Consumer Information

PHILOSOPHY OF FINANCIAL AID

The Office of Financial Aid at Texas A&M International University (TAMIU) is available to assist students who have difficulty meeting the cost of attending the University. Although the primary responsibility for financing an education rests with the student and the student's immediate family, it is recognized that many students will require additional assistance in order to finance their educational goals. Therefore, TAMIU offers financial assistance based on documented financial need to students who would otherwise not be able to attend the University.

STATEMENT OF NONDISCRIMINATION

Texas A&M International University is an equal opportunity, affirmative action, coeducational institution which does not discriminate on the basis of race, creed, color, sex, disability, national or ethnic origin.

GENERAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

To be eligible for federal and state student aid, an applicant must:

1. Be a U. S. citizen or reside in the U.S. for other than a temporary purpose. Demonstrate a documented need for need-based financial assistance. Be in good academic standing and maintain a satisfactory level of academic progress toward a degree. Enroll for the course load required by the requested aid program; and
2. Not be in default on any educational loan, or owe a refund or repayment on any educational grant.
   

STUDENT RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES

It is the student's right to know:

- what financial assistance is available

- the deadlines for submitting applications

- the cost of attending the University

- the elements of determining financial need and how much need has been met

- the University's refund and repayment policy

- the University's satisfactory academic progress policy

 -the terms of student loans

It is the student's responsibility to:

- request additional clarification or reconsideration of any aspect of the aid application or package

- review all information about the University

- complete all required application forms accurately

- submit all requested information in a timely manner

- read and understand forms which require a signature

- know and comply with all deadlines

- know and comply with the refund and repayment policy

- maintain a satisfactory level of academic progress

- notify lender of any status changes.

ADDITIONAL FINANCIAL AID INFORMATION

Additional information concerning financial aid can be found in "The Student Guide," (www.ed.gov/prog_info/SFA/StudentGuide/) a publication of the U. S. Department of Education, or "Financial Aid for Texas Students," (www.collegefortexans.com) a publication of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. These publications are available upon request through the Financial Aid Office.

FINANCIAL AID COUNSELING

The Financial Aid Office offers personal counseling to students and parents concerning aid opportunities, application requirements, program guidelines, and student eligibility. Students and parents may call or visit the office during office hours for any needed assistance. Appointments are encouraged, but not necessary.

APPLYING FOR FINANCIAL AID

The application period begins January 1 of each year for the following award year (Fall through Summer II). As soon as possible after January 1, an applicant should the application process. The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) should be completed and submitted electronically at www.fafsa.ed.gov. All other required forms should be completed and forwarded directly to the TAMIU Financial Aid Office.

Approximately 7-10 days from the filing date of the FAFSA, the applicant will receive a Student Aid Report (SAR) from the processor. If you provided an email address on your FAFSA application, you will receive an electronic SAR from the federal processor. The applicant should review Part I of the SAR for any additional steps required by the processor.

Applications for assistance cannot be fully considered until all of the required documents are received by the Financial Aid Office and the applicant's admission status as a regular degree-seeking student is approved by the Admissions Office.

Applicants must re-apply for financial aid each year. The application process must be completed by the last class day of the application period to be considered for aid for that period of enrollment. Financial Aid cannot be received for periods of non- enrollment.

PRIORITY DEADLINES

In order to receive full consideration for financial assistance and to ensure the determination of eligibility by the beginning of a given application period, an applicant must submit all required application forms to the Financial Aid Office by the priority deadline dates below:

Completed applications will be processed on a "first-completed, first-awarded" basis. If the priority deadline is not met, the applicant should make other arrangements for the payment of initial tuition and fees with the Business Office.

THE AWARDING PROCESS: DETERMINING FINANCIAL NEED

Financial need is the difference between the cost of attending the University and the resources available to the student to help meet that cost. Thus, financial need is determined to be:

  Cost of Attendance
- Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
- Other Available Resources
--------------------------------------------
= Financial Need

Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is the amount a student and/or parent(s) can reasonably be expected to contribute towards educational expenses. The actual amount of the EFC is dependent upon family and student income, assets, family size, number of family members in college, taxes paid and age of the older parent. A student's EFC is determined by the information provided to the U. S. Department of Education thru the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). All applicants are required to inform the Financial Aid Office of any additional assistance to be received from outside sources during the application period.

AWARDING FINANCIAL AID

Once documented need is established, the Office of Financial Aid will consider programs for which the applicant is eligible and has expressed an interest. It is impractical for the aid applicant to expect the total calculated need to be met with gift-aid (grants and scholarships). In order to meet as much of the documented need as possible, the applicant must apply for a self-help program (loans or employment). Every effort will be made to meet the applicant's documented need through a combination of aid programs. The amount awarded will be based on the financial need of the applicant, the limitations imposed by the various financial aid programs, and the availability of funding. The total award may be less than the documented need because of fund limitations, an unusually large student budget, the applicant's aid request limitation, and/or prescribed program allowances. Aid applications will be reviewed and awards made as long as funds are available on a "first-completed, first-awarded" basis. Once a financial aid package has been awarded, an award notification letter will be sent to the applicant indicating the types and amounts of aid offered. You must review your award notification, accept or decline all the financial assistance offered to you online at http://uonline.tamiu.edu. Failure to do so may result in all aid being canceled. No aid will be disbursed until all requirements are met with the Office of Financial Aid.

If, after the aid package has been awarded, it is determined that an additional resource is available to the student to help meet the cost of attendance, the Financial Aid Office will be required to recalculate the applicant's eligibility to include the additional resource. If the additional resource causes an over award situation, the student's aid package will be adjusted to compensate for the over award. Adjustments may include canceling or decreasing previously awarded aid. A revised award notification letter will be sent to the applicant indicating any revisions made to the aid package.

COST OF ATTENDANCE

The cost of attending Texas A&M International University varies with enrollment status, housing situations, and personal lifestyles. Standard student expense budgets are prepared each year to be used in determining a student's financial need. Budgets are constructed for students living at home with parents, living on-campus, and living off-campus. Each standard expense budget includes cost components defined by law for tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses. Increases may be allowed for dependent care costs and disability expenses in documented individual student circumstances. Budgets are constructed to estimate expenses for periods of enrollment for the Fall and Spring semesters as well as the Summer terms. Examples of Fall 2008/Spring 2009 student expense budgets are as follows:

UNDERGRADUATE YEARLY BUDGETS (30 CREDIT HOURS)

 Undergraduate student living on-campus

 Undergraduate student living off-campus

 Undergraduate student living at home (with parent/guardian)

GRADUATE (MASTER/DOCTORAL) YEARLY BUDGETS
(20 CREDIT HOURS)

Graduate student living on-campus

 Graduate student living off-campus

 Graduate student living at home (with parent/guardian)

Estimated student expense budget totals may vary from award year to award year due to possible increases in the individual cost components not available at the time of this publication.

PAYMENT OF TUITION AND FEES
Financial aid is credited to a student's account balance once a student has a complete financial aid folder, is enrolled for the current term and all other requirements are met.

The following grants will automatically be credited to the current semester* account when students enroll for the required number of hours for which they were awarded and have met all requirements:

Federal Pell Grant
Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
National Science & Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (SMART)
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)
Texas Public Educational Grant (TPEG)
Resident Assistance Grant (TAMIU Grant)
Towards Excellence, Access, and Success Grant (Texas Grant)
Leveraging Educational Assistance Program (LEAP)
Special Leveraging Educational Assistance Program (SLEAP)
THECB Nursing Scholarships
THECB Fifth Year Accounting Scholarship
All Scholarships awarded by TAMIU

*Students are responsible for all past due balances at the University. As per federal regulations, current or future financial aid CANNOT be used to pay prior term balances.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Since financial aid awards are automatically applied to your account, your classes, or portion thereof, will NOT be dropped for non-payment. If you change your mind about attending Texas A&M International University, be sure to notify the University Registrar’s Office to cancel your classes; the Business Office to cancel your tuition and fee bill; and the Office of Financial Aid to cancel your financial aid awards.

RETURN OF FUNDS DUE TO WITHDRAWAL

A student who receives financial aid and withdraws from the University may be required to repay all or part of the aid awarded. An application for withdrawal from the University must be initiated in the University Registrar’s Office. As part of this withdrawal process, students are required to secure approval from the Financial Aid Office.

As required by federal regulations, the Financial Aid Office must determine the amount of Title IV aid that a student earned if they withdraw completely. The Title IV programs that are covered by this law are: Federal Pell Grants, Academic Competetiveness Grants (ACG), National SMART Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Stafford Loans and PLUS Loans. Calculation of repayment is made at the time of withdrawal by determining the amount of aid the student was awarded, the amount of awarded aid the student earned, and ultimately the amount of awarded aid the student did not earn that must be returned to the aid program(s). The amount of assistance that a student earns is determined on a prorata basis. For example, if a student completes 30% of the payment period then they have earned 30% of the assistance they were originally scheduled to receive. A student is considered to have earned 100% of their aid once they complete 60% of the payment period. The following steps are used to calculate the amount that must be returned to the aid programs(s):

1. Determination of the withdrawal date.
2. Determination of the amount of aid the student earned. This is done by multiplying the % of the period of enrollment that has been completed x the aid that was disbursed and/or could have been disbursed as of the date of withdrawal.
3. Determination of the amount of aid the student did not earn. This is done by subtracting the "earned amount" from the aid disbursed as of the date of withdrawal.
4. Determination of the amount of aid the University must return. This is the amount that is equal to the total institutional charges for the payment period x the % of the aid that was unearned.
5. Determination of the amount of aid the student must return. This is the amount that is equal to the aid received by the student for non-institutional expenses x the % of the aid that was unearned.

If a student did not receive all of the funds that they earned, they may be due a post-withdrawal disbursement. If the calculation determines that a student is due a post-withdrawal disbursement, the school must obtain the student's permission to disburse any loan funds. Furthermore, the school may keep all or a portion of grant funds to pay for any tuition, fees and room and board charges that are due.

If a student receives excess Title IV funds, both the school and the student are responsible for returning unearned funds. Special rules that apply to the return of the unearned aid include:

1. The University must return the amount of unearned aid that is equal to the total institutional charges for the payment period x the % of the aid that was unearned. In order to satisfy the amount the University must return to the aid programs, a combination of the following resources may be used - aid not yet disbursed to the student, the student's refund as determined by the official refund schedule as posted by the Business Office and an additional amount to be repaid by the student.
2. The student must return the balance of the unearned aid less the amount the University returned. The student's share of loans to be returned may be repaid in accordance with the terms of the loan. Any amount of unearned grant funds that must be returned are called an overpayment. The maximum amount of a grant overpayment that a student must repay is half of the grant funds that they received or were scheduled to receive.Student must make arrangements with the school or the Department of Education to repay unearned grant funds. Students have 45 days from the date of notification by the school to repay unearned funds.
3. Excess funds must be returned in the following order: Unsubsidized Federal Stafford Loans; Subsidized Federal Stafford Loans; Federal PLUS Loans; Federal Pell Grants; Academic Competitivess Grants; national SMART Grants; Federal SEOGs.

The requirements for Title IV program funds when a student withdraws are separate from any refund policy that the University has. Therefore, you may still owe funds to the University to cover unpaid institutional charges. Furthermore, the University may also charge the student for any Title IV funds that the school was required to return. For more information on the University's refund policy, please visit the Office of the University Registrar or refer to the University Catalog.