Academic Year: The school year is normally comprised of the fall and spring semesters. The summer term is a separate period, not included in the academic year. You should always apply for financial aid for the academic year and, if you decide to attend summer school, you must apply separately for aid for summer.
Appeal: The process of explaining your situation in greater detail to either receive additional funds or to restore your eligibility for funds.
Audit Hours: Classes the student pays for but doesn’t get a letter grade. Audit classes are normally taken to enrich a student's understanding of an area; homework and tests are frequently not required. Audited classes do not count toward the student's enrollment status for financial aid purposes.
Authorized Aid: Before your financial aid can be applied towards your bill, it has to be “authorized”. This means everything is ready and approved. If you’re missing something like a transcript or haven’t completed requirements for your loan(s), it won’t authorize. Also, some types of aid require being enrolled as a full-time student to authorize.
Balance Due on your Bill: This is what you either owe UW or what UW owes you. A positive number means you still need to pay that amount. A negative number means you’re getting a refund.
Block Tuition: UW charges a block rate, or flat rate, of tuition for a set range of credit hours rather than having students pay per credit hour. This allows students to take more credits without significantly increasing their tuition costs, and it also encourages on-time graduation when students complete requirements faster.
Budget: (or Student Budget) see Cost of Attendance.
Capitalization: The process of adding unpaid interest to the principal balance of an education loan, thereby increasing the total amount to be repaid eventually. The alternative to capitalization is to pay the interest monthly or quarterly, as it accrues, so you won’t accrue interest on an ever-growing loan balance.
Consolidation: A means of combining several loans, or types of loans, to make the monthly payments smaller.
Cost of Attendance (COA): The total estimated amount a full-time student can expect to pay for an academic year. Cost of Attendance includes direct expenses billed by the university (tuition, fees, and living expenses if on campus) and indirect expenses (course materials and supplies, transportation, personal expenses, and living expenses if off campus). This is sometimes called the student's "budget."
Credit Hours: The value of a course, normally expressed in hours of class time per week for a semester. A biology class might be worth four credit hours because of the lab that goes with it, whereas an English class with no lab might be valued at three credit hours. Credit hours are used to trace student progress towards a degree. A full-time undergraduate student is expected to enroll for at least 12 credit hours each semester, while most graduate students are considered full-time with 9 credit hours.
Default: A student goes into default when they fail to repay a student loan according to the terms of their Master Promissory Note. If you default, your credit score can be adversely affected, your wages and/or tax refunds can be garnished by the U.S. Department of Education, and you will lose your eligibility for future federal aid until you remedy the situation.
Deferment: An authorized period of time during which a borrower may postpone principal and interest payments on a loan, such as when the borrower is enrolled in college at least half-time.
Dependent or Independent Status: The U.S. Department of Education has established criteria to determine if a student is dependent on their parents. The criteria is primarily related to age, marital status, and military service. Generally, students under age 24 who are unmarried, without dependents, and not in the military are considered dependent on their parents and will need provide their parent’s information on the FAFSA. A student who provides more than half the financial support of a dependent may be considered independent, with appropriate documentation.
Disbursement: The release of loan funds from the lender to the school, for delivery to the student. Disbursements are usually made in two equal parts. Usually, disbursements are made electronically, directly into an account set up for the student by the school. The school will notify the student if the loan disbursement is being handled that way. The disbursement date is not the date the school sends funds to the student, but the date the lender sends the funds to the school, on the student's behalf.
FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid): The form that students complete to apply for financial aid to help pay for college. Completing it helps determine eligibility for different types of financial aid, including grants, loans, and the Work-Study program. The application is usually available on October 1 for college enrollments beginning next fall. Example: Application opening on October 1, 2025 is for students enrolling in the 2026-2027 academic year starting in August 2026.
FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS): An electronic or paper document that summarizes the information you reported on your FAFSA form. Although it includes estimates on the aid you might be eligible for, it is not your financial aid offer.
Federal Pell Grant: A federal grant that doesn’t need to be repaid that is normally available to undergraduate students with financial need as determined by the FAFSA.
Federal School Code: This six-digit code requested on the FAFSA determines which college(s) will receive the applicant’s information. You can send your data to a maximum of 20 if you choose. UW's Federal School Code is 003932.
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG): A federal grant that doesn’t need to be repaid that is only offered to Pell Grant recipients who have demonstrated the most financial need as determined by the FAFSA. Funding for this grant is limited and may vary from semester to semester.
Federal Work-Study Program (FWS): A program that provides part-time employment on campus for undergraduate and graduate students so they can earn money to help pay for their educational expenses. Eligibility is determined by FAFSA results. Students must apply for and secure a Work-Study position and then work with the hiring area to establish their salary and work hours. Most students work no more than 20 hours per week. Community-service employment opportunities may also be available.
Financial Aid Offer / Award / Package: These terms are often used interchangeably, but it’s the total amount of aid you get to pay for college – like scholarships, grants, loans, and Work-Study. You can always see your full offer in WyoRecords. If you are applying to multiple colleges, be sure to review the package carefully to determine who has made the "best" offer in terms of Net Price.
Financial Need / Unmet Need: After you fill out the FAFSA each year, it helps figure out how much financial help you might need. It’s basically the gap between how much attending UW might cost and your family’s personal resources.
Full-Time Enrollment: This status is usually 12 credit hours or more per semester, for undergraduate, law, and pharmacy students, and 9 credit hours for most graduate students. However, at most schools, 30 credit hours are required for sophomore status, so simply taking 12 credit hours both semesters of your freshman year is not enough to progress to sophomore status for the second year of college. Students who aim to graduate after only four years of school must take more than 12 credit hours each semester.
Grace Period: After a student borrower either graduates, leaves school, or drops below half-time enrollment, they have six months before they are required to make payments on their federal student loan(s).
Graduate Student: A student who has received a bachelor's degree from a college and is seeking an advanced degree, normally a master's degree or a Ph.D.
Grant: A form of financial assistance, often based on financial need, that does not have to be repaid. There are federal grants, as well as those funded by either the state or the institution that students may qualify for.
Half-Time Enrollment: Normally, for undergraduate, law, and pharmacy students half-time enrollment is between 6 and 11.5 credit hours in a semester. For graduate students, it is between 4.5 and 8.5 credit hours in a semester. Some scholarships require students to be enrolled full-time to receive the funds.
Interest: A fee charged for the use of borrowed money. Interest is calculated as a percentage of the principal loan amount, or in other words the original amount of money borrowed. An interest rate may change if it is a variable rate. All federal student loans use a simple fixed interest determined annually.
Loan: It is money you borrow from a lender (sometimes the U.S. federal government) with the agreement to pay it back, plus interest, at a later date.
Loan Entrance Counseling: This is a short online lesson that explains what you’re borrowing and what it means to. Students need to complete it when they take out a federal student loan for the first time. It can be accessed at studentaid.gov under the ‘Grants and Loans’ dropdown.
Loan Repayment Schedule: A document which discloses the borrower's monthly payment, interest rate, total repayment obligation, due dates and length of time for repaying the loan. The U.S. Department of Education will provide this schedule, but borrowers will be assigned a loan servicer who manages the billing and payments for the loan.
Master Promissory Note: A legal online document borrowers sign to receive a loan. It lists the conditions under which the money is borrowed and the terms under which the borrower agrees to repay the loan with interest. Borrowers should keep a copy of the promissory notes until the loans have been fully repaid. It can be accessed at studentaid.gov under the ‘Grants and Loans’ dropdown.
Need-Based Aid: The FAFSA determines financial aid based upon your need – like grants, Work-Study jobs, or loans where the government helps with interest.
New Price: An estimate of the actual out-of-pocket costs needed to cover education expenses. It is determined by taking Cost of Attendance less scholarships and grants the student is eligible to receive.
Other Financial Assistance (OFA): Any financial aid a student receives from sources other than federal student aid programs through the FAFSA. This could include scholarships, grants, and private loans from sources like state governments, institutions, private organizations, or even families. In some cases, the receipt of OFA can affect the amount of federal aid a student is eligible for.
Overaward: This occurs when a student receives more financial aid than they are eligible for, based on their need or Cost of Attendance (COA). Our office may be required to adjust some of the aid in your financial aid package when this occurs.
Package: See Financial Aid Package
Payment Date: The day that tuition and fees must be paid. This will be September 15th for fall semester, February 15th for spring semester, and June 1 for summer semester.
Students can enroll in a payment plan to break that into small payments. If a student doesn’t pay their bill, they are not able to enroll in the next semester.
Pell Grant: See Federal Pell Grant.
Pending Fulfillment Status: Commitments are renewable pledges of scholarship support. They are awarded each year as “pending fulfillment” and are later fulfilled when we award actual scholarships equaling the Commitment amount.
Principal Loan Amount: This is the amount of money borrowed. Interest is charged on this amount. Before the loan funds disburse to the student each semester, a small origination fee may be deducted from the principal.
Pro-rated/Proration: When financial aid is adjusted based on a student’s enrollment status. either because of less than full-time enrollment (in the case of a Pell Grant) or because the student will attend less than a full academic year, due to graduation at the end of the fall term (in the case of a Federal Direct Loan).
Refund: When a student has more financial aid than they have charges on their student account in any semester, they will qualify for a refund. We suggest students enroll in WyoRefunds (electronic refunds) to receive any refunds the university might owe you, and those can be sent to any bank account you have already established. Otherwise, a refund would be processed as a check made payable to the student and sent through the U.S. Mail to the student’s permanent address on record.
Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP): The academic standards that students receiving financial aid must maintain to remain eligible for federal aid. These standards typically involve a combination of GPA requirements, completion rates of attempted coursework, and completing a degree within a maximum timeframe. Failure to meet SAP standards means a student cannot receive federal aid, and sometimes other aid that is dependent upon FAFSA results, until they reestablish the standard(s) or are successful at appealing the decision.
Scholarship: A financial reward given to students, often based upon their academic merit, to help them pay for their education. Scholarships are gift-aid, so they don’t have to be repaid. Sometimes a student qualifies for a scholarship based upon financial need.
SEOG: See Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant.
Student Account: Once a student has completed the registration process, an account is created for that student at UW. This account tracks the financial transactions between the student and UW. Charges are placed on this same account for tuition, fees, housing, parking permits, library fines, etc. When a student receives financial aid, the aid is deposited into this account when we disburse aid. By UW Trustee regulation, any financial aid deposited to the account will first pay tuition and fees and then housing and food for UW residence halls. With the student's permission, other charges may also be paid.
Student Aid Index (SAI): The Student Aid Index (SAI) is an eligibility index number that your college’s or career school’s financial aid office uses to determine how much federal aid you would receive if you attended the school for one year. This number results from the information that you provide on your FAFSA form. This number is not a dollar amount of aid eligibility or what your family is expected to provide. A negative SAI indicates the student has a higher financial need; however, a negative SAI will be considered zero (0) for the purposes of need calculation.
Subsidized Loan: This loan through the U.S. Department of Education is offered to students with financial need as determined by the FAFSA. While you are in school, the government will pay the interest for you. This means you will end up owing less than someone who borrowed the same amount of an unsubsidized loan.
Undergraduate: A college student who is working toward a bachelor’s degree.
Unmet Need: See Financial Need
Unsubsidized Loan: This loan through the U.S. Department of Education is offered to most students who complete the FAFSA. You as the borrower will start being charged interest from the moment your loan disburses to your student account. You can choose to pay just the interest while you are in school, but if you do not, the interest will get added to your loan that you’ll need to pay back in the future. See Capitalization.
Work-Study: See Federal Work-Study Program.
WyoWeb/WyoRecords: The University of Wyoming’s online portal. It serves as a central hub for tasks such as registration, accessing financial aid, viewing student accounts, academic records, school emails, etc.
Verification: Your FAFSA may be randomly selected by the U.S. Department of Education for review. It is a process in which our office is tasked with collecting documentation from you to verify that the data reported on your FAFSA was entered correctly. Federal aid cannot be offered or disbursed to a student’s account until the verification process has been completed. If other aid, such as scholarships or grants, rely on FAFSA data to determine your eligibility, those types of aid also won’t be able to disburse until verification is complete.
