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Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant

Residential graduate students are eligible for $5,000 from the Commonwealth of Virginia for the 2023-24 aid year.

To qualify and apply, students must:

• Be a Virginia-domiciled student. Must not have moved to Virginia for the purpose of attending post-secondary school.
• Be enrolled as a full-time student (enrolled at least nine credit hours per term)
• Have initiated an application for VTAG by July 31. If you are enrolling in the January cohort, your application must be received by July 31 of the previous year. You do need to re-apply, even if you received VTAG as an undergraduate. However, you will only need to apply once as a graduate student.

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans are guaranteed government loans available to all U.S. citizens and eligible noncitizens enrolled at least half-time. Students may borrow a maximum of $20,500 in Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loans per academic year and have the option of paying the accruing interest on a quarterly basis while in school or defer the interest until after graduation. Interest accrues while in school. There is a six-month grace period before payments are due.

To qualify and apply, students must:

• Complete a FAFSA form to determine eligibility. Loans are not based on need. The fixed interest rate for loans first disbursed as of July 1, 2023 is 7.05% with an origination fee of 1.057%.
• Complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling Session at studentaid.gov. Students must log in with their own FSA ID and password. MPNs are good for ten years. If a previous MPN has expired, a new one will be required.

Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan

Graduate and professional students have an additional, affordable option for funding their education with the Graduate PLUS Loan – which is guaranteed by the federal government and has a fixed interest rate. An eligible student can borrow up to the cost of attendance minus any other aid received.

To qualify or apply, students must:

• Have submitted a complete FAFSA and personal credit history. Eligibility for this loan is not based on household income, assets, or financial need but is determined, in part, by a complete FAFSA and your personal credit history. Many students with limited or no credit history can qualify, however, students with an adverse credit history may not qualify.
• Complete the Grad PLUS application, Master Promissory Note (MPN), and entrance counseling at studentaid.gov.

A fixed interest rate of 8.05% for loans first disbursed as of July 1, 2023 with a 4.228% origination fee. Subject to credit approval, choice of repayment terms.

Private Educational Loans

Like federal loans, private loans are designed to help students who need financial assistance with educational costs. Private loans are not based on need; approval is generally based on creditworthiness and ability to repay. Students who do not meet a lender’s credit qualifications or who are not US citizens or eligible non-citizens may need to apply with a co-signer.

Interest rates, grace periods, repayment terms and fees are determined by the lender and can vary considerably.

Please visit to view the list of lenders who have recently worked with RMC students. However, you are free to use any lender of your choosing regardless of if they are on this list or not.

Receiving Aid from RMC

Your Responsibilities to process your aid

Your financial aid award(s) will appear on your award notification, which will be emailed to you. Should you wish to decline or reduce an aid source offered to you, then you must notify us within ten days in writing.

Promptly report to the Office of Financial Aid if any additional funds you may received from sources other than what is listed on your award notification. Federal regulations require that outside awards be taken into consideration when determining your overall aid eligibility. RMC reserves the right to adjust your aid package.

Respond promptly to any future request for additional information from the Office of Financial Aid.

If your aid package includes an offer of a Federal Direct Loan, please be aware that we process loans electronically.

• Your loan eligibility will be forwarded electronically to the Department of Education. If you have borrowed under the program while attending RMC as a graduate student, you are not required to complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN).
• If you will be a new borrower to the Direct Loan Program, you will need to complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) and complete an Entrance Counseling session. You may complete your MPN and/or Entrance Counseling session online at .

• If you wish to reduce or decline the amount of a Federal Direct Loan outlined in your award notification, you may notify us of that via the Change Form.

Your Responsibilities throughout your program

Changing your enrollment may result in the reduction of elimination of your awards.

You must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) as defined in the RMC academic catalog. Students receiving federal or state need-based financial aid are expected to make satisfactory academic progress towards achieving their degrees. If you do not, you may lose your eligibility for these programs.

Apply for financial aid every year in order to receive full consideration for federal aid sources by completing the FAFSA Annually.

How to contact us

If using email to contact the Office of Financial Aid, we will only accept correspondence from your RMC email address so that we may verify your identity. No one other than you may accept, decline, or reduce an aid award.  Please include your RMC ID number on any correspondence to our office.

About your Aid Award/Package

cost of attendance

This consists of six basic annual expenses as indicated on your award notification:

• Tuition
• Fees
• Housing and meals
• Personal
• Transportation
• Loan Origination Fee

Average Direct loan fee, personal or other miscellaneous expenses are NOT charges that are billed to you by RMC. These expenses are YOUR responsibility. Books and supplies may be charged to your student account if purchased through the RMC Campus Store. Financial aid in excess of your billable RMC charges may be used to defer these costs.

The Loan Origination Fee is based upon all students who applied for a similar loan program in the previous academic year. Your fee may be less or more depending on how much you choose to borrow and is deducted by the Department of Education from your gross loan amount. For example, a graduate student borrowing a maximum of $20,500 would have approximately $216 deducted from the gross amount borrowed. Federal regulations require us to include it as part of your Cost of Attendance even though it is not a college fee. This fee does not apply to you if you do not borrow from this program. To determine the amount of your fee, multiply the amount of your Direct Loan eligibility by 1.057%.

Estimated cost to attend RMC

This term represents the difference between our cost of attendance and your financial aid awards. To determine this amount, take your cost of attendance minus your total financial aid. It may not represent the “Expected Family Contribution” (EFC) as determined by the Department of Education, nor does it reflect what you have to pay to RMC. If you wish to have an approximate idea of how much you may owe to RMC, please use this formula.

Tuition and Fees – Financial Aid = Total due to RMC

Many students utilize other resources to meet the remaining cost after all financial aid has been considered such as alternative private educational loans and Federal Graduate PLUS loans.

Revision of aid awards

The Office of Financial Aid reserves the right to revise your aid awards according to the federal, state, and institutional policies and regulations. Your awards may be revised when there are changes in your originally reported information and/or when you receive additional outside aid awards (i.e., outside scholarships, tuition remission). You may notify us of outside awards by completing the Change Form.

Disbursement of aid/refunds

Except for work programs and outside scholarships, the earliest your aid may be disbursed to your student account will be on the first day after the add/drop period for the term has passed. Refund requests will be available through your MyMaconWeb portal following disbursement of your aid for the term.