Eligibility for financial aid

To Be Offered Aid

To be offered federal or state funds administered by UWM’s Financial Aid Office, you must:

File a FAFSA each year.
Be admitted in a degree-granting program or as an eligible non-degree student.
Have a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) certificate.
Be a U.S. citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
Have a valid Social Security Number.
Not be in default on a student loan. Review your federal loans in your dashboard at studentaid.gov.
Not owe an overpayment on any federal aid.
Not be delinquent on court-ordered child support and/or maintenance (this applies only to State of Wisconsin-controlled grants.)
Certify that you will use student aid only for educational purposes.
Not be incarcerated. Students with criminal convictions have limited eligibility. Federal law requires students to inform the Financial Aid Office of their incarceration.

In addition to the above requirements, to receive aid, you must:

Be enrolled in a minimum of six credits as an undergraduate student (except for Pell Grant consideration), four credits as a graduate student, or three credits as a dissertator. This is considered half-time enrollment and most financial aid programs require at least this enrollment level.
If retaking a class you already passed (e.g., to receive a better grade), the course may be repeated only once to be counted toward enrollment status for financial aid eligibility. If this passed course continues to be repeated, Title IV federal funds can no longer pay for this repeated course.
Not be receiving financial aid from another institution for the same enrollment period.
Meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards as defined by the Financial Aid Office.
Be within the yearly and aggregate limits based on the specific loan and/or grant.
Some types of aid will have additional requirements to complete. Check your PAWS To Do List and read your emails for details.