The financial assistance being offered to you comes from the available federal and/or Mills College financial aid programs for which you are currently eligible.
The award offer you have received is for the 2018–2019 award year only. It is based on the information made available to the College through the most recent Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) that we have received for you.
Subsequent changes or corrections to your FAFSA, through tax verification or other updates, can result in adjustments to your financial aid eligibility and your financial aid offer. If revisions to your award offer become necessary, you will be notified by Mills email to view your revised award offer online through the Mills Resource Portal.
The aid being offered to you comes from one or more of the following programs. Be sure to read all of the information to understand the benefits and obligations of the aid programs. More detailed information regarding each of these programs can be found on the Types of Aid webpage.
Mills College provides merit- and need- based tuition assistance to graduate students through its graduate department-based scholarship programs.
Interest Rate: 6.6% fixed rate*
Origination Fee: 1.062%**
Grace Period: 6 months after graduation, ceasing attendance, or dropping below half-time enrollment.
About: The Direct Unsubsidized Loan is a non-need-based, deferred payment loan. Interest
begins accruing upon disbursement of the loan. Repayment of interest and principal
begins 6 months after the borrower graduates, ceases attendance, or drops below half-time
enrollment.
Additional Requirements: Students who accept the Direct Unsubsidized Loan will be required to complete a
Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Direct Loan Entrance Counseling at www.studentloans.gov. Students should only need to do this one time as a student at Mills. Your Direct
Loan cannot be disbursed until the MPN and entrance counseling are completed.
*Interest rates are subject to change on July 1, 2018.
**Origination fees are subject to change on any loans not disbursed prior to September
30, 2018.
Interest Rate: 7.0%*
Origination Fee: 4.264%*
Application:
About: The Federal Direct PLUS Loan Program is a credit-based loan that allows graduate
students to borrow to meet their remaining educational expenses. A student may borrow
up to the difference between their cost of attendance and their estimated financial
aid.
Additional Requirements: Students must complete the Direct PLUS Loan application for graduate students at
www.studentloans.gov, available after April 1, 2018. The student should indicate the requested amount
of the loan on the application. Upon completion, the student will receive a credit
decision. If approved, the student must complete a Master Promissory Note on www.studentloans.gov.
*Interest rates and origination fees are subject to change each year based on Congressional action.
Your current financial aid offer is based on the FAFSA plus outside resources available at the time of awarding. Payments made on your behalf from outside agencies, organizations, and institutions that are credited directly to your Mills student account are additional educational resources that must be included by the Financial Aid Office when determining your eligibility for student financial aid. These resources may include scholarships, employer tuition benefits (including Mills Tuition Remission), or benefits from public and private agencies that are meant to help you meet educational costs.
If you are a recipient of such a resource, you must notify the Financial Aid Office.
Receiving such resources may require adjustment of your current financial aid offer. If an adjustment is necessary, you will receive an updated award notification to view on the Mills Resource Portal.
It is not always possible for the Financial Aid Office to meet all of an applicant’s need from the aid funds that are available to the College. Mills offers multiple payment plan options to help graduate students pay college charges not covered by financial aid. In addition, there are a number of loan programs that provide assistance to students to meet need or to replace some or all of the Expected Family Contribution (EFC). It is highly recommended that student aid applicants search for valuable outside scholarships to help cover the cost of their education.
Some aid programs may require you to submit additional documentation before your eligibility for this aid can be confirmed. If you are notified that additional information is required, please refer to the Requirements section in the Mills Resource Portal to determine what is needed and how you must submit this documentation. Please note that financial aid awards that have outstanding requirements will not be reflected as a credit towards charges on your bill and cannot be paid to your tuition and fee account.
If your aid application has been selected for federal verification, you will be required to complete a household information verification worksheet. Visit our Completing Your Financial Aid Verification webpage for detailed instructions. Tax filers are also required to complete the IRS Data Retrieval on the online FAFSA, or submit an official IRS Tax Return Transcript with the verification worksheet. If you were not required to file a 2016 Federal tax return, you must submit a copy of all Federal W2s and/or other official income statements for proof of earnings from work and submit a Verification of Non-Filing Letter from the IRS. Be sure to complete the verification process prior to June 1, 2018.
All verification documents can be viewed and submitted via the online verification portal found at mills.verifiymyfafsa.com. Please do not submit verification documents via email.
Federal regulations require Mills to set a Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standard for all students. Graduate students are required to meet the following SAP requirements:
Failure to meet SAP requirements could mean the loss of financial aid. If a student does not meet the requirements for SAP, the student will be placed on financial aid SAP probation with an "unsatisfactory" status. Students with an "unsatisfactory" status may appeal this status only one time while attending Mills College.
For complete policy information, visit our SAP Policy webpage.
Federal regulations require Title IV financial aid funds to be awarded under the assumption that a student will attend the institution for the entire period in which federal assistance was awarded. When a federal financial aid recipient withdraws from all courses or receives no credit for attempted courses (e.g. all F or W grades, excluding arranged incompletes) in a given semester for any reason, she may no longer be eligible for the full amount of Title IV funds that she was originally scheduled to receive. The return of funds is based upon the premise that students earn their financial aid in proportion to the amount of time in which they are enrolled. A prorated schedule is used to determine the amount of federal student aid funds the student will have earned at the time of the withdrawal.
Some or all of your awards may require you to accept or decline the funds via the Mills Resource Portal. If you are required to accept any part of your award, please do so by June 1 or within 30 days of the date of the financial aid award offer, whichever is later. For detailed instructions, visit our Accepting Your Aid Award webpage.
When accepting your Mills financial aid offer, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions.
Once you accept the aid offered, it is important to check the Unsatisfied Requirements section to determine if any award-specific requirements still need to be fulfilled. Financial aid awards that have outstanding requirements will not be reflected as a credit towards charges on your bill and cannot be paid to your tuition and fee account.
Recognizing that the information collected by the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) does not always reflect an applicant’s current financial circumstances, the Financial Aid Office may re-evaluate eligibility for student aid under specific and limited circumstances. Students who have experienced a change in financial circumstances may initiate a financial aid appeal request by sending an email to finaid@mills.edu. You will then be provided with directions on how to complete the appeal using the Mills verification website.
Financial aid appeals will only be considered if submitted completely with all required documentation and processed through the proper channels. Appeals are subject to approval by the Financial Aid Office and are only meant for specific circumstances listed on the appeal form.