Financial Aid News
2019-2020 UMW Scholarship Application: The 2019-2020 Scholarship Application is now available for Foundation and Departmental scholarships. The deadline date is May 15, Students are encouraged to speak with their academic departments to determine the availability of departmental scholarship funds and the individual deadline dates as these deadlines may differ from the May 15th deadline for general scholarships.
Reminder of Virginia State Grant Program Changes: The State Council of Higher Education of Virginia (SCHEV) has changed the renewal requirements for the Virginia Guaranteed Assistance Program (VGAP). While this program still requires that students maintain continuous, full time enrollment, it is now required that students must advance a class level (30 credits/academic year) at the completion of each full academic year.
- Students may use enrollment from the summer 2019 semester to meet the 30 credit/academic year requirement, contingent upon fund availability. Students taking summer courses at UMW may contact the Office of Financial Aid at finaid@umw.edu to request a re-evaluation after summer courses have been scheduled. Students taking summer courses at a different institution may also use those credits toward the 30 credit/academic year requirement if those courses are approved by the UMW Registrar’s Office to transfer back to UMW as a part of their degree program. In this case, students can contact the Office of Financial Aid for further instructions.
- Other VGAP requirements include:
- FAFSA EFC (Estimated Family Contribution) of less than $10,000
- Virginia resident,
- 0 CGPA and Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements
- Must meet FAFSA priority deadline and all other institutional regulations to receive this grant.
- Students not eligible for VGAP are automatically considered for the Virginia Commonwealth Grant and are encouraged to complete the online UMW Scholarship Application.
2019-2020 FAFSA Verification Process: Approximately 30% of students that complete the 2019-20 FAFSA are selected for the Federal FAFSA Verification Process. This process ensures that the FAFSA contains accurate information. During this process, the Office of Financial Aid is required to collect student and/or family financial information, which is then compared to the information on the FAFSA. Students may review any Verification requirements through their MyUMW portal and Banner SSB. Verification documents are due on June 1, 2019. These requirements include (but are not limited to):
- Online Verification Worksheet: The Verification Worksheet for both Dependent and Independent Student must be submitted electronically. The form requires the student to complete questions regarding their household and income, and then is automatically sent to a parent email address provided by the student. The parent must then confirm their income information and submit the form. The Verification requires that students/parents attach a tax return transcript or complete IRS Data Retrieval through the FAFSA, W-2 wage forms, and other requested information.
- Copy of 2017 IRS Tax Return Transcript: The Transcript is an “official” version of a tax return. This can be ordered free of charge from irs.gov.
- Copies of 2017 W2’s, 1099’s, or other Wage Statements: These must match the income information provided on the corresponding federal tax returns.
Tessa Howard, Senior Assistant Director, Financial Aid