Financial Aid

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Out of State Students

• Don't wait until you are admitted to apply for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. You can apply as early as January 1st and you should do so as soon as you have your tax information ready. We suggest you complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on-line by March 1st. You need a Federal Personal Identification (PIN) to sign on-line, so be sure to visit the PIN Web Site.

• Out-of-State students do not qualify for North Carolina Grants and some scholarships that are specifically targeted to residents of North Carolina.

• To qualify for federal financial aid, as well as many other forms of financial aid, you must be enrolled as a degree-seeking student or in a qualified certification program. You cannot receive financial aid for audited classes or classes that do not count towards your degree or certification.

• Tuition and fees for students who attend UNCW and do not have in-State residency status are higher than those who are residents of North Carolina. Therefore, out-of-state students have a higher cost of attendance. OSFA awards students all aid for which they are eligible up to their cost of attendance, which includes offers of Stafford Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans and Parent PLUS Loans. PLUS or Alternative loans are often needed to meet tuition, fees and other expenses.

  Cost of Attendance Budgets

• Aside from Direct Student Loans, FFELP Loans and Parent PLUS Loans, there are also alternative student loans. Alternative Student Loans are provided by independent lending agencies and are not regulated by the Federal Direct Student Loan Program nor the Federal Family Education Loan Program. We recommend borrowing through the alternative loan program as a last resort.

• UNCW offers a limited number of named scholarships. The Application for UNCW Scholarships becomes available on November 15th and is open until April 1st. See the Office of Scholarships & Financial Aid section of the current catalog for a listing of these scholarships.

• Since some financial aid is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis from limited funding, students may not be awarded the same amount in such aid as in prior years. Having a completed and accurate FAFSA on file as soon as possible gives you the best chance of being awarded from these funds. We begin awarding these funds in early March.

• If we have received your FAFSA by March 15th and all necessary documentation is complete and accurate by April 15th, your financial aid should be ready to pay your bill when it comes due.

• Other scholarship opportunities include departmental scholarship programs and the Honors Scholars Program. You can check with your academic department of interest for departmental scholarships. For more information on UNCW's Honors Scholars Program please visit http://www.uncw.edu/honors

• If you are interested in outside scholarship sources, just check out our listing of Scholarship Search Engines and Advertised Scholarships.

• If you do receive a scholarship from an outside source, you must inform our office as soon as possible, in order to update your awards. To speed up the process you should ask the awarding organization to make the scholarship check payable only to UNCW and sent directly to the Office of Scholarhips & Financial Aid. Be sure that the check lists your Student ID and name so we know to whom the scholarship is awarded.