State Aid

The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) offers a variety of scholarships and need-based grants to eligible Maryland residents.  They process the applications and select the recipients for all their aid programs.  Then they send us their recipient lists and ask us to verify that students meet all their eligibility requirements before we disburse those awards.  Many, but not all these programs require applicants to submit a FAFSA by March 1 every year.  Many of their programs also require additional MHEC applications, and many of those applications steps must be completed in their MDCAPS system.  

Below, we've listed all the MHEC Aid programs for TU students, or review MHEC's full list.

Estimated MHEC Aid

We start sending aid offer notifications to admitted fall students in February/March, and freshman admits must choose which colleges they will attend by the national May 1 decision deadline.  Unfortunately, MHEC usually doesn't release their need-based grant offers until mid/late April.

For Maryland residents who submitted their FAFSA by March 1 and have FAFSA Expected Family Contributions (EFC) of $0, we add messages to their TU Award Notifications about estimated MHEC grants.  Most of these students will at least qualify for a $2,900 to $3,000 need-based MHEC Educational Assistance (EA) Grant. Instead, some students with lower incomes may qualify for larger MHEC Guaranteed Access (GA) Grant​s​. 

If MHEC offers you a larger grant than the estimated MHEC grant we listed on your award notification, those larger grants could cause reductions to your other aid offers.  Please read our Award Changes and Reductions rules to learn how your aid might change.  If MHEC offers you their Guaranteed Access grant, those award amounts are much larger and vary based on your housing status (on-campus, off-campus-not-with-parents, or living-with-parents.  If MHEC offers you a Guaranteed Access Grant, we will cancel TU's SEOG and "Institutional Grants" unless you will live "off-campus not with parents."  

MHEC Need-Based Grants 

MHEC Legislative Scholarships 

​MHEC Occupation-Based Awards 

MHEC Unique Populations 

MHEC Loan Assistance Repayment Programs 

MHEC Appeals 

The MHEC Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) has an appeal process which allows students who meet certain requirements to appeal for (re)consideration of their state awards.​ For more information, see MHEC Aid Appeal Process​.

Other State Programs

 

DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DC TAG)

The Washinton D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program pays the difference between in-state and out-of-state tuition, up to $10,000 annually at public colleges.  Funds are limited. Apply early.

  • Review the eligibility requirements, which include DC residency requirements, age limits, and other requirements.  You must be pursuing your first bachelor’s degree.
  • Complete the DC OneApp by June 30, to receive priority funding.  They process applications received after June 30 on a funds available basis.
  • Complete the FAFSA.
  • Submit all the DC OneApp supporting documents.

MHEC Programs Not Available at TU

The following MHEC programs are not available at TU.