About Grants

Grants are gift aid from federal or state sources. Grants are usually awarded based on financial need, merit or a combination of both and do not need to be repaid. If you are an out of state student, you should check with your home state for additional grants.

Federal Grants

Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)*

The Federal funding for the ACG program will conclude at the end of the Summer Semester 2011.

Federal Pell Grant

The Pell Grant is a need-based program that awards funds to undergraduate students who are seeking and have not earned a bachelor's degree. The grant amount is based on your Expected Family Contribution, your enrollment status, and your attendance for the academic year. The award may be renewed, but not automatically, each year based on your FAFSA eligibility.

You are eligible to receive a Pell Grant for up to 12 semesters or the equivalent. If you have exceeded the 12-semester maximum, you will lose eligibility for additional Pell Grants beginning in 2012-13 school year. Equivalency is calculated by adding together the percentage of your Pell eligibility that you received each year to determine whether the total amount exceeds 600%.

For example, if your maximum Pell Grant award amount for the 2010-2011 school year was $5,550, but you only receive $2,775 because you were only enrolled for one semester, you would have used 50% of your maximum award for that year. If in the following school year, you were enrolled only three-quarter time in only one semester, you would have used 75% of your maximum award for that year. Between these two, you would have received 125% out of the total 600% lifetime limit.

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG)

The FSEOG is a grant for undergraduate students seeking their first bachelor's degree and are considered to have exceptional financial need. In order to qualify, students must qualify for a Pell Grant. Unlike Pell funding, FSEOG funding is limited, and awards are made as funds are available, with priority given to those students with lowest EFC (zero) who applied by the priority deadline of April 1st for the upcoming academic year.

Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant

Beginning with the 2010-11 award year, a student who is not eligible for a Pell Grant but whose parent or guardian was a member of the U.S. Armed Forces and died as a result of service performed in Iraq or Afghanistan after September 11, 2001 may be eligible to receive the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant. A student must be under 24 years old and enrolled at least part-time at the time of the parent’s or guardian’s death.

For more information regarding the Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant, visit the U.S. Department of Education website.

National Science & Mathematics Access to Retain Talent Grant (National SMART Grant)*

The Federal funding for the SMART program will conclude at the end of the Summer Semester 2011.

TEACH Grant Program

The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program provides grants of up to $4,000 per year to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families.

In exchange for receiving a TEACH Grant, you must agree to serve as a full-time teacher in a high-need field in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves low-income students. As a recipient of a TEACH Grant, you must teach for at least four academic years within eight calendar years of completing the program of study for which you received a TEACH Grant.

IMPORTANT: If you fail to complete this service obligation, all amounts of TEACH Grants that you received will be converted to a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan. You must then repay this loan to the U.S. Department of Education. You will be charged interest from the date the grant funds were disbursed.

TEACH Grant funds are awarded based on student enrollment. Below is a listing of corresponding TEACH Grant eligibility for various enrollment status.

Full-time enrollment*:            $2,000/semester
Three-quarter enrollment:     $1,500/semester
Half-time enrollment:             $1,000/semester
Less than half-time:               $500/semester

Students are reviewed for TEACH Grant eligibility at the beginning of each semester. In order to qualify for the TEACH Grant, students must meet the following requirements:

Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and submit it to UMSL. Students will be considered if they indicate on the FAFSA that they are/will complete coursework necessary for becoming a teacher.
Be enrolled in a degree-seeking or certificate program in the College of Education that will lead to a career in teaching.
Have a minimum cumulative GPA of 3.25 or scored above the 75th percentile on a college admissions test.

If a student meets these requirements, they will be sent further instructions via their UMSL e-mail address on completing a TEACH Grant Agreement to Serve and Entrance Counseling session.

For more information or a listing of high-need fields or schools that serve low-income students, please visit http://studentaid.ed.gov. You may also contact James O'Steen in the Financial Aid Office at (314) 516-7212 or osteenjm@umsl.edu.

Missouri Grants

These awards may be reduced or cancelled depending on availability of funding from the Missouri Department of Higher Education, and will be credited to your account only upon receipt from the state. Usually funds for this award are received and posted to student accounts after each semester begins.

Access Missouri Award

The Access Missouri Award is a need-based grant program to undergraduate students who are a Missouri resident and a US Citizen or permanent resident. FAFSA’s must be received by the FAFSA Processor by April 1 for the upcoming academic year. The award is determined by your EFC (maximum EFC us $12,000) from your FAFSA. You must enroll full time (a minimum of 12 credit hours) each semester and not have completed 150 semester credit hours. The award amounts vary by EFC from $500 to approximately $1,000 for the 2011-2012 academic year. To renew, students must maintain a 2.5 cumulative grade point average. More details are available on the MDHE web page.

Advanced Placement Incentive Grant

The Advanced Placement Incentive Grant is a nonrenewable grant designed to encourage high school students to take and score well on the Advanced Placement tests in mathematics and science. Students must achieve two grades of three or higher on Advanced Placement exams in the field of math and/or science while attending a Missouri public high school. Students must receive an award under the Access Missouri or A+ Scholarship programs in the academic year in which the Advanced Placement Incentive Grant is awarded and be enrolled full time (a minimum of 12 credit hours) for the semester. Students who are eligible for the Access Missouri or A+ Scholarship programs but have a calculated award amount of zero are eligible for the Advanced Placement Incentive Grant. Eligible students can receive a one-time grant of $500, subject to state appropriations.

Students must complete and submit an Advanced Placement Incentive Grant Application by June 1, 2012 for the 2011-2012 academic year. The application and more details are available on the MDHE web page.

Bright Flight Scholarship (Missouri Higher Education Academic Scholarship)

The Bright Flight Scholarship is a merit scholarship from the state of Missouri. A student must score in the top 3% of all Missouri high school students taking the ACT or SAT test in their senior year. You must enroll in the academic year following graduation from high school and be a Missouri resident who is a US Citizen or permanent resident. You must enroll full time (a minimum of 12 credit hours) each semester.

For 2010 High School graduates, the qualifying ACT score is 31 and the SAT is 800 for Critical Reading and 790 for Math. The 2011-2012 estimated award is $1,500. To renew, students must maintain a 2.5 cumulative grade point average and have not completed a first bachelor’s degree. More details are available on the MDHE web page.

NOTE: Students are encouraged to investigate the availability of grants or scholarships through their home state. Non-Missouri residents can find the address of their state's higher education agencies on the web through the Department of Education.

Student Financial Aid