Maryland Financial Aid

For information on the programs outlined below and all types of financial aid available to students in Maryland, including scholarships, grants, work study, loans, and loan forgiveness programs, contact:

Maryland Higher Education Commission

Office of Student Financial Assistance

6 N. Liberty St.

Baltimore, MD 21201

800-974-0203, 410-767-3300

osfamail.mhec@maryland.gov

mhec.maryland.gov

Howard P. Rawlings Guaranteed Access Grant

Eligibility – Maryland residents who demonstrate financial need and plan to enroll in a two- or four-year Maryland college or university as a full-time student in a degree-granting program. A minimum 2.5 cumulative GPA for high school is required.

Award – maximum annual award of $20,200 for use at any public or private college or university in Maryland.

Howard P. Rawlings Educational Assistance Grant

Eligibility – Maryland residents with low or moderate income enrolled or accepted in an eligible public or private college or university in Maryland for full-time study.

Award – maximum of $3,000, renewable for three years, based on financial need.

Students that have completed their 2nd year or more of college are required to complete 30 credits in order to have their EA award reinstated for the full amount.

2+2 Transfer Scholarship

Eligibility – Maryland residents who demonstrate financial need, degree-seeking students enrolled full-or part-time at a community college in Maryland. A completed FAFSA and an official college transcript showing the completion of an associate’s degree from a community college in the state is required. Eligibility is based on demonstrated financial need.

Award – $1,000 annually. Students who enroll in science, teaching, engineering, computer science, mathematics, or nursing programs, will receive $2,000 annually.

Part-Time Grant

Eligibility – Maryland residents who demonstrate financial need, part-time, degree-seeking undergraduates and students dually enrolled in a Maryland high school and an institution of higher education.

Award – maximum of $2,000 per year, renewable for eight years based on the recipient’s continued financial need, ability to demonstrate satisfactory academic progress, and availability of funds.

Community College Promise Scholarship

Eligibility – students enrolled in credit-bearing coursework leading to a vocational certificate, certificate, or an Associate’s Degree at a Maryland community college with at least 12 credits per semester with a GPA of at least a 2.5.

Award – up to $5,000 to cover any remaining tuition and mandatory fee expenses at the community college after all other non-loan aid has been applied.

Delegate Scholarship

Eligibility – Maryland residents currently enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a Maryland degree-granting institution, or in private career schools approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Scholarships may be used out of state to pursue a major not available in Maryland. Scholarship can be used at out-of-state institutions if the applicant is on active duty with the U.S Military and domiciled in the State.

Award – minimum $200 per year; may not exceed your cost of attendance as determined by the student's college’s financial aid office or $29,600, whichever is less.

For applications and additional information contact the local state delegate.

Senatorial Scholarship

Eligibility – Maryland residents who are enrolled or accepted for enrollment in a Maryland degree-granting institution, or in private career schools approved by the Maryland Higher Education Commission. Scholarship may be used out of state to pursue a major not available in Maryland. Scholarship can be used at out-of-state institutions if the applicant is on active duty with the U.S Military and domiciled in the State.

Award – maximum of $12,617 per year based on financial need. Selection is made by the senator from each district.

For applications and additional information contact the high school counselor, college financial aid officer, Office of Student Financial Assistance, or the state senator.

Richard W. Collins III Leadership with Honor Scholarship

Eligibility – a minority student who is enrolled full-time at the following institutions only: Bowie State University, Coppin State University, Morgan State University, or University of Maryland Eastern Shore and a member of a ROTC program.

Award – minimum scholarship amount not less than $500 per semester and $1,000 for the academic year.

Teaching Fellows for Maryland Scholarship

Eligibility – Maryland resident students who pledge to work as public school or public prekindergarten teachers in the State upon completion of their studies at schools that have at least 50 percent of the students in the school eligible for free or reduced price meals (FRPM); achieved a score 500 on the reading and math portions of the SAT, with a combined score of at least 1100.

Award – 100 percent of the annual tuition, mandatory fees, and room and board of a resident undergraduate student.

Workforce Shortage Student Assistance Grant Program

Eligibility – Maryland residents who enroll in an eligible accredited Maryland postsecondary institution in programs leading to specific careers/occupations that address statewide or regional workforce needs. Eligible fields include: child care, human services, teaching, nursing, physical and occupational therapy, social work, law, and public service.

Award – maximum of $2,000 per year for full-time community college students; maximum of $4,000 per year for full-time attendance at a four-year school. Awards are renewable for a maximum of five years. A work commitment is required.

The Charles W. Riley Firefighter and Ambulance and Rescue Squad Member Scholarship

Eligibility – active career or volunteer firefighters, ambulance or rescue squad members serving a Maryland community who enroll in a Maryland institution in a degree program in fire service technology, emergency medical technology, fire service management, or public safety administration with a minor or concentration in fire service technology or fire service management.

Award – at least 50 percent of the student’s actual annual tuition and mandatory fees at an eligible institution. A service commitment is required to receive funds.

Cybersecurity Public Service Scholarship Program

Eligibility – Individuals currently enrolled at public or private non-profit institutions in Maryland who are within three years of graduation from an approved, credit-bearing degree in cybersecurity, or an approved, credit-bearing certificate program in cybersecurity; full-time student who maintains a grade point average of at least a 3.0 GPA; sign an agreement agreeing to work full-time in Maryland for each year they received the scholarship.

Award – award amount shall be in the amount prescribed by MHEC.

Tuition Reduction for Nonresident Nursing Students

Eligibility – nonresident nursing student attending a Maryland public college, taking at least six credits per semester.

Award – out-of-state tuition reduced to the amount payable by Maryland residents, automatically renewed each year as long as the recipient remains in the program. A work commitment is required upon completion of the program.

Jack F. Tolbert Memorial Grant

Eligibility – Maryland residents who are enrolled full-time in a state-approved private career school.

Award – $500 based on financial need; renewable for one year.

For an application and additional information contact the school’s financial aid office.

Edward T. and Mary A. Conroy Memorial Scholarship Program and Jean B. Cryor Memorial Scholarship Program

Eligibility – student who is one of the following: the son, daughter, stepchild, or the surviving spouse (who has not remarried) of a member of the United States Armed Forces who died as a result of military service or who, as a result of military service, suffered a 100 percent permanent disability; a veteran who suffers from a service-connected disability of 25 percent or greater, and has exhausted or is no longer eligible for federal veterans’ educational benefits; the surviving child or spouse of a victim of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks who died as a result of the attacks on the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon, or the crash of United Airlines Flight 93; a POW/MIA of the Vietnam Conflict or his/her child; the child or surviving spouse (who has not remarried) of a state or local public safety employee or volunteer who died in the line of duty or who was 100 percent disabled in the line of duty; or a state or local public safety employee or volunteer who was 100 percent disabled in the line of duty; The son, daughter, stepchild, or surviving spouse (who has not remarried) of a school employee who, as a result of an act of violence either died in the line of duty or sustained an injury in the line of duty that rendered the school employee 100% disabled.

Award – tuition and mandatory fees for full-or part-time postsecondary enrollment not to exceed the maximum tuition and fees paid by a resident student at a University System of Maryland four-year school other than the University of Maryland University College and the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

For application and additional information contact the college financial aid office.

Veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq Conflicts Scholarship Program

Eligibility – United States Armed Forces personnel who served in the Afghanistan or Iraq Conflicts, and their son, daughter, stepson or stepdaughter, or spouse who is a current high school senior, or full- or part-time, degree-seeking undergraduate student enrolled in an eligible accredited Maryland postsecondary institution.

Award – may not exceed 50 percent of the annual tuition and mandatory fees and room & board of a resident undergraduate at the four-year public institution of higher education within the University System of Maryland, other than the University of Maryland University College and the University of Maryland, Baltimore, with the highest annual expenses for a full-time resident undergraduate.

Tuition Waiver for Foster Care Recipients and Unaccompanied Homeless Youth

Eligibility – Foster care recipients: students who resided in a foster care home in Maryland at the time of their high school graduation or successful completion of a general equivalency development examination (GED); or a student have had a consistent presence in the state for at least one year before enrollment in a public institution of higher education that is documented by school, employment, or other records; and have been verified as a homeless child or youth, as defined by the federal McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act, at any time during the 24 months immediately preceding the studet’s enrollment in a public institution of higher education or while the student is enrolled in a public institution of higher education and meets the criteria for a homeless child or youth as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act.

Award – student is exempt from paying tuition and mandatory fees at a public college in Maryland.

Maryland National Guard Education Benefits

The Maryland National Guard offers a State Tuition Waiver and a State Tuition Assistance Reimbursement program to eligible National Guard members.

Most discounts range from 25 percent to 50 percent per semester.

State Tuition Assistance Reimbursement (STAR) reimburses MDNG Service Members (SM) up to 100 percent of tuition and related fees.

For additional information visit militaryta.com or the Office of Student Financial Assistance.

Janet L. Hoffman Loan Assistance Repayment Programs (LARP)

Eligibility – Maryland residents who provide public service in Maryland state or local government or who work in nonprofit agencies in Maryland that provide services to low income or underserved residents.

Award – amount varies dependent on the applicant’s profession, income and total educational debt. Award is renewable for three years as long as the recipient remains eligible and employed in the designated field in the state of Maryland.

For a list of eligible employment fields, an application, and additional information contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance or visit mhec.maryland.gov.

Loan repayment programs are also available for primary care physicians and dentists who agree to work in underserved areas of the state.

John R. Justice Grant Program

Eligibility – state and federal Maryland public defenders and prosecutors who agree to remain employed as public defenders and prosecutors for a minimum of three-years.

Award – loan repayment assistance.