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Aid Steps

To avoid deadline penalties, you must complete all these tasks within two weeks of your Award Notification date.

1. Review/Accept/Decline Aid & Choose Loan Amounts

• Login to the
• From the main Navigation Menu, choose Financials, Accept/Decline Awards, and the Aid Year.
• To accept loan offers, first accept the loan, then accept the maximum amount or enter a lower amount.
• If you're not sure if you need loans, please leave them in offer status. (Don't accept them or decline them.)

Attention Maryland residents — If the offers you any of these state aid programs, they will notify you directly and you must accept those offers on their web site.

2. Carefully Read Your Award Guide

You must read the entire Award Guide because it explains your award requirements and aid responsibilities.

3. Review Next Year's Costs

University charges change every year. Review next year's Cost of Attendance data or use this worksheet to estimate your remaining costs after aid.

4. Calculate Your Loan Amounts

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, books and other living and personal expenses. To calculate your total remaining costs, subtract your total grants and scholarships from your estimated Cost of Attendance Budget or use this worksheet to estimate your remaining TU charges after aid.

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 or private loans).

Your Award Notification lists the maximum amounts you can borrow from Federal Direct Subsidized & Unsubsidized Student Loans. Those loans offer the lowest interest rates and other federal benefits. 

If you need additional loans, parents of dependent students can borrow PLUS Loans.  and students/parents can borrow private loans. PLUS loans are usually better than private loans. Your maximum PLUS or private loan amount = your Cost of Attendance Budget minus all your other financial aid.

You can also use TU’s monthly Payment Plan. 

Interest Rates

Direct subsidized loans have the lowest interest rates and do not accrue interest while you are enrolled at least half-time. Direct unsubsidized loans have the next lowest rates followed by the Parent PLUS Loans rates. Private loan interest rates vary based on lender and credit scores.

• Review the federal loan interest rates table. 

Loan Origination Fees

The following loan origination fees will be deducted from federal loans with first disbursements between 10/1/2020 and 9/30/2025.

• 1.057% for Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized loans
• 4.228% for Federal Parent PLUS Loans

5. Borrowing Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans

To borrow these loans, every year you must accept your loan offers and choose your loan amounts at .

If this is the first time you are borrowing a direct loan Ë¿¹ÏÊÓƵ do the following:

• Complete a  session
• Complete a  (MPN)

If you need to change your loan amount after you accept it, submit a TU Loan Change Form from Forms & Online Services.

6. Borrowing Federal Parent PLUS Loans

If your parent wants to borrow a PLUS Loan, follow these PLUS loan instructions. For information on maximum PLUS loan amounts, see step 3 above.

7. Earning Federal Work-Study (FWS) Funds?

If your Award Notification includes a Federal Work-study (FWS) award, review the Federal Work-Study Program information. If you are interested in pursuing a FWS job, accept the award in step 1 above and follow the FWS job search instructions.

If your Award Notification didn't include any FWS funds, you can’t earn FWS, but you can still pursue many other part-time jobs on and off-campus. Visit the Career Center’s Student Employment page.

8. Will You Receive any other Aid/Benefits?

If you will receive other financial aid of education benefits that aren't listed on your award notification, such as private scholarships or tuition waivers, you must submit a Notice of Additional Resources Form. Visit Forms & Online Services.

9. Will You Attend Full-Time for Fall and Spring?       

• If Yes&²Ô²ú²õ±è;— No action required. Your aid offers are already based on an assumption that you will attend full-time (at least 12 units).
• If No&²Ô²ú²õ±è;— If you will attend part-time, you must submit a Course Load Change Form to notify us and prevent aid disbursement and rebate delays. Visit Forms & Online Services.
• Review the Minimum Credit requirements for each aid program.  Federal loans require at least half-time status. 

10. Review/Update Your Housing Status

Your award notification email should list one of the following housing statuses:

• On-campus
• Off-campus not with parents
• Living with parents

If the listed housing status doesn't match your housing plans for next semester, you must submit a TU Housing Verification Form. Visit Forms & Online Services.

If you have any , you must also update your housing status in their system.

11. FAFSA Data Verification

If your To-Dos list requests verification documents, promptly submit all required documentation. Late documents can lead to canceled aid offers, a $150 late payment fine and can delay financial aid refunds.  

12. Explore your eligibility for Financial Need Adjustments

If you are eligible for any of the financial need adjustments below, we might be able to recalculate your financial need.

• Special Conditions Form (Income Changes) include reduced income, recent disability, unusually high medical expenses, divorce, separation, and death of dependent student's parent or student's spouse)
• Other Family Members in College (Siblings, parents, or student spouse)
• Day Care or Elementary/Secondary Tuition Expenses
• Housing Budget Increase Requests

For more information, see Special Financial Conditions.

13. Check Your TU Email Weekly

You must regularly check your TU student email. We only send most aid notices to your email. You (the student) must read all aid emails and complete all aid tasks. You must notify your parents of any requests for parent data.

If you already have a non-TU email account that you check regularly, follow these to forward your TU email to that account.

14. Check Your To Dos Weekly

Check your To Dos list on the .

New items may be added each week as we process your file. Please submit all items within two weeks of each request.

15. Authorize Release of Financial Information

Federal law prohibits TU from discussing your financial aid with your parents or others without your authorization. To grant authorization, please complete our Release of Financial Information Form. Visit Forms & Online Services. 

16. Bill Payment, Aid Disbursement and Aid Refunds

The Student & University Billing Office will bill you for one term at a time. Your online eBill will include tuition, fees, and other miscellaneous charges for each term. If you live on campus, it will also include room and meal plan charges.  

• If your eBill does not list enough authorized aid to pay all your charges, you must make other arrangements to pay your full bill balance by your bill due date.
• If your total term aid exceeds your term charges, the Student & University Billing Office will send you a refund. 

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.

17. Optional - Use of Funds form

When we disburse your aid, we will automatically use it to pay all 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.