Returning Undergraduate Instructions

Aid Steps

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

Frequently Asked Award Questions

We determine eligibility for need-based grants annually based on each year's FAFSA data. Visit the FAFSA website and compare the EFC from your 2023-2024 with the SAI from your 2024-2025 FAFSA data. If your SAI is significantly higher, then your financial need has decreased, and you might no longer meet the eligibility requirements for the grants you received last year.

See step 11 below to explore Special Circumstance adjustments.

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

  • Login to the Towson Online Services Student Dashboard.
  • From the main Navigation Menu, choose Financials, and Accept/Decline Awards. 
  • Choose your Aid Year and accept or decline each aid offer.
  • If you accept loan offers, you don't have to borrow the maximum amount. To borrow lower amounts, first accept the loan, then enter your amount.

Attention Maryland residents — If the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) offers you any of these state aid programs, they will notify you directly. To accept MHEC aid offers, you must visit their MDCAPS web site.

2. Carefully Read All of Your Award Guide

Your Award Guide explains your aid offers, how they were calculated and the conditions of your awards. You are required to read this guide because it explains your aid responsibilities and the terms of your awards.

3. Calculate How Much You Want to Borrow This Year

Your Award Notification lists the maximum amounts students can borrow from the Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loan programs. 

Parents of dependent students can also borrow PLUS Loans.  The maximum PLUS loan amount = your Cost of Attendance Budget minus all your other financial aid.

You can borrow loans to cover your TU charges and your other living and personal expenses.  To calculate how much you need to borrow for this academic year (Fall & Spring), compare your total grants/scholarships to your estimated costs.  To estimate your costs, review our estimated Cost of Attendance Budgets or our current rates for tuition, room, and board. 

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, and Parent PLUS Loans have the highest interest rates.  Private loan interest rates vary based on lender and credit scores.

Loan Origination Fees

The following loan origination fees will be deducted from federal loans with first disbursements between 10/1/2020 and 9/30/2024.

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

4. Borrowing Federal Direct Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans

Every year, you must accept or decline your loan offers and choose your loan amounts at Towson Online Services.

If this is the first time you are borrowing a direct loan at TU do the following:

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

5. Borrowing Federal Parent PLUS Loans

If your parent wants to borrow a PLUS Loan, please follow our PLUS loan instructions.  For information on maximum PLUS loan amounts, see step 4 above.

6. 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 job search instructions on the FWS program page.

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.

7. Will You Receive any other Aid/Benefits that Are Not Listed on Your TU Aid Notification?

If yes, you must submit a Notice of Additional Resources Form from Forms & Online Services. Examples of aid include private scholarships, and tuition waivers.

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

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

9. Review/Update Your Housing Status

On your FAFSA, what housing status did you list for TU?

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

If your TU housing status changes at any time, you must notify TU and MHEC.

To notify TU, submit a Housing Verification Form from Forms & Online Services.

If you have any state aid from MHEC, you must also update your housing status in their MDCAPS system.

10. 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.  

11. 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.

12. Check Your TU Email Weekly

It is extremely important to 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 Outlook instructions to forward your TU email to that account.

13. Check Your To Dos Weekly

Check your To Dos list on the Towson Online Services Student Dashboard.

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

14. Text Notification Service

Please opt-in to our financial aid text service to receive important reminders about aid deadlines and missing application items. 

You can opt-out at any time by replying STOP to any message.  We can't receive text messages, and we will continue to send most aid notices to your TU email address.

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, which is available from Forms & Online Services. 

16. Bill Payment, Aid Disbursement and Financial 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 of 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.  See Forms & Online Services.