Eligibility Requirements
In order to be considered for most federal, state and institutional financial aid, a student must:
Financial aid applications must be completed annually. All students are encouraged to apply for financial aid. In order to prevent any delays in the processing of your financial aid, the priority filing deadline for the fall semester is August 6th and for the spring semester, December 10th.
Summer financial aid funds are limited to Pell Grant ONLY and are available on a limited basis.
In order to apply for financial aid, students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and supply all requested documentation in accordance with the priority deadlines.
First, you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). We strongly recommend students complete their FAFSA online. The form can be accessed online at www.fafsa.ed.gov.
To complete the FAFSA for the 2008-2009 academic year, you need the following 2007 income documents:
Urban College’s Title IV Code is 031305.
In order to complete the FAFSA online, both a student and a parent require a PIN number to access, make corrections, and electronically sign the FAFSA. To obtain a PIN, please visit www.pin.ed.gov .
Students should keep a copy of their FAFSA and all documents that were used to complete their FAFSA in an accessible place. FAFSA randomly chooses approximately 1 in 3 FAFSA’s for a process called Verification. If your FAFSA is chosen, you will be asked to provide the documents you used to complete the FAFSA directly to our office. Applicants are notified in writing if additional documentation, such as tax returns, is needed.
Priority Application Deadlines
Enrollment Date |
Priority Application Deadline Date |
September, 2008 |
August 6, 2008 |
January, 2009 |
December 10, 2008 |
June, 2008 |
March 24, 2008 |
Late applications will be considered if funds are available.
TERI College Planning Centers can assist any student in completing the financial aid application. Simply call the office at 617-536-0200 to schedule an appointment. A copy of the 2007 Federal Income Tax return, plus a copy of the high school diploma or GED certificate are required to qualify for financial aid. The TERI College Planning Centers have a variety of locations with the main location being in the Boston Public Library. Their hours of operation are Monday-Thursday from 9am-9pm and Friday-Saturday 9am-5pm. Help is available in English, Spanish, Chinese, and Russian.
Types of Grants
Federal Funds
Pell Grants provide funds to eligible students who demonstrate financial need. Amounts range from $250 to $4,731 for the 2008–2009 academic year. The award is based on need as well as the number of credits enrolled per semester. Pell Grants do not have to be repaid. Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), available to eligible students, are funds that do not have to be repaid. Priority for SEOG is given to Pell Grant recipients. Amounts range from $200 to $800 for fall and spring terms. Since funds are limited, priority will be given to students who apply by August 5, 2008.
State Funds
The priority application deadline date for Massachusetts funds is May 1, 2008. MassGrants are awarded by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to eligible full-time students. MassGrants may range from $150 to $1,150 for the fall and spring terms and do not have to be repaid. Massachusetts Part Time Grants are awarded by Urban College to eligible students who complete at least 6 but fewer than 12 credit hours for the fall and spring terms. They range from $200 to $450 for fall and spring terms, and do not have to be repaid.
The Urban College of Boston recognizes outstanding students for their accomplishments through a variety of scholarships and awards.
The Urban College of Boston Annual Faculty Recognition Award
This award is presented by the UCB faculty to an outstanding student who demonstrates high academic performance and who has exhibited significant progress in professional development.
Jill Alexander Award for Excellence
This award, named in honor of Ms. Jill Alexander – first Director of the Urban College Program -- was established to recognize students who emulate Ms. Alexander’s dedication, specifically in their ability to demonstrate leadership and overall commitment to the Urban College of Boston.
Vivienne S. Thomson Memorial Scholarship
Named in memory of Ms. Vivienne S. Thomson, founding trustee of the Urban College of Boston and a former President and long-time ABCD board member, this award recognizes those students whose lives have been significantly impacted by disabilities. This award was established to honor Ms. Thomson’s memory and inspire others in overcoming obstacles in their lives.
Roberta L. Nourse Memorial Award
This award is named for Ms. Roberta L. Nourse, a long-time faculty and staff member of the Urban College of Boston. It recognizes students who exemplify the qualities Ms. Nourse valued, including perseverance, effort, and tenacity.
Robert M. Coard Scholarship
In 2002 the first Robert M. Coard Scholarship for Endicott College was awarded by Dr. Richard Wylie, President of Endicott College. Each year this full scholarship will enable one graduating UCB student to continue his/her undergraduate degree at Endicott College. The scholarship is renewable for two years if the recipient maintains a 2.5 GPA, and covers tuition, room, board, and books.
Moses and Hannah Malkin Scholarship
The Malkin Family Foundation established the Moses and Hannah Malkin Scholarship Fund in 2002. Through their generosity, 32 students have received additional financial assistance to continue their studies. In order to qualify for this scholarship, students must satisfy requirements for other financial aid, and must have completed at least 36 semester credit hours with a minimum grade point average of 3.50.
Information regarding all scholarships is available in the office of the Director of Financial Aid, ext. 6220.
Useful Links
Satisfactory Academic Progress
The U.S. Department of Education requires colleges to determine whether financial aid is being utilized in the most productive way in assisting students to achieve their goal of attaining a degree or certificate. Money is finite; taxes to fund federal and state financial aid programs even more so. Because of this, the U.S. Department of Education wants funds awarded to students who are academically progressing towards achieving this goal.
It is the duty of the Urban College Financial Aid Office to monitor each financial aid applicants’ academic work and to confirm the student’s academic success and continued financial aid eligibility or to determine that if a student is not academically progressing toward the goal of degree attainment, to limit those finite funds until a time when (and if) a student is academically eligible again.
What can affect my financial aid eligibility?
Students who are not achieving academic progress as measured by the Financial Aid Office usually have experienced one (or a combination of several) of the following academic difficulties:
How does the Financial Aid Office measure my academic progress?
In order to continue to receive financial aid consideration students must continue to make satisfactory progress towards a degree or certificate. Students are considered to be achieving academic progress if they complete at least 67% or more of the total number of credits that they have attempted at Urban College and are meeting the following minimum cumulative grade point average:
Credits Attempted Cumulative Grade Point Average
Below 9 credits …………………….….. 1.5
10-21 credits ………………………….. 1.70
22-45 credits ………………………….. 1.90
Above 46 credits……………………... .. 2.00
Finally, you must successfully complete the credits required for your degree within 150% of the standard length of your academic major. For example, if you are majoring in an associate degree that requires 60 credits for completion, you must complete your degree requirements by the time you have attempted 90 credits or you would lose your financial aid eligibility.
What happens to my financial aid if I fail or withdraw from classes for which I am registered?
To remain eligible for financial aid, you must successfully complete a minimum of 67% of the total of all your classes since you began your studies at Urban and maintain a minimum GPA as listed above. Since this measurement is based upon your cumulative academic work at Urban, your performance in an individual course may have no impact on your financial aid eligibility. HOWEVER, accumulation of failed courses, withdrawals and incomplete grades could affect your eligibility.
What if I drop some or all of my classes before and/or during the semester drop/add period – could this affect my academic progress?
No. The credits that you drop during that period of time will not be counted as credits attempted when calculating the percentage of credits completed to determine if academic progress has been achieved.
What happens to my financial aid eligibility if I withdraw from some, but not all of my courses after the drop/add deadline? Can withdrawing from a course now affect my financial aid in later semesters?
In most cases, your financial aid eligibility for the current semester will not change. However, as mentioned above, accumulated withdrawals could affect your eligibility as all course withdrawals decrease your completion rate that must be maintained above 66% for financial aid eligibility to continue for subsequent semesters.
What happens to my financial aid eligibility if I withdraw from all of my courses after the drop/add deadline?
Withdrawing from all courses after the drop/add deadline is considered withdrawing from the college. If you do this before 60% of the academic semester has passed, your financial aid eligibility must be recalculated per federal and state regulations. This recalculation will determine how much of your financial aid awarded has been earned during the weeks before your official withdrew from courses. When the recalculation is done, a balance could be owed to the Urban Student Payment Office.
What if I don’t officially withdraw from the college but I stop attending all of my semester classes? Can this affect my financial aid?
The U.S. Department of Education mandates that students who fail all of their courses during an academic semester must prove that they continued their attendance in those courses past the 60% point of the semester. Urban complies with this requirement by verifying attendance in class. Failure to do so will require the financial aid office to recalculate a student’s financial aid eligibility and will cause a balance to be owed to the college for the semester; this is true even when a refund check had been issued to the student for the semester.
Withdrawing from class – Returning Grant Funds
Students are only eligible for funding if they are attending classes and in good academic standing.
The calculation of the return of Title IV Funds is determined by the date that the student withdraws, which is:
The term "Title IV Funds’ includes the following programs: