Understanding My Aid

• Your cost of attendance (COA) is an average of your educational expenses for the relevant academic year. The COA is needed to help us calculate your financial need and it sets a limit on the total aid that you may receive. The combination of any financial aid (i.e., federal, state, institutional, scholarships) cannot exceed the COA, unless otherwise explicitly allowed. 
• The COA includes average tuition and fee costs, a book allowance, housing and food (i.e., on-campus, off-campus, with parent), transportation and personal/miscellaneous expenses. Your COA will be determined by your housing plans and the expected enrollment you indicate. If your actual enrollment throughout the academic year is different than you indicated at the beginning (i.e., you only attend one semester instead of both fall and spring, you indicate full-time enrollment status but are only enrolled less than full-time as of census), your COA must be adjusted to align with your actual enrollment.
• Knowing your COA can help you budget and better plan the financing of your education. The standard COA is based on several components. Learn more here about components and their definitions.

• Financial need is used to determine eligibility for need-based financial aid like grants and/or subsidized student loans.
• A student’s financial need is calculated using the COA, Student Aid Index (SAI), which is determined by the financial aid application (i.e., FAFSA), and any other financial assistance (OFA).

Federal regulations require Texas State to use the following formula to determine financial need: COA - SAI - OFA = financial need.

• The SAI cannot be prorated for periods of enrollment less than 9 months. As a result, attending just one semester could reduce your financial need.
• Grants, scholarships and other need-based aid (such as work-study and subsidized loan) count toward financial need.

• Overawards occur when we receive additional information not accounted for when the student was originally offered aid that causes the student to exceed their COA or financial need (i.e., need-based aid).
• Per federal financial aid regulations, we must resolve any overaward on a student’s account. In some cases, overawards will result in a balance due to the University.
• Common examples of changes that cause overawards include, but are not limited to:
  • Receipt of additional scholarships (i.e., departmental, institutional, from sources outside of Texas State)
  • Notification of exemptions/tuition and fee waivers (e.g. Hazlewood, etc.)
  • Enrollment changes
  • FAFSA corrections
  • Residency updates
  • Housing changes

• Financial Aid displacement occurs when a student’s financial aid is reduced due to receipt of additional outside scholarships or private gift aid exceeding a student’s financial need or cost of attendance. 
• The total value of the combination of any federal, state and institutional aid, as well as any awards or scholarships received by a student, is limited to a student’s financial need and cannot exceed the institutional COA per federal and state regulation.
• This practice occurs in Texas and should be taken into consideration when applying for financial aid and receiving extra scholarships, which may cause existing grants to be reduced in order for the institution to remain in federal and state compliance.

• THECB Advisory Statement

 *Gift-aid is financial aid that does not require repayment, such as grants and scholarships.

• The Bobcat Online Scholarship System (BOSS) allows students to use one application to apply to many Texas State institutional scholarships.
• The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) must be completed for students to be considered for federal, state or institutional grants. Non-citizen students, must complete a Texas Application for State Financial Aid (TASFA).

• In order to maximize your financial aid (to receive grants), students should submit a FAFSA® prior to January 15^th for the upcoming academic year. 
• Scholarship opportunities for the upcoming academic year open via BOSS by November 1st of each year. The specific deadline for each application or scholarship opportunity varies and is available within BOSS.
• Any outside aid (private gift aid) should be reported online via Financial Aid Self-Service as soon as possible but no later than by May 1^st prior the upcoming academic year. 

* Gift-aid is financial aid that does not require repayment, such as student grants and scholarships.

• Apply for financial aid (grants) by submitting a FAFSA® prior to January 15^th for the upcoming academic year. 
• Apply for scholarships when the application(s) open November 1^st of each year and complete and submit prior to the specified deadline. 
• Report all private gift aid, other financial assistance, and/or additional resources online via Financial Aid Self-Service under the Offer tab as soon as possible but no later than May 1^st prior to the upcoming academic year. 

• Report all private gift aid, other financial assistance, and/or additional resources online via Financial Aid Self-Service under the Offer tab as soon as possible but no later than May 1^st prior the upcoming academic year. 

• For questions, please contact the TXST One Stop via the TXST One Stop Web Inquiry Form or (512) 245-TXST.