Awards Process & Timeline
Application Period and Deadlines
- October 1: Application for next Aid Year becomes available
- March 1: Online application deadline for the Nissan Scholarship
- March 31: Online application deadline for the HELP Grant and for forgivable loans
- April 30: Supporting document deadline for the HELP Grant
- June 30: Document deadline for SLPL, CNDT, and SREB
- September 15: Online application deadline for MTAG, MESG, WRTR, and NULR
- October 15: Supporting document deadline for MTAG and MESG
Process and Timeline for Making Award Offers
- Mid-April (most years): The Office of Student Financial Aid receives its annual appropriation from the Mississippi Legislature.
- May-June: The Postsecondary Education Financial Assistance Board (Postsecondary Board) approves the program budgets.
- May-June: The institutions submit Grade Reports for the previous term. The Office must have Grade Reports from all 30 institutions before making awards.
- June-July: The Office begins to make award offers for the full academic year and sends notifications to students with complete applications.
- Grant applicants do not need to do anything to accept an award. The institution will be notified of the award.
- Forgivable loan applicants must sign a contract and submit the self-certification form to accept an award. The institution will be notified of the award after all required documents are received.
Disbursement Process and Timeline
- September: The institutions submit Enrollment Reports to verify student enrollment for fall.
- September-December: Fall award payments are disbursed directly to the institution once a week.
- The Office must have complete student application and enrollment verification before award payments can be made.
- The disbursement process may take up to ten business days from the time payment is initiated until payment is received by the institution and processed to your student account.
- February: The institutions submit Grade Reports for fall and Enrollment Reports for spring.
- March-May: Spring award payments are disbursed directly to the institution once a week.
- The Office must have the fall Grade Report and spring Enrollment Report from an institution before award payments can be made for any student at that institution.
- The disbursement process may take up to ten business days from the time payment is initiated until payment is received by the institution and processed to a student’s account.
