Before you may receive your financial aid offers, you must meet certain eligibility criteria outlined below.
To qualify for financial aid you must:
Be Admitted to a Degree-Seeking Program
- Apply for admissions to Colorado State University at admissions.colostate.edu.
- If you have been awarded a degree from Colorado State University, you must be admitted to a new degree-seeking program to continue receiving aid. Admission to a new degree program may change the type of aid you are eligible to receive.
Apply for Aid & Complete All Requirements
- To apply for financial aid, see Getting Started.
- Check RAMweb for any required information
Enroll at Least Half-time Each Semester
- Undergraduate Student: 6 credits is half-time enrollment
- Graduate Student: 5 credits is half-time enrollment
- Audit and test-out or placement credits do not count toward enrollment requirements
- Enrollment in courses that do not apply to your program of study may not count toward your enrollment status for financial aid
Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress
- Federal financial aid eligibility requires that all students maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress
- Academically dismissed students are not eligible for financial aid. For more information, refer to the Academic Scholastic Standards Policy.
Credit requirements for financial aid
Credit requirements to receive institutional aid may vary, see chart below. Note: Financial aid works differently in the summer term. Learn more on the summer information page.
Most types of financial aid are finalized based on your enrollment as of the course add/drop date.
| Federal Pell Grant | 12+ credits = 100% | 9-11 credits = 75% | 6-8 credits = 50% | 1-5 credits = 25% |
| Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant | 9+ credits = 100% | 6-8 credits = 50% | 0-5 credits = 0% | |
| CSU Tuition+ Promise CSU Ram Grant | 12+ credits* = 100% | 0 - 11 credits*** = 0% | ||
| Colorado Student Grant | 12+ credits = 100% | 0 - 11 credits*** = 0% | ||
| Colorado Graduate Grant | 7+ credits** = 100% | 5-6 credits = 50% | 0-4 credits = 0% | |
| CSU RAM Loan | Undergraduate: 6+ credits = 100% Graduate: 5+ credits = 100% | 0-5 credits = 0% 0-4 credits = 0% |
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| Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan | 6+ credits = 100% | 0-5 credits = 0% | ||
| Federal Direct Subsidized/ Unsubsidized Loans | Undergraduate: 6+ credits = 100% Graduate: 5+ credits = 100% | 0-5 credits = 0% 0-4 credits = 0% |
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| Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan | 5+ credits = 100% | 0-4 credits = 0% | ||
| Health Professions Loan | 5+ credits = 100% | 0-4 credits = 0% | ||
| Scholarships | Undergraduate: 12+ credits* = 100% Graduate: 9+ credits* = 100% | 0-11 credits*** = 0% 0-8 credits = 0% |
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| Work Study | At least 6+ credits for undergraduates or 5+ credits for graduate students; pay is based on hours worked & hourly pay rate | |||
* One class must be regular instruction, on-campus; you must be enrolled through CSU’s main campus, not through CSU Online
** You must be enrolled through CSU’s main campus, not through CSU Online.
*** If you are going to be part time and it is your graduating semester, please contact us.
