We base all initial aid offers on the assumption that you will enroll full-time. If
you plan to enroll part-time, you must notify us by submitting our online Course Load Change Form. Visit Forms & Online Services for instructions.
For summer and winter minimester enrollment requirements, see summer/winter aid.
Attempted Term Units
Most enrollment requirements are based on your total Attempted Units for each term. Attempted Units exclude courses that you drop before the end of the Schedule Adjustment period, and usually include courses that
you withdraw from after the Scheduled Adjustment period ends. Also see, Beginning Attendance below.
Your Total Attempted Term Units will affect your aid in four ways:
- If you attend less than full-time, your Cost of Attendance Budget and your financial need will decrease. This can cause Award Changes & Reductions.
- Aid programs also require a minimum number of units per term.
-
If you will graduate in December and will attend part-time that fall term, we must
pro-rate your maximum Fall Direct Subsidized & Unsubsidized Loan amounts based on
your portion of full-time enrollment. (Your spring aid will be canceled.)
Undergraduate Example: 9 fall units = 9/12 full-time units = a 75% enrollment level.
Your maximum fall loan = 75% of your normal maximum loans.
- If this is not your first year in college and you are receiving any of the three Maryland Higher
Education Commission (MHEC) grants below, then you must successfully complete at least
30 units during this academic year to remain eligible to receive your full MHEC grant
eligibility during your next academic year. For more information, see: MHEC Grant Completion Requirements, MHEC Guaranteed Access Grant, MHEC Educational Assistance Grant, MHEC Campus-Based Educational Assistance Grant.
Undergraduate Student Enrollment Levels
Enrollment Status
|
Required Units per Term*
|
Full-time |
12 or more credits
|
Three-quarter time |
9 to 11 credit |
Half-time
|
6 to 8 credits
|
Less than half-time |
1 to 5 credits |
*Audited classes do not count toward required credits.
Graduate Student Enrollment Levels
Enrollment Status |
Master’s Degrees & Certificates |
Doctoral Degrees |
Full-time |
9 or more credits |
6 or more credits |
Half-time |
6 to 8 credits |
3 to 5 credits |
< Half-time |
< 6 credits |
< 3 credits |
- Audited classes and graduate assistantship placeholder courses (CGSR G90 and G91)
do not count toward required aid units.
- All Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) aid programs require at least 6 units.
- In certain situations, TU policy allows graduate students to receive enrollment level
adjustments for internship, thesis, dissertation, or capstone project courses. Students
can only receive these adjustments for up to two terms. For more information, see
the graduate placeholder course policy.
Minimum Enrollment Requirements by Aid Program
Aid Programs
|
Minimum Enrollment |
Federal loans and Federal Work-Study
|
Half-time |
TU Admission Scholarships
|
Full-time (at least 12 units for each fall and spring semester)
|
Federal Pell Grants*, Federal SEOG Grants, and TU One-Time COVID Relief Grants
|
Amounts are prorated based on Full-time, ¾ time, ½ time, or less than half-time enrollment.* |
TU Institutional Grant
|
Amounts are prorated based on Full-time, ¾ time, ½ time, or less than half-time enrollment.* |
MHEC Educational Assistance & Guaranteed Access Grants
|
You must enroll for at least 12 fall units or at least 12 combined winter Minimester
and spring units. To receive a renewal grant next year, you must also meet MHEC's
annual Credit Completion Requirements.
|
*For Pell Grants to students with EFC’s greater than 3,800, Pell Grant amounts may
pro-rate to $0 at some lower enrollment levels.
- For Maryland state scholarships and grants not listed above, visit MHEC.
- For MHEC grants and scholarships, also see the Study Abroad Aid restrictions.
- Other scholarships may have enrollment requirements established by the donor or the
scholarship coordinator.
Less than Half-time Status
While some aid programs permit less than half-time enrollment, the Cost of Attendance budgets for less than half-time enrollment can't include living expenses. Because
your cost of attendance budget will be reduced, we may also have to reduce your aid.
In addition, if you drop below half-time status, your prior educational loans will
enter repayment status after a six-month grace period for Federal Direct Student Loans or a nine-month grace
period for Perkins Loans.
Beginning Attendance
Federal aid programs also require that you attend each course at least once. If you
never attend any of your term courses, then we must cancel all your federal aid.
If you receive a Federal Pell Grant, and never attend some of your courses, then we
must recalculate your term Pell Grant payment based only on the course you began attending.
(Example: If you enrolled full-time, but only began attendance in 6 units, then we
would reduce your Pell Grant payment to the half-time payment amount.
Enrollment Census Deadlines
We must always evaluate your enrollment level based on your total units as of the
term’s financial aid census date, which is always the last day of registrar’s change
of schedule period.
- For Pell, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), and institutional
grants, if you add a class after the end of this change of schedule period, we must
exclude those late units from your grant calculations.
- We will also automatically reduce loans based on your census date enrollment level.
However, only for loans, if you add a class late, we can readjust your loans based
on the additional late units, but only if you contact the Financial Aid Office to
request a loan adjustment based on the late class units.
Restricted Payments for Repeats of Completed Courses
- Federal rules restrict all federal aid payments when students repeat courses that they have already completed.
- If you complete a course with a grade of D or better, and then you repeat that same
course again, then you can never receive additional federal aid based on that course.
Example: A student took ENGL 100 twice and earned a D both times. During his 3rd attempt,
he retook ENGL 100 and another 3 unit course. During this 3rd attempt, his eligibility
for federal aid was based only on the other 3 unit course, and he was not eligible
for any federal aid that required more than 3 units.