Financial Aid for Returning Students

If you are a returning UTSA you may already be familiar with the financial aid process. In case not, this checklist is designed to give you an overview of the financial aid process. Returning students are notified of their financial aid award via their preferred email account as indicated on ASAP. Disbursement of financial aid is typically 10 days prior to the start of term of the fall and spring semesters. To ensure financial aid disbursement prior to tuition deadlines, it is important that all necessary documents required for your financial aid is turned in a minimum of 10 business days prior to the start of term. All students must make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) when we check for compliance at the end of every spring semester) in order for disbursement to take place as well as meet enrollment requirements. Many financial aid awards (such as Texas Grant, scholarships or contractual agreements like the UTSAccess Program) have more stringent academic requirements than our SAP policy. You should check out each individual award for the terms and conditions.

Please note that students must be actively seeking a degree or in an approved 2-year teacher's certification program to be eligible for financial aid. Non-degree seeking students do not qualify for aid. If you will be graduating and plan on taking classes in the future, you must be aware of this.

Please review the following links for information about financial aid for continuing and returning UTSA students.

Please note that final high school transcripts must be recieved and processed by admissions in order for financial aid to disburse.

Applying for Aid using FAFSA (if you will attend in summer, you must also submit a Summer Application)
Notification of Awards
The Importance of Checking ASAP and Email
Granting Permission to your Student Account to Parents or Third Parties
Grants Available at UTSA
Loans Available at UTSA
Work-Study
Veterans/Military Members
Scholarships (General Scholarship Deadline is February 15 for the next aid year)
Study Abroad
Prepaid Tuition Plans, 3rd Party Payments and Exemptions
Payment Options
Disbursement of Financial Aid
Graduating as an Undergrad and Financial Aid
UTSAccess Program

The importance of checking ASAP and Email

All correspondence from our office is sent to student's preferred email account as indicated on ASAP. This includes information on awards, outstanding requirements, holds, Satisfactory Academic Progress and responses to inquiries sent to us over email. It is importance you routinely check your email (and update your email address if necessary) to stay informed with what's going on with your student account.

In addition to checking your email you may also check your financial aid status on ASAP. This includes information on holds, outstanding requirments, award offers, status of submitted documents and checking if financial aid is disbursed to your student account. View our tutorials for guidance on how to navigate ASAP for financial aid.

Graduating as an Undergrad and Financial Aid

All graduating students will be required to undergo Stafford Loan Exit Counseling if they borrowed Stafford loans at anytime during their undergraduate career. Per federal regulations, once students earn a degree, they are no longer entitled to receive aid (grants, loans, work-study) unless they are enrolled as a degree-seeking student. Once our office is notified that you have applied for graduation, we will place a hold that will prevent aid in future semesters. If your degree is awarded and you plan to become a second-Bachelor's degree-seeking student, we cannot remove your graduation hold or award you future aid until we can see that a new major has been declared. Once this is done, you can submit a Enrollment Change Form for the next semester and you will be awarded your Stafford loans up to your loan limits. You will not be eligbile for grants if seeking a second Bachelor's degree. If you plan on becoming a Graduate student in the next semester, you will need to submit an Enrollment Change Form letting us know. In addition, we are unable to pay out financial aid at the graduate level until your undergraduate degree is conferred. Typically this happens 30-45 days after the end of the term in which you graduated.

If you applied for graduation and will not graduate, you must withdraw your graduation application and submit an Enrollment Change Form for the subsequent semester so that we will award you aid for the spring. If you are a recipient of Pell grant, you must also submit a Pell Appeal Form. Federal regulations state that students who are eligible to graduate with a bachelor’s degree and choose to extend their enrollment without graduating cannot continue to receive the Pell grant.  If you complete the requirements to earn a degree and continue to take undergraduate courses without accepting the degree (for a second major or minor or second degree), we will cancel your Pell grant for any subsequent semesters as you are no longer eligible for that grant.

Graduating in the Fall Semester:

If you plan on graduating at the end of the fall term, you will be placed on a fall-only budget and in accordance with federal guidelines, your Stafford loans will be prorated to match your enrollment. This means you cannot have your entire loan award disbursed in the fall term if you plan on graduating in the fall. The same is true for your grants.