Summer Financial Aid

Because summer semester has a variety of session lengths and occurs at the end of the academic year, it disburses differently than fall or spring semesters:

• Federal aid (loans and grants) will disburse on the first day of your first scheduled course.

• Scholarship aid will disburse on the first day of summer semester.

You cannot receive federal financial aid if you do not meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements at the end of spring semester. If you were previously awarded summer aid before your SAP was determined, the aid will be canceled, but you can submit a SAP appeal for reconsideration. If your SAP appeal is not approved, you may need to explore other payment options for summer semester, such as a payment plan or a private educational loan (one allowing a student to be on SAP and possibly meeting other eligibility criteria as determined by the lender). 

You may be eligible for the Federal Pell Grant based on the following scenarios:

• If you were enrolled in full-time* hours for both fall and spring semesters, you must enroll in at least 6 credit hours in summer semester to receive year-round Pell Grant.

• If you were enrolled in less than full-time* hours in fall, spring, or both semesters, you might have remaining Pell Grant eligibility that could be received.

All undergraduate, first-degree seeking students will be evaluated for Pell Grant eligibility after they register for summer courses. If you are a transfer student, make sure that UW has been listed as a school on your 2023-2024 FAFSA.

*Full-time status for undergraduate students is enrollment in 12 credit hours per semester.  Part-time status for undergraduate students is enrollment in anything less than 12 credit hours per semester.

Yes, some private student loans are available for summer semester, even if you are enrolled part-time*. You may review a list of lenders that UW students have successfully used for private loans.

*See definition of part-time status in this page’s introduction section above.

Currently summer Work-Study awards at UW have been reserved for College of Law students who are involved in summer law clinics. We can determine, on a case-by-case basis, if you may be eligible for summer Work-Study dependent on your summer enrollment after July 1. Please contact our office for more information.

Yes, you may apply for summer financial aid if you are taking any type of course, whether online, in-person, or a combination of both.

Your summer financial aid will first be applied to your summer tuition and fee charges, even though summer Cost of Attendance (COA) may include a living expenses component. If you are awarded more financial aid than you have tuition/fee charges, you will have a credit balance and will qualify to receive a refund. Your refund could be used to help pay for living expenses.

If you feel that your actual expenses exceed the standard summer COA, you can complete a COA Appeal.

You can combine your hours between two or more institutions to qualify for summer financial aid by using a consortium agreement as long as you are taking courses that are required for completion of your degree and the other institution(s) agrees to participate.

Consortium agreements require enrollment in at least 6 credit hours* at UW during fall or spring semesters, but the enrollment requirement for summer semester is only one (1) course at UW.

*Exceptions are the ReNew and Med Tech programs

Dropping a course, withdrawing from a course, or withdrawing from all courses may cause an adjustment to your summer financial aid package since there is not a date where enrollment locks as with other semesters. This could result in our office returning all, or a portion, of your federal aid which might result in you owing a balance to the University of Wyoming. This includes any necessary adjustments to the Pell Grant.

If you fail a summer course, it could adversely impact your meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements after summer semester in terms of GPA or Completion Percentage. That might impact your ability to receive federal aid for the next semester.

If you are a newly admitted Summer Bridge Scholar, your financial aid application process is identical to that of a newly admitted student. Simply follow the steps above under the Federal Aid section on this page.

In addition, be sure to follow all instructions provided by the Summer Bridge staff. Check with them for summer program related questions. More information about the Summer Bridge program is available.

Important dates for billing and payments are maintained by the Student Financial Services' office for each semester.

Please review the Student Financial Services’ website about withdrawals and refunds. The refund schedule is also accessible in WyoRecords under the Student Account tab.

We encourage you to sign up for electronic refunds (WyoRefunds) to expedite the refund process.