If you enroll in courses that fulfill general education, major or available electives towards your degree, typically those courses are aid-eligible. There are specific state and federal rules that determine whether a course is eligible for financial aid. We will base your financial aid package upon the number of aid-eligible credit hours, not your total credit hours. The guidance that follows can help students and advisors identify courses that are aid-eligible, and by doing so prevent financial aid cancellations and reductions.
University of Baltimore has recognized all undergraduate majors as being aid-eligible degree programs, as well as an undergraduate certificate. Unfortunately, minors are not recognized as being eligible for MD-CAPs or federal aid programs. Minors are only aid-eligible when included as a degree requirement for a major, when satisfying other requirements, or when taken beyond 12 credits of degree requirements.
State Aid: A course is eligible for state aid programs if the course satisfies a degree requirement in a student’s major.
Federal: A course is eligible for federal aid programs if the course satisfies a degree requirement in the major.
If a student enrolls in at least 12 credits of degree requirements in any major they are considered full-time for federal aid programs. Students may be part-time and remain eligible for most federal aid programs. However, if a student moves from full-time to part-time status, some federal aid programs may need to be reduced or cancelled. Repeat coursework only counts as required under certain conditions.
Repeat Coursework Financial Aid Policy
Federal and state regulations limit the number of times a student may repeat a course and receive financial aid for that course.
Ineligible repeated courses will be excluded from counting in the student’s enrollment for financial aid purposes.
A student may receive aid when repeating a course that was previously failed (received a failing or unsatisfactory grade), regardless of the number of times the course was attempted and failed providing you meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress standards.
A student may receive aid to repeat a previously passed course (grade of ‘D’ or higher) one additional time. Once a student has completed any course twice with a passing grade (grade of ‘D-’ or higher), he/she is no longer eligible to receive aid for that course.
This rule applies whether or not the student received aid for earlier enrollments in the course.
Important Note: The Office of Financial Aid does not determine if a student may repeat a class, only whether a student may be eligible for financial aid for a repeat class. In addition, every repeated course affects Satisfactory Academic Progress calculations; all repeated courses are counted as attempted credit hours.
Below are some example situations and whether a 3rd attempt is available for federal financial aid.
| Course | 1st Class Attempt | 2nd Class Attempt | 3rd Class Attempt | Is 3rd Attempt Available for Federal Financial Aid? | Eligibility Rationale |
| ACCT 201 | F or W | F or W | Enrolled | Yes | Student has not yet passed the course, the 3rd attempt is eligible for federal financial aid. |
| BIOL 121 | F or W | D | Enrolled | Yes | Student has not yet passed the course, the 3rd attempt is eligible for federal financial aid. |
| WRIT 300 | D or above | D or above | Enrolled | No | Student has passed course twice, the 3rd attempt is not eligible for federal financial aid. |
| CRJU 301 | D or above | D or above | Enrolled | No | Student passed course first attempt and failed the second attempt, the 3rd attempt is not eligible for federal financial aid. |
Disclaimer: The Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to reduce or cancel awards based on funding levels, change in enrollment, reduction in costs, etc.
Withdrawing from some or all of your classes can impact semester charges (e.g., tuition, fees, etc.) and financial aid, leaving students with an unexpected account balance for a semester. There are two questions that students want to answer before making the final decision to withdraw:
How will this affect my charges and financial aid this semester?
How will this affect my financial aid next semester?
If a student is considering withdrawing from some or all their courses, we encourage the student to contact the financial aid office and ask these two questions. It can impact either this semester or next, both, or neither. The impact depends upon the following factors: the timing of the withdrawal (i.e., the effective date of the withdrawal); the length of the course; the different aid programs in the aid package; and the number of credits retained after withdrawing.
Phone: 410.837.4763
Email: financialaid@ubalt.edu