What is Financial Aid?

Financial aid is any money for your college education that comes from resources outside your family.

Undergraduate financial aid at Miami is awarded on the basis of financial need. Assistance generally comes from several sources: grants, scholarships, loans, employment, and outside resources. Grants do not need to be repaid. They include federal, state, and Miami University grants. Self-help refers to money obtained through campus employment and loans.

At Miami, financial aid consists of a combination of several sources of assistance. For example, you may receive a loan, a grant, a scholarship, and employment eligibility - a package that helps make up the difference between the amount your family can afford to contribute and the total cost of one year at Miami.

Scholarships at Miami are awarded based on academic merit, either from high school or at Miami. Other factors such as community involvement and leadership are also considered. Scholarships that are offered for more than one year may require a minimum Grade Point Average (GPA) for renewal. Some scholarships consider financial need as a secondary factor; this may influence your ability to receive a scholarship and the amount of the award.

Applying for Aid at Miami University

Applying for financial aid is a question of sending the right applications to the right places at the right times. See the Financial Aid Timeline for a quick overview of the process. Here's how you start:

Scholarships

All students who apply for admission by January 31 and are admitted to Miami University are considered for the many general scholarships we award to incoming freshmen; no separate application is required.

Miami does have a premier scholarship program, the Harrison Scholarship, which provides a four year renewable award for tuition and fees, room and board. For more information about the Harrison Scholarships, including the Harrison Scholarship Application, visit the Harrison Scholarship website.

Miami has adopted the practice of having a single tuition amount for both Ohio and non-Ohio resident students. To help offset the increase for Ohio residents, all accepted students will receive two scholarships, the Ohio Resident and the Ohio Leader Scholarships.

For current Miami students, you must complete the Returning Student Scholarship Application, which is available in November, to be considered for additional scholarship funds. The deadline for the Returning Student Scholarship Application is March 15.

For more detailed scholarship information, see Scholarships.

Need-Based Financial Aid

The critical element to all need-based financial aid is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), available from your high school guidance counselor, from our office, or online. You submit this form directly to Federal Student Aid Programs. To be considered for all need-based financial aid, first-year students and new transfer students must submit the FAFSA by February 15. For continuing or returning students filing the FAFSA, Miami's priority filing deadline is March 15. Miami's institutional code number is 003077. See Tips for Completing the FAFSA for additional information.

Miami University strongly recommends that all students complete the FAFSA online. Our analysis shows that students who apply online have fewer errors, and receive their financial aid award faster, than those who complete a paper FAFSA.

Using the financial information that you and your family provide on the FAFSA, as well as federally established formulas and policies, the processor will compute your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) toward your education costs for the year.

The next step is for Miami to determine what your costs will be for the year, which is called your cost of attendance (COA). By subtracting your expected family contribution (EFC) from your cost of attendance (COA), we determine your financial need. The amount of your financial need will determine your eligibility for need-based financial aid.

After submitting your FAFSA, in certain circumstances, you may be asked to provide additional information to us. For example, you may be asked to submit a copy of your family's federal income tax return for the previous year. We will re-enter the details from your tax return and re-compute your financial aid eligibility. This process, known as verification, is required by the Federal government.

Filling out the FAFSA and providing any additional information requested is all you need to do to be considered for any Miami grant assistance for which you may be eligible, as well as for federal grants, loans, and work-study.