Office of Financial Aid

Financial Aid Enrollment Status

Most financial aid awards require at least half-time enrollment, and many programs require full-time enrollment. Enrollment statuses are the same for every term (fall, spring, and summer), but differ depending on your degree level. Visit the Office of the Registrar's website to review enrollment definitions.

Review Enrollment Definitions

• You must be an active degree-seeking student to qualify for financial aid.
• Most financial aid awards require at least half-time attendance and many programs require full-time attendance.
• Grants, including the Federal Pell Grant, are offered based on full-time enrollment; however, actual amount disbursed is based on enrolled credits at the end of drop/add. Some grants will pay for full-time status only, others will pro-rate for part-time status. Check the minimum credit hours for individual grants on the Aid Types section of our website.
• USF awards are prorated based upon actual USF hours enrolled.
• Effective for the 2026-2027 school year, annual Federal Direct Loan (Subsidized, Unsubsidized, and GradPLUS) amounts are prorated in direct proportion to your enrollment status. Your eligibility will be determined based on the number of credits that a full-time student in your program is expected to take for the academic year.

• Once you have passed a class, you may repeat it one additional time and still have it count toward your enrolled hours for federal aid and USF Grants. After you have taken the course twice and passed it both times, you will no longer be eligible to receive federal aid or USF Grants for that class.
• If you take a class on an audit basis, these credits do not count when determining your enrollment status for financial aid purposes.

• If you are an undergraduate student who enrolls in graduate or professional-level classes to satisfy undergraduate degree requirements (and are not enrolled in a Bachelor’s/Masters Pathway Program), you must fill out the Undergraduate with Graduate Courses Certification (UGWG) Form with your Academic Advisor. The form should be submitted to the Office of Financial Aid (OFA) before the start of the term; however, it will not be processed until after the end of the drop/add period.

  • Note: Students in the 2+4 Master of Architecture (M. Arch.) program do not need to submit the UGWG form. Your enrollment will be adjusted automatically after the drop/add period.
• If you take graduate-level classes while completing your undergraduate degree and later graduate and are admitted to a graduate program, those classes cannot be applied toward your graduate degree requirements.
• If you will be enrolled at another school while seeking a USF degree, review the information for transient students on our website.
• If you receive an undergraduate out‑of‑state tuition waiver, please review your scholarship terms and conditions. These out-of-state tuition waivers only cover undergraduate out-of-state tuition and fees at USF.