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Minimum Credits for Aid

You don’t necessarily have to be enrolled full-time to receive aid.

At times, you do need to take a minimum number of financial aid-eligible credits for partial aid. The minimum requirements are the same for each fall, spring, and summer semester.

It’s important to finalize your class schedule as early as possible. The Census Date, or 10th day of the semester is the final day to add classes for financial aid purposes. Classes added after this date won’t count toward your financial aid enrollment.

Type of AidUndergraduate Credits
(Financial Aid Eligible) 		Graduate Credits
(Financial Aid Eligible)
Pell Grant1-12+ credits*N/A
SEOG (grant)Varies depending on funding availability. Disbursement priority given to students enrolled at least half-time (6+ credits)-
Work-study awardminimum 6 creditsminimum 5 credits
Loans - Subsidized minimum 6 credits**N/A
Loans - Unsubsidizedminimum 6 credits**minimum 5 credits**
PLUS Loans (Parent or Graduate)minimum 6 creditsminimum 5 credits
Scholarships12 + credits for most. Check with your donor.9+ credits for most. Check with your donor.
*The amount of Pell Grant is reduced when you enroll in fewer than 12 financial aid eligible credits, however, nearly all Pell Grant recipients will receive some Pell Grant even as part-time students.

**Student loans require a minimum half-time enrollment. If you drop below half-time, any refunded loan amount due to tuition changes will be returned to the lender to reduce the amount borrowed and not refunded directly to you.

 

In some situations, if you attend less than full-time (less than 12 undergraduate credits, less than 9 graduate credits), you may experience reductions to aid due to Cost of Attendance decreases.  If you plan to be a part-time student, check in with us to learn about impacts to your aid.