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 and for forgivable loans
- June 30: Deadline for William Winter forgivable loan applicants to submit PRAXIS scores and for forgivable loan applicants to submit letters of acceptance (if required)
- September 15: Online application deadline for MTAG and MESG
- 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.
- Mid- to Late-June: The Office begins to make award offers for the full academic year and sends notifications to students with complete applications. Award offers are made to MTAG and MESG students as soon as the student completes the application process.
- Grant applicants do not need to do anything to accept an award. The institution is notified of the award as soon as the student is notified.
- Forgivable loan applicants must sign a contract and submit the self-certification form to accept an award. The institution is notified of the award as soon as the student accepts the award by signing and submitting the required loan documents.
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.
- January-February: The institutions submit Grade Reports for fall and Enrollment Reports for spring.
- January-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.
