Award Letter Types
The initial award letter that you will receive is marked as Official. Any changes after the Official letter will come to you on a Revised award letter.
Determination of Need
Your eligibility for assistance is determined by using information from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), the UVA Graduate Financial Aid Application and notification of financial assistance from your academic department. The information for Student contribution comes from the FAFSA. Other Resources include room rent and meal values for Resident Staff participation, ROTC scholarships, VEST payments, direct outside awards, etc. Some schools will pay for a student's insurance for the academic year. Insurance is considered a resource and will be applied toward your budget.
Grants and Scholarships
All grants and scholarships are awarded by the individual schools. For additional information about grants and scholarships, please contact your school administrator.
Work Study
You will be awarded Work-Study if you apply for it on the Graduate Financial Aid Application, and if you are eligible for it according to Federal regulations. Work-Study earnings are used to pay indirect educational expenses and will not appear as a credit on your semester bill. You will be paid bi-weekly based upon the number of hours worked during the previous two weeks. You may search for and apply for Work-Study positions online after August 1.
Loans
Our preferred lender for Federal Stafford loans is Bank of America. We will certify your requested loan amount through Bank of America unless you tell us otherwise. Use the Change form that was mailed with your award letter or complete the Financial Aid Change form to make a change to your loan amount or to change your lender.
These loan funds will be disbursed to your university ISIS student account after you have (1) final registered for at least the number of hours specified on the enclosed Change form, (2) submitted a signed Master Promissory Note (MPN), if you are a first-time borrower with Bank of America and the University of Virginia, and (3) completed on-line entrance counseling if you are a first-time borrower. The MPN and on-line entrance counseling information is available at www.bankofamerica.com/uvafinaid.
If you were awarded a Federal Perkins loan, the Master Promissory Note will be mailed separately unless you have previously completed a Perkins MPN with the University of Virginia. Although the loan appears on your bill, no funds are actually available to you until after the promissory note has been completed and returned to our office. If the MPN is not signed and returned to our office by October 1st, the loan will be cancelled and funds will be removed from your account.
Our preferred alternative loan is the GATE (Guaranteed Access to Education) loan from Bank of America. The rates, loan limits and application can be found at www.bankofamerica.com/uvafinaid.
Financial Aid Account Information
Loan funds will be applied first to your university ISIS student account to pay any existing charges such as tuition and fees, etc. All remaining funds will be sent to the student via electronic transfer (Direct Deposit, http://www.virginia.edu/studentaccounts/direct_deposit.html) or paper check mailed to the local address listed with the university. You may update your local address with the University Registrar at www.virginia.edu/ISIS. Since remaining funds will not be available until after final registration, students need to be prepared to cover early semester expenses with other funds.
If you receive financial aid from your academic department after your Federal funds have been awarded, your eligibility for aid will be reassessed. When your Federal aid is reduced by other awards, you will receive written notice of which funds have been reduced and by how much. You may be required to pay back disbursed funds for which you are no longer eligible.
Your financial aid eligibility may also be affected by changes in tuition costs based upon classes added or dropped, a change in residency, changes in course (credit) hours and/or non-topical (research) hours.
Appeals for Reconsideration
Financial aid for 2006 - 2007 is based on the tax year 2005. If your financial situation has changed or you have other situations that may affect your aid eligibility, please complete the Appeals for Reconsideration form.
ISIS On-Line
The Integrated Student Information System (ISIS) is available on-line at: http://www.virginia.edu/isis. You can view your financial aid information as it is awarded and all current billing information.
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