Financial Aid Basics
How is Need Determined?
Towson University makes every effort to
offer financial aid to students using a fair and evenly applied formula.
The formula allows the university to offer aid to as many students as possible.
Aid is packaged aid first for applications received by our March 1, priority
deadline. The packaging program sorts applications in order of Expected
Family Contribution (EFC)* and packages aid first to the lowest EFC.
It continues to package aid in EFC order. Your total aid package may contain a combination of aid offered by the
university and aid that you obtain on your own such as scholarships.
Aid applications received after
the March 1priority deadline are processed on a rolling basis, but students who apply for aid after the priority deadline cannot expect consideration for
programs with limited funding, such as Federal Supplemental Opportunity Grant, Federal Perkins Loan, Federal Work-Study, and Institutional Grant.
The packaging formula begins with a basic
calculation of adjusted need:
Cost of Education
(COA)
-Expected Family
Contribution (EFC)
-Estimated Pell
Grant
=ADJUSTED NEED |
Your financial aid offer may meet a portion of
your need with grant or scholarship aid such as:
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity
Grant (for exceptionally needy students)
- Pell Grant (for exceptionally needy students)
- Institutional Grant
- Maryland State Grants and Scholarships for
MD residents (estimated grants show on your Financial Aid Notification)
- Admission scholarships from the university such as
the Provost Scholarship or the Top 10% scholarship
Funds for the remainder of your need come
from the self-help programs:
- Tuition waivers
- Federal Perkins Loan
- Subsidized Federal Direct Student Loan
- Federal Work-Study.
Your offer may also include non-need based
aid:
- Unsubsidized Federal Direct Student Loan
- Parents Loan for Undergraduate Student Loan
(PLUS).
If your financial aid offer does not contain the amount of grant aid that you hoped to receive, please remember that the federal government targets all federal grant funds to students with the lowest Expected Family Contributions. In addition, institutional grant funds from the university are limited and are quickly exhausted. As a result, only the earliest applications from the neediest students receive federal or institutional need-based grant funds.
Is there any kind of aid that can be received regardless of need?
Yes. Your aid
package may include non-need based aid such as a Federal
Direct Unsubsidized Loan. If you are a dependent student, your parent may be able to borrow a Federal
Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Student (PLUS).
When will I know how much I am offered?
We will begin to offer aid for the 2006-2007 academic year in mid-March. If the U.S. Department of Education processes
your application by our March 1 priority deadline, you will receive an
aid offer by mid-April.
We evaluate applications received after
the deadline on a rolling basis. The earlier you apply, the earlier
you will receive a Financial
Aid Notification. In general, you must allow about three weeks
for the U.S. Department of Education to process your application, and another
four weeks for the Financial Aid Office to evaluate your application.
Financial Aid Office
Enrollment Services, Room 339
Hours: Monday - Thursday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Reception Desk)
Monday - Thursday, 8:30 a.m. - 5 p.m.; Friday, 8:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. (Financial Aid Call Center)
1-888-4TOWSON (toll free)
Phone: 410-704-4236
Fax: 410-704-2584
E-mail: finaid@towson.edu
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