins studies mid-year or in the summer to verify remaining Title IV financial aid eligibility for the award year. A Transfer Monitoring Hold must be placed on your federal financial aid at UCCS for ten (10) days until this process has been completed.

There is no action needed by you during this process. However, if you did receive financial aid at another school during this award year, you cancel any pending financial aid disbursements at that school.

Verification of FAFSA Information

Your eligibility for financial aid may have been determined using estimated or incomplete information from your completed FAFSA. You may be requested to provide additional documentation to complete your financial aid file. Until all requested documentation is turned into the financial aid, you will not receive a financial aid package. Please visit your MyUCCS portal to review any outstanding financial aid documents. More information on verification can be found here.

Withdrawals

The University defines withdrawing as a termination of all  your enrollment for the term. If a student withdraws:

• Prior to the scheduled census date for the term the student will receive a 100% tuition refund (less any non-refundable fees). State and institutional aid that has disbursed to the student account will be cancelled and the student may need to return these funds to the university.  Federal aid will be reduced using the Return of Title IV funds calculation.
• After the scheduled census date for the term, all federal (Title IV)aid will be adjusted according to federal regulations (Return of Title IV Aid). State and institutional aid will not be adjusted.

For additional information on Withdrawals, view the Withdrawal Policy here.

Work Study Awards

An award of Federal , State, or Institutional Work Study provides you with an opportunity to work in a job, for which you have been hired, that is eligible for work study funding. The awards shown on your award letter are estimates of what you could earn based on your financial need, expected hours of work, and hourly pay rate. Work study funds are earned over the course of the academic year and are paid to you according to the UCCS payroll schedule. You are not guaranteed to earn this award amount, and this award amount may be reduced or canceled if you are unable to secure employment. More information on Student Employment can be found here.