New Mexico State University

Terms and Conditions

NMSU students can qualify for financial aid assistance to cover study abroad expenses, if they meet certain conditions. Study Abroad participants must certify that they have read and understood the following terms and conditions prior to accepting financial aid awards. The University Financial Aid and Scholarship Services office will communicate with students directly regarding aid eligibility, including terms and conditions, through the myNMSU portal and myNMSU email accounts. It is important to monitor both accounts regularly for updates.

Type of Aid Offered

To be eligible for financial aid for study-abroad, students must be enrolled at NMSU in a degree-seeking program, currently meeting all Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements, and currently participating in a university-approved study abroad program. Students may use federal, state, and institutional aid for an approved study abroad program ONLY. Work-Study awards cannot be used for study abroad courses or expenses.

Students, who need additional funding beyond their Federal Student Aid eligibility, may want to consider Private Loans. Researching Private Loans should happen as soon as possible, as they do require an application and credit check to be completed with the lender selected.

Students are NOT allowed to postpone graduation in order to participate in a study abroad program and still expect to receive financial aid. In these cases, participation expenses must be funded by the student alone.  

Students are INELIGIBLE to receive the following awards while studying abroad:

• Work-study
• Out-of-State Competitive Tuition Discount
• Descubre/Descubre Graduate Out-of-State Tuition Discount
• 135-Mile Out-of-State Tuition Discount
• Western Undergraduate/Western Regional Out-of-State Tuition Discount
• Colorado/Arizona Out-of-State Tuition Discount
• New Mexico Tribal Member Out-of-State Tuition Discount

Disbursement of Federal Financial Aid and Scholarships

• Study Abroad programs that start before or within the first 10-days of the semester start date at NMSU, will receive their Federal Financial Aid disbursements as part of the same disbursement schedule as students that remain on campus. Any refund of excess funds will be transferred via electronic funds transfer (EFT) to the bank account you have designated within 3-business days of disbursement.
• Study Abroad programs that start after the tenth day of the NMSU semester start date will receive their Federal Financial Aid disbursement 10-days prior to the start of the study abroad program selected. Any excess funds will be transferred via EFT to the bank account the student designates, within 3-business days of disbursement.
• Students returning from a study abroad program, must have their official transcripts from their host institution reviewed by the scholarship office, before NM Opportunity Scholarship and/or NM Lottery Scholarship funds will be disbursed for the next term.

Federal Regulations do not allow the university financial aid office to disburse Federal Student Aid funds any sooner than indicated above. As a result, students may need to ensure that they have funds available to cover expenses prior to the departure date, and wait until the financial aid funds become available.

Academic Transcript Requirements

Unofficial Transcript Requirement

The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services is required to determine if students are meeting all aspects of Satisfactory Academic Progress prior to disbursing aid for a consecutive term. Due to delays in official transcripts being received from the study abroad school, students will be required to provide the financial aid and scholarships office with a copy of an unofficial transcript or a grade report in order for aid eligibility to be determined. Federal and State aid will not be disbursed for a consecutive term, until the unofficial transcript or grade report has been received and reviewed by the student's Financial Aid Advisor.

Official Transcript Requirement

The unofficial transcript requirement, mentioned above, allows the financial aid and scholarships office to disburse Federal and State financial aid for one consecutive term ONLY following a study abroad program. Beyond the first term of enrollment, following a study abroad program, official transcripts are required before any Federal and State aid will be disbursed.

Students who participate in a study abroad program are responsible for ensuring their official transcripts are evaluated by their Academic Advisor and posted to their NMSU student record by the deadline dates listed below. The lack of coursework being posted to a student record will indicate non-attendance and will result in all Federal and State aid received being billed back to the student's account. In order to avoid being billed, it is imperative to work closely with an Academic Advisor to meet the deadline dates and to keep the assigned Financial Aid Advisor updated throughout the process.

Official Transcript Deadlines

Official transcripts must be evaluated by an Academic Advisor and coursework must be posted to the student's record by the following dates.

Course Registration

All credits attempted through the study-abroad program must apply toward degree completion requirements. Students are required to work with their Academic Advisor prior to departure to complete the Course Equivalency form to ensure the courses selected will transfer back to the student record. A signed Course Equivalency form must be submitted to the Financial Aid and Scholarships office. If there are any changes to the courses that were originally approved, students are required to contact their Academic Advisor immediately and resubmit a Course Equivalency form to obtain approval for any new course(s). A signed copy of the revised form must be submitted to the Financial Aid and Scholarships office. A change in a course(s) without prior approval from an Academic Advisor could result in all or a portion of the Federal and State aid received, being billed back to the student's account. Failure to submit a signed copy of the Course Equivalency form will prevent financial aid from disbursing.

Withdrawal and Cancellation of Study Abroad

In the event that a student's registration is canceled, they choose to withdraw, or are removed from the program, Federal Regulations require a calculation to be made to determine the amount of aid each student is eligible to keep and the amount of aid that must be returned immediately. Students will be required to repay any and all financial aid funds that were released or that were paid toward the university debt on their behalf.

Failure to repay these funds may prevent a student from re-enrolling at the University; it may also prevent a student from obtaining transcripts to transfer to another institution; AND/OR it may result in the student's account being referred to a collection agency, and may result in a damaged credit rating.

It is imperative that you contact both the Study Abroad Advisor and Financial Aid Advisor before canceling or withdrawing from a Study Abroad program.

Accepting the Terms and Conditions 

Students studying abroad must sign a Study Abroad Terms and Conditions through the NMSU Education Abroad portal. Failure to accept the Terms and Conditions will prevent ALL financial aid awards from disbursing.