Financial Aid Budget & Aid Limits

There are limits to the amount of financial assistance a student can receive. Any student who applies for federal aid assistance or non-federal educational loans is held to the Student Financial Aid Office-determined cost of attendance budget for the given year.

Your budget is determined by your tuition amount and an average allowance for housing, food, books and supplies, and other non-tuition, educational expenses based on students in your general situation. Factors such as your living situation, dependency status, and co-op rotation can determine what allowances are built into your budget. In all cases, what you spend to cover your non-tuition, educational expenses may differ from the average amounts used by Student Financial Aid.

AID LIMITATIONS
The total financial aid package – to include all types of aid received – must remain within the cost budget.  It is therefore important that you notify the Student Financial Aid Office of any scholarship, assistance, or loan funding that does not appear as part of an aid package.  By doing so early, students reduce the risk of having aid adjusted mid-year or after funds have been received.

Students receiving multiple or large scholarship offers from UC should also be aware that, in rare cases, their scholarship awards may be limited. Work closely with awarding offices to understand your scholarship package and terms of individual awards.

OVERAWARDS & AID REDUCTIONS
The Student Financial Aid Office packages students to their full eligibility as determined at the time of aid awarding. Unfortunately, eligibility can change. 

Aid from UC offices or outside sources previously unknown to Student Financial Aid may surface. A change in student status such as residency classification or dependency status may require a revised financial aid budget. When eligibility for aid reduces or total aid exceeds the revised budget, an overaward exists.

Adjustments to the make up or total sum of the aid package are required if any federal aid is present when an overaward occurs. Student Financial Aid routinely audits all financial aid awards throughout the school year to ensure they remain in compliance and meet eligibility requirements.  

The university wants to limit post-award changes and avoid post-disbursement adjustments to aid packages.  Adjustments, when necessary, most often reduce and posting of new aid sources may replace work-study or loan portions of an aid package. 

The cost of attendance is set by the Student Financial Aid Office for the 9-month academic year. An additional 3 months can be added in the spring for those students attending summer school. 

This budget is an amount based on average educational costs for a student.  It is not meant to cover all living and personal expenses.