Enrollment Requirements for Financial Aid

There are some minimum enrollment requirements that you’ll need to meet in order to qualify for financial aid. These requirements are mostly based on your cost of attendance and student classification.

Cost of Attendance

During the fall and spring semesters, undergraduate students’ cost of attendance is based on full-time enrollment (12+ hours). Graduate students’ cost of attendance is based on full-time enrollment (9 hours). If your actual enrollment does not match your cost of attendance on your financial aid notification (FAN), you will need to report your expected enrollment on your FAN or your financial aid will not be disbursed.

Disbursement of Grants & Loans & Enrollment

The number of hours you enroll for a semester will have an impact on the disbursement of your financial aid.

Please view the specifics for enrollment requirements for participating in the Texas Grant and the Office of Student Success. You can view our Types of Aid page for specific requirements for other funds.

Undergraduate Enrollment Requirements

Graduate/Doctoral Enrollment Requirements

Law Students

Texas Law students can find the minimum hours and other financial aid policies and resources on the School of Law website.

Enrollment Requirements for Grants

For fall and spring, grants are offered based on full-time enrollment (12+ hours for undergraduates and 9+ hours for graduates). A minimum half-time enrollment (6 hours for undergraduates and 5 hours for graduates in fall/spring) is required for disbursement of grants. Grants will disburse as follows based on enrollment:

Full-time: 100%

3/4 time: 75%

1/2 time: 50%

For questions regarding the disbursement of a specific grant, please email please email us at onestop@utexas.edu.

Enrollment Requirements for Federal Loans

In fall and spring, Federal Loans require a minimum half-time enrollment (6+ hours undergraduates, 5+ hours graduates) to be eligible. Your cost of attendance must match your actual attendance in order for your loans to disburse. Undergraduates are automatically set with a full-time (12+ hours) cost of attendance and graduates are automatically set with a part-time (5 hours) cost of attendance when offered. During the semester we review your account to determine if you registered for full time or part-time. If at census you are registered less than what your cost of attendance is set for, then your account will be updated which could cause a change to your financial aid offer.

Undergraduates Graduating Semester

If you are an undergraduate in your graduating semester, we are required by federal regulation to prorate the Federal Pell Grant to reflect the number of hours you are taking. If you are less than full-time (fewer than 12 hours), this could impact your financial aid. If you have questions about this, please email us at onestop@utexas.edu.