General Award Policies

  1. All federal and state awards are subject to government funding.
  2. If your FAFSA is selected for verification, you may be required to complete and submit additional documentation to the Office of Financial Aid, which may include federal tax transcripts and W-2 forms.
  3. Students who withdraw from any course or courses after the drop/add period, or otherwise decrease their course load, withdraw from the college or change housing status, may have their award package adjusted.
  4. As noted on the Financial Aid award offer, half of the institution and government aid is credited to your account each semester. Please be advised that Federal Work-Study is not deducted from your tuition.
  5. In order to receive federal and state aid, students must maintain satisfactory academic progress as defined in the Merrimack College catalog.
  6. Should students wish to change their housing status at any point during the academic year, this change may impact institutional aid you have been awarded.
  7. Institutional Aid is any type of aid provided by Merrimack College to help students finance their education.  This includes any scholarships or institutional grants.
  8. Merrimack scholarships are awarded, upon admission, for full-time undergraduate enrollment in the day program. Awards may be renewed for up to four years or eight semesters, providing the recipient is enrolled full-time (defined as 12 credits) at Merrimack and maintains good academic standing as defined in the Merrimack College catalog. Students who are in their final semester of their program and do not require full-time enrollment may be exempt from this requirement, or may have their scholarship pro-rated.
  9. Merrimack grants are awarded to students who file the FAFSA annually and demonstrate financial need, as determined by FAFSA guidelines. This grant is not guaranteed in subsequent years and award amounts can change. Eligibility for this grant will be determined annually upon review of FAFSA data.  
  10. Receipt of outside scholarships may affect the aid package. Outside awards are first used to meet financial need not already met by the aid package. If a student’s financial need is met, the outside scholarship may affect his/her eligibility for a subsidized loan. Students are required to report outside scholarships to the Office of Financial Aid, even if funding is not disbursed to the college.
  11. Students must enroll at least half time to retain eligibility for federal loans. Undergraduate half-time status is classified as eight credit hours. Graduate half-time status is classified as four credit hours.
  12. Merrimack College reserves the right to make any changes to financial aid awards during the academic year due to: changes in financial need or eligibility, enrollment, availability of funding, corrections of errors or omissions, false or misleading information provided as part of the FAFSA, receipt of outside scholarships, conflicting information, completion of the verification process, or failure to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress.
  13. Federal, institutional, and alternative loan funds will be disbursed directly to the student’s account after the add/drop date of each semester as long as all eligibility criteria has been met. Federal loan disbursement notifications will be sent via email to students (and to parents who borrowed a Federal PLUS Loan) after disbursement. Students/Parents have a right to cancel all or a portion of their loan(s) if we are notified via email (students must use their Merrimack email account) within the specified time frame listed on the notification.