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The primary mission of the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid (OSFA) is to assist prospective and currently enrolled students and their families in securing the most suitable financial aid as the student pursues a degree or teaching certificate at UNCW. Through our outreach efforts, we support the University’s mission, including the commitment to public service and the encouragement of access to college. To this end, we administer federal, state and institutional student financial aid programs in excess of $100M to assist UNCW students.
Eligibility for the majority of our programs is determined using the U.S. Department of Education’s Federal Methodology.
UNCW offers assistance in the form of scholarships, grants, loans, and Federal Work-Study jobs or a combination of these programs. For most graduate students, federal student loans are the primary source of financial assistance. Students are encouraged to file the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) every October 1st to receive priority consideration for aid. Aid funds are disbursed to the students’ account at the beginning of each semester. Aid will continue to be disbursed through the rest of the semester as student’s financial aid files become complete. Refunds for overpayments of aid are processed regularly for students who have a credit balance. In order to receive a refund, the student needs to access the Student Accounts website to set up for e-refund to ensure there is no refunding delay. Contact Student Accounts at (910) 962-4281 with any questions about refunds.
To apply for Federal or State financial aid or institutional need-based aid, degree-seeking and teacher certificate students must submit a FAFSA. Some students must submit other documentation as requested by the OSFA. To receive federally-funded financial aid, students must be making satisfactory academic progress as determined by the OSFA; be a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen; and meet other criteria as specified by the U.S. Department of Education including at least half-time enrollment status. Questions concerning financial aid at UNCW should be directed to the OSFA. The office is located in the Warwick Center.
Graduate Enrollment Status for Financial Aid Purposes
For financial aid purposes, the following definitions apply for determining graduate enrollment status during the academic year (fall, spring and summer semesters), but this could be assessed differently by external areas like U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs:
| Enrollment Status |
Graduate Level Credit Hours* |
| Full time |
9 or more |
| 3/4 time |
6.0 - 8.5 |
| 1/2 time |
4.5 - 5.5 |
| Less than 1/2 time |
0 - 4.0 |
*Number of credit hours in which the student is enrolled at the end of the drop/add period. Students enrolled in a master’s program must be earning credit hours in a qualified program in order to be eligible for financial aid. Note: a student may also be considered full-time when enrolled for less than nine hours if one of several conditions are met. See full-time status under the Academic Regulations and Procedures section.
Graduate students must be enrolled at least half-time in graduate-level courses to qualify for most financial aid programs.
Total credit hours for all summer sessions are used to define enrollment status in summer semester for financial aid purposes.
In order to receive a refund in the first session of Summer School, graduate students must be registered for at least 4.5 hours during Summer I. If the student registers for 3 hours in each session, the refund will not be available until the first day of class of the second session. All students, including graduate students, must be attending at least half-time prior to a refund being issued.
Classes may be held until Summer II aid is applied to your account. Students are responsible for book money and living expenses until Summer II classes start at the end of June.
Students who need summer school aid must complete a summer school application available at www.uncw.edu/finaid after March 1. In order to have summer school aid processed in time to hold classes, the application must be received no later than one week prior to the start of the session you are attending.
The OSFA provides financial aid outreach to educate prospective and currently enrolled students on the financial aid process and on how to manage loans. For more, contact our office or join our Chat Tuesday financial literacy programming offered year-round: https://uncw.edu/seahawk-life/money-matters/financial-aid.
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