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Financial Aid for Undergraduate Students

In a typical year, at least 97 percent of undergraduate students seeking degrees or certificates at La 91Ö±²¥ University receive financial aid. More than three quarters of the money is grants and scholarships, which you don’t pay back.

The key to receiving almost all types of financial aid is filing the , commonly known as the FAFSA. La 91Ö±²¥ requires just two other steps to complete your aid application.

Types of Financial Aid

Here are the financial aid options that are available for undergraduate students:

  1. Grants are for students with financial need. You don’t have to pay them back.
  2. Scholarships can be based on merit, membership in a particular group, having a certain background or skill, or other factors. Like grants, you don’t have to pay them back.
  3. Loans are available to all students and parents. Students who have financial need qualify for subsidized loans; others can get unsubsidized loans. Subsidized loans do not accrue interest while you’re enrolled in at least six credits at La 91Ö±²¥; unsubsidized loans do. Students may take some, all, or none of the loans offered. La 91Ö±²¥ works with every family to ensure that they only take what they can reasonably afford.
  4. Work-study, where you receive a paycheck for working at a campus job, is available to students with financial need. Students who receive work-study have a cap on how much they can earn, although their actual earnings depend on their hourly wage and how many hours they work. Students without financial need are eligible for other campus jobs.

All four kinds of aid are available for fall and spring semesters, and some are available for summer semesters, too.

To continue receiving financial aid, you must file a FAFSA every year and maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Talk to Financial Aid BEFORE You Drop a Class or Leave School

If you drop a class or drop out of school, you may have to pay back some or all of your financial aid. This makes it essential for you to speak with a Financial Aid counselor before you drop a class. The counselor will help you understand your options so you can choose the best one.

If you want to drop a class because you’re having difficulty, a better option is to get Supplemental Instruction or tutoring at the Center for Academic Achievement. Both services are free. The center provides group Supplemental Instruction for early courses in biology, business, and chemistry, and it offers private tutoring for more than 70 undergraduate classes across the curriculum.

What to Do If Your Family’s Finances Change

Because your FAFSA asks for income information from two years ago, your need for financial aid may have changed before you start classes. A family health crisis may have consumed money saved for college, you or a parent may have lost a job, or you may have experienced some other unexpected hardship.

If you experienced a change in your family’s finances, contact the Financial Aid office to see if we can increase your financial aid award. It may not be possible, but we’ll do the best we can to get you more money. Having documentation of your misfortune increases your chances for success.