Maintaining Aid
You’ve worked hard to apply for financial aid. Now that you have it, you want to make sure you keep it.
In the financial aid world, we call it maintaining eligibility. And your best bet for staying eligible is to learn as much as possible about the aid you receive. Every scholarship, loan, grant or work-study job comes with rights and responsibilities. If you don’t meet those requirements, you could lose your aid.
- Go over the eligibility guidelines and terms and conditions for all aid you receive.
You will find these in your financial aid offer or scholarship letter.
Scholarship terms and conditions - Fulfill all the requirements to keep your aid.
First Step In Keeping Your Financial Aid
Submit a new FAFSA every year. Your eligibility and aid offer are determined for one academic year only. Some scholarships may be renewable, but you may still need to submit a FAFSA to keep them.
General Eligibility Requirements for Financial Aid
Enroll in an eligible degree program.
It's OK to be undecided about your specific major, but federal guidelines require that students be enrolled in programs leading to a recognized academic degree or certificate to receive aid:
- Associate's degree
- Bachelor's degree
- Master's degree
- Approved Certificate
- Specialist degree
- Doctorate
- Teacher's Certification
Provisional, special student, guest or College Credit Plus students are not eligible for aid.
Meet enrollment requirements.
When we create your financial aid award, we base your eligibility on:
- Full-time enrollment (You must attend at least half time to receive loans and full
time to receive full grant amounts.)
Learn more about how we define enrollment status (half time, full time, etc.) - Your attendance and active participation in registered classes
Review the classroom attendance policy to learn what counts as active participation.
Your financial aid may be reduced and/or you may be required to repay all or a portion of the aid you receive if you:
- Drop below full-time attendance
Financial Aid packages are based on a full-time cost of attendance (COA). Your COA will be adjusted if you do not attend full time for the semester. This adjustment may affect your aid. Learn more about enrollment requirements to maintain aid.
When Student Financial Aid is notified that you are enrolled less than full time, we will email you instructions on how to complete the Financial Aid Enrollment Certification Form. Go to myUT → Student tab → My Financial Aid → More options → Enrollment Certification - Do not begin attending classes and actively participate.
- Drop classes.
Financial aid awards may be reduced if you drop classes after the start of any term. So make sure you know the enrollment criteria for your aid before dropping.
Certain aid from the federal government — called Title IV funds — have an attendance requirement. If you stop attending or withdraw before completing 60% of the semester — either officially or unofficially — you may have to return a portion of the funds. The financial aid office will apply a formula to determine how much of the federal funding was earned up to the time you withdrew. This review and recalculation is called Return of Title IV Funds.
Other enrollment issues that could affect your aid:
- Overlapping enrollment at UToledo and another institution.
You may not receive financial aid from two or more institutions at the same time. If you are enrolled at the University of Toledo and another school, you may be eligible to set up a consortium agreement between the schools to receive aid. - Enrollment in undergraduate or mixed-level courses as a graduate or professional student.
Graduate students must be enrolled and attend at least half-time with graduate-level credit hours each semester to be eligible for federal loans.
- Enrollment in pipeline programs.
If you are enrolled in a pipeline program (a combination of undergraduate and graduate coursework that leads to sequential degrees), your financial aid eligibility is based only on the credit hours that are applicable to degree completion requirements. You need to complete a Pipleine Program Financial Aid Agreement each term to receive your aid. - Audited courses.
Financial aid cannot be used to pay for audited courses. - Repeated courses.
Federal regulations limit the number of times you may repeat a course and receive financial aid for that course. This rule applies whether or not you received financial aid funds for earlier enrollments in the course.- You may receive aid when repeating a course for the first time or when repeating a course previously failed, regardless of the number of times the course has been attempted and failed.
- You may receive aid to repeat a previously passed course only one additional time. This includes course(s) that were passed and transferred from another school.
- Once you complete any course twice with a passing grade, you are no longer eligible to receive aid for the course.
- Once a repeated course is no longer counted within your enrollment for federal financial aid purposes, it is irrelevant if you are required to retake the course to meet major/program or GPA requirements or you have a personal desire to receive an improved grade.
- Clinical Psychology Doctoral Internships.
If you are registered for this internship (PSYC 8940), you are considered to be a full-time student. If you receive financial aid, you have the option of receiving federal and/or alternative loans while on your internship. State financial aid programs and UToledo recruitiment/merit scholarships cannot be used during the internship.
Review your financial aid options
TIP: Consult Rocket Solution Central before you decide to withdraw from or drop a class. They can help you figure out how those actions may affect your financial aid.
Freeze date for Federal Grants
The Freeze Date is used each semester to lock in your enrollment status for federal grants (Pell, Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant and TEACH). We review all courses in which you’re enrolled on the Freeze Date each semester to determine the maximum amount of federal grants you’re eligible for.
If you add or drop/withdraw from courses after the Freeze Date, your federal grants will not be adjusted unless you withdraw from all of your courses and a Return of Title IV calculation is processed.
You also have to attend classes to remain eligible for grants. If it is reported that you never attended the course, your aid could be adjusted.
Meet required academic standards.
You must meet minimum academic standards to continue receiving federal and state aid. We call this “satisfactory academic progress” or SAP. If you have a tough semester and don’t meet the requirements and lose your aid, you can appeal.
Read more about satisfactory academic progress and the appeal process.
To see your Academic Progress status:
Go to myUT → Student Tab → My Financial Aid → Check Eligibility Status → Academic Progress →
Aid Year
Properly use the aid you receive.
You may use awards listed on the Award Package only for direct and indirect educational expenses at UToledo for the academic year.
Understand your responsibilities as a prior aid recipient.
If you default on any federal student loan or owe a refund on any federal grant received at a post-secondary institution, you will not have eligibility for further federal loans and grants.
Properly Report admission information.
If you are found to have provided fraudulent admission data, you can be denied federal financial aid. Failure to disclose attendance at an institution prior to admission to UToledo or during a leave from UToledo will result in immediate suspension of federal aid.
The Department of Education may require The University of Toledo to review your enrollment
history. You may be required to provide supporting documentation from a third-party
professional, such as a doctor or lawyer, regarding the circumstances that led to
the following situation(s):
1. You attended an institution and received federal Title IV financial aid, but you
left without completing the enrollment period. You then enrolled at another institution
and remained just long enough to receive federal Title IV financial aid without earning
any academic credit.
2. You failed to disclose registration at another institution(s) on your admission
application. The Department of Education has indicated that you received federal Title
IV financial aid at an institution(s) you did not list on your admission application.
This failure to disclose requires you to submit an official academic transcript(s)
for review, in addition to the third-party documentation referenced above.
Engineering Co-op Students
Financial aid rules vary while you’re on a co-op. Some of your financial aid can be applied to your co-op semester. Some can’t. Be sure you know all the rules before you go.
WHAT IF MY FINANCIAL CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE?
Sometimes your financial circumstances change mid-year. You may lose a job or have an unexpected emergency. Or we could be in the middle of a pandemic!
Don’t be afraid to ask for help.
- File a Special Circumstances Application to appeal your aid if you or your family’s financial circumstances change after you file your FAFSA. The Financial Aid office will review your financial aid in light of the new information.
- Apply for emergency funds. All you need to do is fill out a Rocket Aid application. The UToledo team will work
with you to identify options to assist you. This includes funding available through
federal relief programs and donors.
- Rocket Aid is an emergency financial assistance fund available to those experiencing hardship because of COVID.