Summer Financial Aid

Summer Scholarships

• A few academic scholarship programs, such as Regents, Chancellor's, or Nebraska Achievement for full tuition, are available over the summer.
• Complete the Summer Aid Application for your summer scholarship eligibility to be reviewed. Scholarships available for summer are distributed based on individual scholarship requirements as referenced in your initial scholarship offer. Students must meet renewal criteria in order to qualify for summer scholarship benefits. Most scholarship programs do not have a summer component.
• Academic scholarships may or may not be available for summer. Refer to your original scholarship guidelines. Scholarships may or may not be awarded through your academic college, depending on each unit’s policies. Some external scholarships may be available during the summer.

Summer Grants

Federal Pell Grants are available year round. For most students, there is a requirement to enroll at least half-time (6+ credits) to receive the Pell Grant for summer. In limited situations, a student may be eligible for a Pell Grant at less than half-time enrollment (1-5 credits). Pell Grant eligibility is based on enrollment as of July 17.  If you drop or withdraw from a class on or before July 17, your Pell Grant may be reduced or canceled.

An Example of How Summer Pell Grant works

If the Pell Grant is $7,395 for the academic year, a student would have received $3,698 for the fall semester and $3,697 for the spring semester as a full-time student. Under the summer Pell program, this student could receive an additional $3,697 for the summer semester, if they enrolled full-time (12+ credits). If this same student enrolls half-time (6-8 credits) for the summer semester, the student would receive a $1,848 Pell Grant for summer, or one-half of a full term award.

Minimum Credits for Summer Pell Grant

If you were enrolled full-time (12+ credits) and received the full-time Pell Grant amount for the previous fall and spring, you must enroll at least half-time (6+ credits) in summer classes to receive a summer Pell Grant. If you enrolled part-time for the previous fall or spring, you may receive the Federal Pell Grant with less than half-time enrollment using the remainder of your annual Pell Grant amount during summer.

Summer Federal Work Study

Federal work-study funding is limited as the funds are typically exhausted during the regular academic year. However, if funds are available when you are awarded, you may receive work-study funds.

Summer Loans

In order to qualify for federal student loans, you must be enrolled at least half-time (6 credits for undergraduate and law students and 5 credits for graduate students) and have remaining eligibility for the academic year. You must be enrolled at the time you accept the loan. Loans cannot be processed after your enrollment period has ended. You can review annual loan limits on the Federal Student Aid website at studentaid.gov.

Summer Federal Parent PLUS Loans

In order to qualify for the Federal PLUS Loan, your parent must apply online at studentaid.gov, be approved, and you must be enrolled at least half-time (6 credits for undergraduates). The process cannot be completed after your enrollment period has ended.

Summer Alternative Loans

Students applying for alternative loans are not required to complete the summer aid application. If a loan application is received by the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid and we require further information, we will contact the student via email.

Global Experiences

If you are interested in a global experience over the summer, you must first meet with a Global Experiences Coordinator. Only University-approved programs qualify for financial aid. Financial aid that is awarded to you will be released to the student account by the first day of the summer session in which you are enrolled or by the start date of your experience abroad, whichever is later. Most, but not all, scholarship and financial aid programs can be used for studying abroad. UNL Tuition scholarships can only be used if UNL tuition is assessed. Study Abroad program fees are not UNL tuition.

We encourage you to meet with a student services specialist in Husker Hub for all of the necessary financial aid steps to prepare for study abroad.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Students must be meeting financial aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) standards to qualify for summer financial aid. SAP is reviewed at the end of the regular academic year (after the spring term). Students who do not meet SAP have the opportunity to appeal and should consider doing so as soon as possible to be considered for summer financial aid.