Application Process and Timeline
Completion of a new FAFSA is required annually. The FAFSA for the upcoming aid year is available on October 1st of each year. The FAFSA requires that you use data from your completed
IRS tax return from 2 years prior to the application period. For instance, if you are completing the FAFSA for the 2020/21 academic year, you will report data from your 2018 tax return. Applications for aid are processed on a first come, first served
basis and some funds are awarded until they are exhausted, so it is important for you to complete your FAFSA as soon as possible. You do not need to be accepted to a program in order to complete your FAFSA. However, your aid will not be awarded until
you have been accepted.
UTMB begins awarding financial aid for the upcoming academic year in March of each year and we continuously award aid throughout the year. If you need aid to be ready at the beginning of a semester, we must have your completed FAFSA and any additional
required documents no later than one month prior to the beginning of the semester. Additional required documents could include, but are not limited to, the verification documents, tax transcripts, citizenship verification, documentation of selective
service registration, and verification of high school completion. If any of these documents are required for the processing of your aid, you will have an item in mySTAR listed on your “TO DO” list.
Once your Financial Aid Application materials have been processed, and your funding sources have been determined, you will be notified, via email, to logon into mySTAR to review your financial
aid awards.
Aid must be accepted before any funds can be disbursed. The disbursement date on your financial aid award letter is the date Enrollment Services begins the disbursement process. After your tuition and fees are paid, funds are issued to you for the amount
of financial aid that exceeds your charges. If you wish to accept less from the loan funds you have been offered, you can indicate the amount you would like to accept as part of the acceptance process in mySTAR. When you accept less than you are offered
from the Federal Direct Loans, you can opt to increase your loan at a later date by contacting the Financial Aid Office.
If you reject all or part of the aid offered to you, your award letter will be revised. You will once again be notified, via email, to review and either accept or reject the aid offered to you. When you reject the loan you are offered from the Federal
Direct Loans, you can opt to add the loan at a later date by contacting the Financial Aid Office.
If you receive additional funding or otherwise have a change made to your financial aid award, you will receive email notification to review and accept the changes. You will have to accept or reject your revised financial aid before any additional funding
will be able to be disbursed.
Institutional Grant awards are issued to students who have submitted a complete FAFSA using the IRS data retrieval tool for both student and parent information. These funds are awarded on a "first come, first served basis" until the funds have been exhausted.