If you have been offered federal, state, or institutional aid, you will have to complete the Terms and Conditions. You must read and agree to the following terms and conditions, including any program-specific conditions linked to your awards. It's important that you review this information as it provides policies and responsibilities for your financial aid awards.
Accepting the Terms and Conditions does not mean you are accepting any loan amount. If you plan to accept your loans, you can follow this myNMSU guide.
Messages associated with certain programs will be listed on the Terms and Conditions tab under the Financial Aid menu in your MyNMSU account for any awards you have been offered. Acceptance of these terms and conditions includes acknowledgment of messages linked to specific programs.
You must certify that you have read the terms and conditions on your myNMSU account and understand that the award messages on your myNMSU may change if your award package is adjusted.
How to Accept the Terms and Conditions
- Log in to your myNMSU account
- Navigate to the Student tab in the top menu
- Click on Financial Aid under Quick Links
- Click on Award
- Select Award Aid Year
- Navigate to the Terms and Conditions tab
- Read through the Terms & Conditions below, then click Accept on your myNMSU
The University of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services office will communicate with you regarding changes to your aid, including the terms and conditions, through your NMSU email account and your MyNMSU account. It is important to monitor both accounts regularly.
Students who choose to participate in a Study Abroad program will also be required to read the Study Abroad Terms and Conditions for Financial Aid.
View the Study Abroad Terms & Conditions
General Terms
Federal, state and institutional student financial aid (including scholarships) can be used only to pay the cost of attending New Mexico State University. The cost of attendance includes direct costs such as tuition, fees, on-campus housing and meal plans, as well as indirect costs such as books, supplies, off-campus living expenses, transportation, and personal expenses.
Your aid package may require an adjustment to avoid an over-award, which is financial aid in excess of financial need. This will affect students who receive scholarships, fellowships or assistantships after federal aid has been awarded. You are responsible for satisfying any balance due on your account that is created by adjustments to your aid.
University and other scholarships cannot exceed the total cost of attendance. This limitation applies to all financial aid regardless of the source and is based on the cost of tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, transportation, and personal expenses. Scholarship stipends will be adjusted to ensure that this limit is not exceeded.
The Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services reserves the right on behalf of the University to review and cancel any award at any time because of changes in financial need, academic status, academic history, academic program, graduation, or program funding.
All loans, including but not limited to, Federal Direct Loans, Federal Direct PLUS Loans, and private loans, must be approved by the US Department of Education or the lender. The amounts shown may be our recommendation only and may be adjusted after the lender completes processing. You must complete all loan requirements such as Entrance Counseling and the Master Promissory Note. An origination fee will be assessed on each Direct Loan disbursement made to your student account. This is a mandatory fee charged by the U.S. Department of Education to help offset the cost of processing the loan. The loan origination fee is a percentage of the amount of each loan you receive and is subtracted from each disbursement prior to being applied to your student account. This means the money you receive will be less than the amount you actually borrow. You’re responsible for repaying the entire amount you borrowed and not just the amount you received. For more information about current loan origination fees, please visit the Federal Student Aid website. Within 14 days of disbursement, students may contact their primary campus Financial Aid office and cancel all or a portion of their loan(s).
To be eligible for any federal aid, you must be a degree-seeking student pursuing a first bachelor's degree. Students may only receive Pell Grant for their first bachelor's degree, and will not be eligible with a prior degree from a U.S. or foreign institution.
You may receive a Federal Pell Grant at only one school per term.
University and other scholarships, state or university need-based grants, Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants and Federal and/or State Work-Study are restricted to undergraduate students pursuing a first bachelor’s degree.
University scholarships and all federally funded financial aid are restricted to United States citizens and eligible non-citizens as defined by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
If work-study is offered in your financial aid award package, the amount of work-study shown is the maximum amount of money you can expect to earn during the academic year. Earnings are paid directly to you based on hours worked, and cannot be credited to your account for the satisfaction of University fees. Students are only allowed to work 20 hours per week and cannot exceed the allotted semester award amount (funding limits). Students need to review the handbook to review their rights and responsibilities.
Disbursement of this aid, except work-study earnings, will be in the form of direct credit to your student account. Any credit balances created as a result of this aid will be disbursed according to guidelines established by the Accounts Receivables office. Generally, refund checks are available each Wednesday for aid posted through the previous Friday.
Enrollment Requirements
For the purpose of determining final financial aid eligibility, enrollment is defined as total hours enrolled as of midnight on the last day to drop classes without a “W” based on the academic calendar. Hours attempted for evaluating satisfactory academic progress are also set based on this date.
NMSU assumes all students will attend full-time, defined as 12 credit hours per semester for undergraduates. Students that are enrolled less than full-time and awarded University scholarships, grants, and/or waivers will not receive the full-time award. The University Scholarship, College Affordability Grant (CAG), LEAP Grant, Federal SEOG Grant or Waiver will be prorated based on the number of credit hours the student is enrolled in each semester. Students who attend less than half-time, defined as 1-5 credit hours are not eligible for University scholarships, grants, or waivers.
Full Federal Pell Grants require 12 hours of enrollment; three-quarter-time grants require 9 to 11 credit hours; half-time grants require 6 to 8 credit hours, and less-than-half-time grants require 1 to 5 credit hours.
You can only receive Pell Grant funds from one school at a time. The maximum time frame for Pell Grant eligibility (set by federal law) is 12 full-time semesters or the equivalent of six years. Since the amount of a scheduled Pell Grant award you can receive each award year is equal to 100%, the six-year equivalent is 600%. You will receive a notice from the Financial Aid Office if you’re getting close to your limit.
If you are receiving a Federal Direct Loan, Federal Direct PLUS Loan, or Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, you must be enrolled at least half-time, defined as 6 hours per semester for undergraduate students and 5 hours per semester for graduate students.
Your Cost of Attendance for the year is predicated on full-time enrollment, defined as 12 hours per semester for undergraduate students and 9 hours per semester for graduate students. Failure to enroll full-time will require the University Financial Aid and Scholarships Services office to adjust your budget based on your enrollment status which could negatively impact your award or create an over-award if you have received 100% of your funds based on full-time enrollment.
Census Date and Financial Aid Eligibility
In accordance with federal regulations, the Office of Financial Aid will recalculate Federal and State aid based on the enrollment status as of the semester full-term census date set by the University. The census date is the point at which your enrollment is locked for financial aid purposes, and it typically coincides with the last date you can drop classes for a full tuition refund. Please refer to the Important Dates website for the current semester (full-term) census dates.
Awards such as the Federal Pell Grant, TEACH Grant, Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG), Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants, College Affordability Grant, and the Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Grant (LEAP) can be affected by the census date.
How does the census date affect eligibility?
- If you increase or decrease your enrollment level through the full-term census date, your grant eligibility will be adjusted to ensure that it is the appropriate amount given for your enrollment level.
- If you increase your enrollment level after the census date, your grant eligibility will not be increased. It is very important that students are registered for all their courses by the census date of a given term. Students, who are given permission to add classes after the University census date deadline, will be responsible for any additional tuition charges unless they have federal student loan eligibility.
- If you decrease your enrollment level after the census date, your grant eligibility will generally not be reduced. You will, however, be held accountable for the coursework drop, please refer to Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements. If a student has loans and drops below 6 hours, any future disbursements will be canceled per federal regulations
- If all of your classes begin after the census date, such as the mini-Semester I or mini-Semester II, please be aware that financial aid will not be disbursed until after your courses start. Please refer to important dates for registration and course-start dates.
Exception: A reduction to your grant award(s) may occur if you withdraw from all your courses or you fail to attend class. Before dropping all courses, please refer to Return of Title IV funds.
Conditions
You are required to notify NMSU of any scholarships, loans, or other forms of assistance extended from sources outside the University. Credit for outside aid will not be posted on your bill until the funds are received by University Financial Aid and Scholarship Services. You are liable for your bill regardless of the status of your outside aid. If we do not receive payment for your outside aid by the billing due date of each term you are responsible for paying your balance in full or setting up a payment plan.
You are required to notify University Financial Aid and Scholarship Services of periods of less-than-full-time enrollment, periods of non-enrollment, co-op assignments, periods of study abroad, internships, candidacy for graduation, and other plans that may affect enrollment during the time covered by this award summary. Failure in notifying the office within the appropriate time frame could negatively impact your award or create an over-award if you have received 100% of your funds based on full-time enrollment or other eligibility requirements.
You must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.
If you withdraw from the university during a term or make all grades of F, I, RR, W or U, for a term (which may be considered an unofficial withdrawal), your eligibility for the financial aid already disbursed to you may be affected. You may be required to repay significant amounts of financial aid. Failure to repay these funds may prevent you from re-enrolling at the University; may prevent you from obtaining a transcript to transfer to another institution; may result in your account being referred to a collection agency; and may result in a damaged credit rating.
If you are a scholarship recipient, you must meet the criteria for consideration and/or renewal of your institutional scholarship. For scholarship students starting before Fall 2017, view continuing student scholarship renewal requirements. For scholarship students starting Fall 2017 and after, view the scholarship renewal requirements.
Any GPA will not be rounded up but acknowledged as the exact number documented in academic records.
By accepting a scholarship award, you are authorizing NMSU to release information about you and your scholarship to the media, the donor and University officials.
Certain programs require you to meet specific eligibility requirements. Should you be deemed ineligible due to failure to meet certain eligibility requirements, your financial aid will be withdrawn. Restrictions concerning specific programs should be reviewed by consulting with your financial aid advisor. Messages associated with certain programs will be listed on the Terms and Conditions tab under the Financial Aid menu in the MyNMSU account for any awards you have been offered. Acceptance of these terms and conditions includes acknowledgment of messages linked to specific programs.
You must re-apply for federal aid annually by submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Application procedures and deadlines are outlined at our website under “Applying for Aid”.
Necessary Action
You must acknowledge that you have read these terms and conditions as well as the Award Messages as specified on the Terms and Conditions tab under the Financial Aid menu in your MyNMSU account. Failure to accept the terms and conditions and Award Messages will prevent you from accepting your financial aid awards.
- You must notify NMSU of any outside aid/scholarships by emailing financialaid@nmsu.edu or submitting notification of an outside scholarship from any third party entity via mail.
- You must notify NMSU of any changes to your full-time enrollment by emailing financialaid@nmsu.edu or stopping by the office and consulting with your financial aid advisor.
Acceptance of this aid does not satisfy payment of University tuition and fees. You must follow all billing instructions from the Accounts Receivables office to prevent any penalties associated with your student bill.
