Policies & Maintaining Aid Eligibility

In order to maintain eligibility for your financial aid, you must meet the requirements below while enrolled at DU.

• Enrollment Requirements
  • All financial aid funds for undergraduate students are available only to students enrolled in degree programs and taking quarter classes.
  • Students must maintain full-time enrollment (12 credits or more) to remain eligible for certain types of aid, including the Residence Hall Grant, the DU Educational Grant and the Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG).
  • Amounts are pro-rated for less than full time enrollment for the Pell Grant. Merit scholarships may be prorated for students enrolled less than full time during their last term prior to graduating.
  • Students must maintain at least half-time enrollment (six credits or more) to use work-study and to receive the Colorado Student Grant or any direct loan.
  • The requirements for gift, endowed and private scholarships will vary depending on the department or the donor. Some awards have a minimum GPA requirement. Contact your department or your private scholarship provider for information on specific policies.
• Transfer Student Institutional Aid Eligibility

  The amount of time transfer students are eligible to receive DU institutional financial aid (including merit scholarships) depends on the estimated time to degree completion from the point of initial enrollment, which is based on the transfer credit granted when we received final transcripts.

  Transfer Credits at Enrollment	Academic Status	Years of Institutional Aid Eligibility
  0-44 quarter hours	First-year student	4 years
  45-89 quarter hours	Second-year student	3 years
  90-134 quarter hours	Third-year student	2 years
  135+ quarter hours	Fourth-year student	1 year

  Students who have exhausted their eligibility can submit an appeal to potentially receive institutional aid for additional quarters. Please email us at finaid@du.edu for more information.

• Implications for Dual-Degree Students
  • Undergraduate Aid: As a dual-degree student, you are considered an undergraduate during the first four years of your program, and you should file your FAFSA and CSS Profile as such. You're eligible to receive your undergraduate scholarships and grants for those four years as well.
    • Institutional Aid: The Office of Financial Aid expects first-time, first-year undergraduate students to be eligible for consideration for institutional merit or need-based undergraduate financial aid for a maximum of four academic years from the point of initial enrollment (excluding summer and interterm periods) or until the student earns the bachelor's degree, whichever comes first. For institutional aid eligibility for dual degree students the university defines four academic years as up to 12 quarters of fall, winter, spring enrollment. Students who receive any amount of credit in a quarter are considered to be enrolled. If a student is not receiving aid in one or more of those enrolled quarters, the timeline for 12 quarters of aid eligibility continues.
    • Federal Aid: For federal aid purposes, dual degree students automatically become graduate students in the next enrollment period after attaining 198 hours of earned or accepted credit. Any dual degree student who has completed their undergraduate degree requirements is considered a graduate student regardless of the number of quarters of prior enrollment.

   

  • Graduate Aid: Students enrolled in dual degree programs are considered graduate students for federal financial aid purposes after attaining 198 credit hours, even if the student does not meet the undergraduate degree requirements. Federal regulations do not allow students in dual degree programs who complete four academic years (defined as 198 credit hours) to continue to receive undergraduate federal aid. Students in the law school dual degree program are aided as graduate students after three undergraduate academic years (149 hours for federal aid purposes). You should file your FAFSA as a graduate student (no CSS Profile is needed) and contact your graduate program about any merit-based aid they have available. Federal loan eligibility will increase for most students because of the higher graduate student borrowing maximum.

   

  • Exceptions:
    • Students in the six-year bachelor/JD program with the Sturm College of Law are considered an undergraduate student during the first three years of the program and are then considered a graduate student during years 4-6.
    • Boettcher and Daniels Fund scholars who started at DU in the fall of 2021 or earlier are eligible to have their tuition covered through the fifth year of a dual-degree program. Scholars who started at DU in the fall of 2022 or later are not eligible to have their tuition covered beyond their fourth year.

   

  If you have specific questions about how your financial aid may be affected, please contact our office.

• Financial Aid Eligibility for Study Abroad Programs

  For more information on specific program costs, budgeting for study abroad and additional scholarships, please visit the International Education website.

  DU Partner Programs:

  Students are eligible to receive their merit scholarships, institutional need-based grants and federal and state aid (excluding work-study) to help pay for DU Partner programs. The billing and financial aid disbursement occurs as if you were on campus, regardless of your program start date.

  If you're participating in a spring semester DU Partner Program (that overlaps winter and spring quarters), you will be charged program costs for winter quarter and your aid will disburse as if you were attending DU winter quarter. Spring semester study abroad students may also receive a disbursement of the spring term aid (federal and state only) as if they are attending DU. Please contact our office to discuss your specific aid package.

  Important note about departmental scholarships: Some departmental scholarships cannot be used to pay for study abroad charges. Be sure to check with our office and/or department directly to see if your scholarship can be used for your study abroad program.

  Use the Cost Planning Worksheet to help you calculate what you will be billed for study abroad and how that might be different from what you usually pay at DU.

  Unaffiliated Programs:

  Institutional financial aid is not available for students attending an unaffiliated program. Only federal and state aid (excluding work-study) may be awarded. Complete a Consortium Agreement to request financial aid for your unaffiliated program. The financial aid for which you are eligible will be released to you by DU on DU's disbursement schedule. However, you are responsible for paying the bill at your host school by the due date.

  Use the Cost Planning Worksheet to help you calculate the total cost for study abroad on an unaffiliated program.

• Satisfactory Academic Progress

  Students must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress to maintain eligibility for all types of aid. This means:

  • You must maintain a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 2.00 (2.50 for BS in accounting students).
  • You must complete and pass a minimum of 66.6 percent of all courses attempted. This is known as your Cumulative Completion Rate (CCR).
  • You must complete your degree within 150 percent of the minimum credits required to graduate. This is known as the Maximum Time Frame (MTF) limit.

  
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• Return of Title IV Funds (Withdrawal Policy)

  Students who begin classes at DU, apply for financial aid, complete all requirements and then withdraw from classes may have their financial aid adjusted according to federal, state and institutional regulations.

  Learn More