Graduate Award Guide

Cost of Attendance: The Cost of Attendance is an estimate of your total expenses based on your program of study (tuition, fees, and living expenses). Most graduate programs follow a nine-month academic year. Federal guidelines indicate that the Cost of Attendance may cover only student expenses for the terms defined as the academic year. Expenses for periods of non-enrollment, spouse, and dependent living expenses cannot be included, with the exception of documented childcare costs which may be added. Your eligibility for Federal Direct Loans will be the difference between your Cost of Attendance and any other merit-based or other grant awards you receive. You may submit a Cost of Attendance Appeal Form with documentation of any educational expenses you have that exceed items in the standard Cost of Attendance within the academic year. The Cost of Attendance Appeal Form can be found in the Forms section of our website. 

Outside Resources: Students are required to report all outside resources such as employer tuition reimbursement and outside scholarships or grants. Changes in outside resources may cause your financial aid eligibility to be re-evaluated, and possibly reduced. LMU Financial Aid will notify you by email if any changes are made to your award. If the Graduate Division, your academic department, or an outside agency reports awards that you have not previously reported to us, we will adjust your loan(s) or work-study. You may be required to repay loans already disbursed if the total of your financial aid awards, including your outside aid, exceeds your Cost of Attendance.

Financial Aid Awards: This is your offer of federal financial aid. Typical financial aid offers include a Federal Direct Loan and a Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan to meet your Cost of Attendance. Financial aid offers will not include other types of awards unless you or your graduate department have reported them to LMU Financial Aid. Work-study awards are only awarded to students who request it by completing the Revision Request Form available in the Forms section of our website. 

Your financial aid award may be revised if:

1) you receive additional departmental aid or outside aid. 

2) there is a change in your enrollment (e.g. you reduce your unit enrollment).

3) there is an error in the offer.

Loyola Marymount University participates in all federal and state financial aid programs and provides significant funding of our own to assist students who qualify for financial aid. 

LMU Financial Aid will award you the maximum amount available from each funding source within federal, state, and university regulations without exceeding your financial need.

• Federal funds are awarded based on the results from the federal formula and the availability of campus-based funds.
• LMU-funded grants and scholarships are awarded according to policies established by the university.
• The total amount of financial aid awarded from grants, scholarships, loans, and work can never exceed your program's Cost of Attendance.

LMU uses a standard formula to determine your financial need. The elements of this formula are explained below.

Estimated Cost of Attendance - Student Aid Index = Financial Need

LMU Estimated Cost of Attendance (COA)

The first component of this formula is your estimated cost of attendance (COA). Your COA is a standard amount used to represent the expected costs of attending one year at LMU. These costs include tuition and fees, averages for housing and meals, books and supplies, personal expenses, and transportation expenses.

The COA is an estimated amount used to determine eligibility for financial aid; it is not meant to represent each student's actual expenses.

Visit our Cost of Attendance page for more information.

Student Aid Index (SAI)

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is an eligibility index number that colleges use to determine how much federal student aid the student would receive if the student attended the school. This number results from the information that the student provides in their FAFSA form.  The SAI is also used to determine what type of federal student loan you qualify for. The SAI is not the amount that you will need to pay to LMU. Therefore, if your SAI is zero, it does not mean that you will not have to make a payment to attend LMU.

Financial Need

Your financial need is the difference between the Cost of Attendance and your Student Aid Index, which determines the maximum amount of need-based assistance you can receive from federal, state, university, and outside agency sources. LMU is not able to meet 100% of every student's financial need.

Your Financial Aid Offer

LMU will, within federal, state, and university regulations, award you the maximum amount available from each funding source, without exceeding financial need. 

• Federal funds are awarded based on the result of the federal formula and the availability of campus-based federal funds.

• State funds are offered based on state-specified eligibility requirements such as GPA, family income, assets, and household size.

• LMU grant/endowment funds are offered according to policies established by the university.

• We coordinate any outside resources you may have received with your financial aid award according to federal, state, and institutional policies.

The total amount of financial aid offered can never exceed your COA regardless of the source of additional funding.

Approximately one week before the start of the term, your financial aid awards (excluding work-study earnings and some Private Alternative Loans) will be disbursed to your student account. In order for your aid to disburse, you must meet the requirements below. 

• You have accepted your award via MYLMU.
• You have signed any required Master Promissory Notes for all loans you accepted.
• You have completed  Entrance Counseling for all federal loans you accepted.
• You are enrolled in at least three units if you are a degree-seeking graduate student or six units if you are a 5th-year undergraduate student. 
• You are making Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
• You do not have any outstanding requirements. 

Your financial aid funds will be applied first to university charges. Any excess aid that remains after the charges on your account have been paid in full will be refunded to you. You are strongly encouraged to enroll in eRefunds, which authorizes the direct deposit of financial aid refunds into your bank account. If you do not apply for direct deposit at least 10 business days before the beginning of the term period your refund will be mailed to you which can take up to 20 days for you to receive.

If you do not meet the eligibility requirements above, you can expect your aid to be delayed. Aid will disburse to your account after you meet all eligibility requirements.

Notice of Disbursement and Right to Cancel a Federal Direct Loans

As a student or parent borrower, you have the right to cancel the entire loan or any portion (a specific disbursement) of any Federal Direct or PLUS loans. Requests to cancel a specific loan disbursement may be submitted prior to the date of crediting to your account or within 14 days of notification. To request the cancellation of a loan disbursement, please complete a Revision Request Form. If a disbursement has already credited to your account, you may request to cancel that disbursement only if a refund has not been generated. Please note that you can request to cancel future disbursements.

If a refund has not been generated you must request to cancel the disbursements within 14 days of notification that the funds disbursed to your account.

If a refund has already been generated you must repay any loan funds you wish to return directly to the U.S. Department of Education by contacting your loan servicer. For loan servicer contact information, visit www.nsldsfap.ed.gov.

Log into MyLMU. Under the System Logins, select PROWL. In the Financial Aid tab select Financial Aid Dashboard, then Offer based on the Aid Year.

You may accept all or a portion of or none of your loan(s). You are under no obligation to accept the loans offered to you. We strongly encourage you to borrow only what you need to meet your educational expenses. You may accept some now and request an additional loan later. To request additional loan funds, you will need to complete and submit a Revision Request Form available in the Forms section of our website. 

Students are required to:

• Report any changes in their enrollment.
• Report any outside resources they will receive.

If you accept a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan you need to:

1. Complete a Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) at studentaid.gov
2. Complete Direct Loan Entrance Counseling at studentaid.gov

If you accept the Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan you need to:

1. Complete a Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) at studentaid.gov
2. Complete Direct Loan Entrance Counseling at studentaid.gov

The information below describes the rights and responsibilities of students receiving financial aid assistance, specifically federal student aid at Loyola Marymount University/Loyola Law School. 

Student's Right to Know:

• Students have the right to know the criteria for continued student eligibility for each type of financial aid awarded.
• Students have the right to know the satisfactory academic progress standards that students must meet to receive financial aid assistance, and the required criteria to re-establish eligibility if a student fails to meet satisfactory academic progress.
• Students have the right to know the method by which financial aid disbursements will be made to the students and the frequency of those disbursements.
• Students have the right to know the method the school provides for Pell-eligible students to obtain or purchase required books and supplies by the seventh day of a payment period.
• Students have the right to know the general terms and conditions applicable to any employment provided to a student as part of the student’s financial aid package.
• Students have the right to know the terms of any loan received, a sample loan repayment schedule for sample loans, the necessity for paying loans, and the loan exit counseling information the school provides.

Student’s Responsibilities:

• I agree to notify LMU Financial Aid of any changes to the information used to determine my financial aid award.
• I agree to respond to requests for information from LMU Financial Aid.
• I agree to review the Financial Aid Award Guide on the Financial Aid website and PROWL award messages and acknowledge the enrollment requirements to receive certain types of financial aid.
• I agree to notify the Office of the Registrar if at any time I stop attending classes and officially take a leave of absence or withdraw from the university. I also understand it is advised to speak with LMU Financial Aid to see if my withdrawal will impact my current aid award.
• I agree to notify LMU Financial Aid if I am, or I become incarcerated while I am in attendance at LMU/Loyola Law School and receiving financial aid.
• I agree to notify LMU Financial Aid, if I (or a parent who has borrowed from the Federal Parent (PLUS loan program) am convicted of or pled guilty or no-contest to a crime involving fraud in obtaining federal student aid funds.
• I agree to notify LMU Financial Aid if I (or a parent who has borrowed from the Federal Parent (PLUS loan program) am subject to a lien for a debt owed to the United States.
• I agree to use federal student aid funds received during the award year solely for educational expenses related to attendance during that year.

Unit Requirements for Federal, State and Institutional Financial Aid:

• Undergraduate students must be enrolled in a minimum of 12 units to be eligible to receive institutional financial aid and six units to be eligible for federal and state financial aid.
• Credential students must be enrolled in a minimum of six (6) units to be eligible to receive federal and state aid.
• Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Certificate program students are eligible for up to one twelve-month period of federal aid and must be enrolled in a minimum of six (6) units.
• Master’s Degree candidates must be enrolled in a minimum of three (3)units to be eligible for federal aid programs.
• Doctoral Degree candidates must be enrolled in a minimum of two units to be eligible for federal aid programs.
• Law Degree candidates must be enrolled in the minimum number of units as outlined by their program to be eligible for their scholarship and federal financial aid.
• All students may only receive federal aid for coursework that is required for their degree.

Consent for Electronic Records and Communications:

• By accepting this financial aid award, I consent to the use of an electronic record and electronic transactions related to my financial aid.
• Such transactions may take the form of electronic transmission and acceptance of these terms and my financial aid award via PROWL (Undergraduate), and MYLMU/MYLLS portals, via email to my University or personal email accounts as well as submission of electronic forms or other required financial aid information requested.
•  If you do not consent, or later wish to withdraw your consent, you must contact the Financial Aid Office regarding non-electronic transactions.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP)

Financial aid regulations require that students meet specific Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements to maintain eligibility for financial aid. Please review the Graduate SAP policy for more information.

Prior to the release of any federal funds, students are required to complete an entrance interview.

The federal government requires all federal student loan borrowers to attend an exit interview shortly before they graduate, withdraw from school, or take a leave of absence. Exit interviews may also be completed online.

The federal government requires all colleges and universities to offer Entrance and Exit Counseling for federal student loan recipients. Students only have to complete each of these once (for each federal loan type) while in attendance at Loyola Marymount University.

Types of Entrance and Exit Counseling Available:

• Direct Loan Entrance Counseling for Grad Students
• Direct Loan Exit Counseling

Students must complete entrance and exit counseling for each of the various loan types they will receive.

Additional questions regarding Entrance or Exit Counseling may be found here https://studentaid.gov/entrance-counseling/

Once your financial aid application and all requested information have been received and processed, you will be notified via email that your Financial Aid Offer is ready to be viewed in MyLMU.