These instructions explain the steps you must complete after you receive Your Award Notification from TU.
Contact
Financial Aid Office
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Hours
Monday – Friday 8:00 to 4:30
These instructions explain the steps you must complete after you receive Your Award Notification from TU.
Complete Part 1 (Aid Application Requirements) within two weeks of Your Award Notification. You must complete these additional aid application steps now because they could cause changes to your aid application data and aid offers. Completing Part 1 does not obligate you to attend TU.
Complete Part 2 (Accepting Aid) within two weeks of submitting your TU Enrollment Contract.
For more information, see our Frequently Asked Questions Video Presentation.
Complete steps 1-11 now.
For new admits, we will mail your aid notification. (To view your awards online, login to the Towson Online Services Student Dashboard. Choose Financials from the main Navigation Menu, then View Financial Aid.)
All students are required to read the entire Award Guide because it explains your award requirements and your aid responsibilities. It also explains your aid offers, and how they were calculated.
To authorize TU to discuss your aid data with your parents (or others), you must complete our Release of Financial Information Form. Visit Forms & Online Services. Federal law prohibits us from discussing your aid without your authorization.
It is also extremely important that you check your online To Dos list weekly because we may request additional documents as we process your file. Submit all documents within two weeks of our first request.
Check your To Dos list on the Towson Online Services Student Dashboard.
Note: Your Online Services To Dos are a personalized list that is different from the Orientation Checklists.
If your Online Services To Dos list requests verification documents, we must verify the accuracy of the data you reported on your FAFSA. Please carefully follow our Verification Instructions, and promptly submit your Verification Worksheet and IRS tax documentation.
If you do not check your email and To Dos list regularly and fail to complete required aid tasks by the deadlines, your aid will be canceled or delayed, and you may receive a $150 late payment fine.
Please opt-in to our financial aid text service to receive important reminders about aid deadlines and missing application items.
You can opt-out at any time by replying STOP to any message. We can't receive text messages, and we will continue to send most aid notices to your TU email address.
If at any time you decide to enroll part-time (less than 12 units) for the fall or spring semesters, you must submit a Course Load Change Form to notify us and prevent delays to your aid payments and rebates. Visit Forms & Online Services.
On your FAFSA, what housing status did you list for TU?
If at any time you decide to change your housing status, you must notify TU (and MHEC, if applicable).
If you will receive any other aid/benefits that are not listed on your TU award notification, you must submit a TU Notice of Additional Resources Form. Go to Forms & Online Services. (Examples of other aid include private scholarships, tuition waivers, and vocational rehabilitation benefits.)
If you have experienced any financial changes that you weren't able to report on your FAFSA form, please review our Special Financial Conditions process to determine if you are eligible to request financial need adjustments that might increase your eligibility for aid.
Complete these steps after you choose to enroll at TU.
You must accept/decline each aid offer and must decide how much you want to borrow. See step 13 for more loan guidance.
If the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) offered you any aid, you must also login in to their MDCAPS system to accept their offer and tell them which school you will attend. Then they will notify our office. After we confirm that you meet their eligibility requirements, we will add their awards to your aid record.
If you will borrow loans, you must decide how much to borrow and which loans to borrow.
First, calculate how much you want to borrow for this academic year (Fall & Spring). You can borrow loans to pay your TU charges and for your other living and personal expenses. To calculate your remaining costs, subtract your total grants and scholarships from your estimated Cost of Attendance Budget.
Next, decide how much you want to borrow from each loan program. You can reduce your borrowing by accepting smaller loan amounts and by accepting one loan program and declining others. Borrow the loans with the lowest interest rates first (1st Subsidized Direct Loans, 2nd Unsubsidized Direct Loans, and 3rd PLUS Loans). Review the federal loan interest rates table here. Private loan rates vary based on your credit history, but they usually have higher rates. For more information about each loan program, use the links below.
Your Award Notification lists the maximum amounts you can borrow from Federal Direct Subsidized & Unsubsidized Student Loans. For dependent students, it also lists the maximum amount your parents can borrow from Federal PLUS Loans. You could also apply for Private/Alternative Loans or use TU’s monthly Payment Plan.
The following loan origination fees will be deducted from federal loans with first disbursements between 10/1/2020 and 9/30/2023.
Every year, you must accept/decline your loan offers and choose your loan amounts at Towson Online Services.
The first time you borrow loans at TU, you must also:
If you need to change your loan amount after you accept it, submit a TU Loan Change Form. Go to Forms & Online Services.
If your parent wants to borrow a PLUS Loan, please follow our PLUS Loan Instructions.
If your Award Notification included a Federal Work-study (FWS) award, review this Federal Work-Study Program information. If you might be interested in pursuing a FWS job, accept the award in step 10 above. Then, when you are ready, follow the job search instructions on the FWS page.
Because we receive limited annual FWS funding, if too many FWS students pursue FWS jobs, we reserve the right to freeze hiring. If we do freeze hiring, students who haven't started FWS jobs yet will not be able to earn any FWS funds this year.
If your Award Notification did not offer you any FWS funds, then you can’t earn FWS funds, but you can still pursue many other part-time jobs on and off-campus. Visit the Career Center’s Student Employment page.
The Student & University Billing Office will bill you for one semester/term at a time. Your online eBill will include tuition, fees, and other miscellaneous charges for each term. If you will live on campus, it will also include room and board charges.
If you met all of our aid deadlines, your eBill should list all of your pending financial aid disbursements.
To grant your parent(s) or others access to your bill data, please visit eBill & Online Payment for instructions on How to Set Up an Authorized User and How To add an Alternative Email for eBill Notifications.
For more information about billing and payments, visit the Student & University Billing Office.
When we disburse your aid, we will automatically use it to pay all of your TU charges for this term unless you choose to restrict which charges we can pay with your aid funds by submitting the optional TU Use of Funds form. Visit Forms & Online Services.