Financial Aid

In general, financial need is defined as the following:

Cost of Attendance (Student's Budget)

- Student Aid Index (SAI)

- Financial Assistance (Scholarships, long-term loans, benefits)

= Financial Need

Cost of Attendance

The Cost of Attendance is the estimated amount to attend the University of Washington Tacoma for a single academic year. Tuition is based on the student’s program of study; factors such as housing and food, books, personal expenses, transportation are revised each year. Housing is based on where a student will live during the academic year: at home with family/relatives, away from home in Court 17 on the UW Tacoma Campus or off-campus in an apartment but not with family. Books are based on an average amount for each quarter. Actual personal and transportation costs may very per student. With the exception of tuition, all factors in the cost of attendance or only estimates and represent the potential expenses students will have while enrolled. 

Student Aid Index

The Student Aid Index (SAI) is determined by a standard government method and is used by financial aid offices to determine eligibility for federal, state and/or institutional funding. Parent, or if married, student’s spouse information may be required on the application. Students who would like to request financial assistance through the Financial Aid Office must complete either the FAFSA or the WASFA and provide requested documentation for our office to receive the SAI and create your financial aid offer. 

Financial Need

With the exception of the Federal Pell Grant, financial need is based on the difference between your cost of attendance and the Student Aid Index. Grant and loan aid will be offered to meet this amount.

The University of Washington Tacoma Campus offers the following scholarships:

• General Scholarship
• Merit Scholarship
• First Step Scholarship
• External lists are available through the Office of Student Financial Aid as well as department websites. For information regarding scholarship opportunities, visit our Financial Aid website

The total aid and scholarships received for one academic year cannot exceed the calculated need. When this happens, need-based loan and grant funding may be reduced. 

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the basic application for federal, state and institutional financial aid. Students and contributors must complete their respective portions of the application. It is recommended that students and families complete the application online. To do so, students and application contributors must obtain a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID by registering through fsaid.ed.gov.

To access FAFSA on the Web, go to https://studentaid.gov/h/apply-for-aid/fafsa. The University of Washington FAFSA School Code for all three campuses is 003798.

Undocumented students/other select applicant students who are not eligible to complete the FAFSA, you may submit a WASFA instead. Washington Application for State Financial Aid (WASFA), available at https://wsac.wa.gov/wasfa.

To qualify for federal financial aid, a student must:

• Be a U.S. citizen, permanent resident or other eligible non-citizen
• Be admitted to the university in an approved program and meet minimum enrollment requirements (most distance learning, correspondence, and non-matriculated students do not qualify for financial aid)
• Not be in default on a previous student loan or owe a repayment on a grant or loan for which the student was not eligible Maintain satisfactory academic progress based on federal, state, and institutional requirements.
• Provide financial information (including parents’ information, where required)

To qualify for Washington state aid, a student must:

• Be a Washington State resident
• Be ineligible for the FAFSA due to immigration status
• Have other select reasons for not completing the FAFSA.

Eligible students are considered for funding based financial need as determined through the FAFSA or WASFA, class level and degree program eligibility, and state residency status. Need determines priority for those programs within the class level. Students with the fewest resources are given first priority for all aid funds.

The University of Washington FAFSA/WASFA Priority Filing Date is January 15. 

In general, students whose FAFSA or WASFA is received after January 15, will still be considered for limited forms of financial aid. Eligible students may still be eligible for the Federal Pell grants and/or Washington College Grants (for undergraduates pursuing first bachelor’s degree) and the Federal Direct Loan programs.                 

For students eligible to file a WASFA, the application must also be received by the processor by the university's annual priority application date.

Financial aid recipients should remember to keep copies of financial documents used in completing the FAFSA or WASFA, continuously monitor their UW email account for official correspondence from the Office of Student Financial Aid, and notify the Office of the Registrar of any change in address.

Summer Quarter is the start of the next academic year for financial aid purposes. Students who plan to enroll for Summer Quarter must complete the next year's FAFSA or WASFA. After receipt of the acknowledgement email from our office, students must sign-in to their Financial Aid Status page to complete the Summer Aid Application. It will be available April 1 of each year.

The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships has funds available for short-term loans to assist students with temporary cash flow problems. Short-term loans are available only to students who are currently attending the university (loans cannot be processed between quarters). Students who are auditing courses or those enrolled but not earning credits are not eligible for short-term loans. Funds are generally available within one to four working days depending on if the loan is paying charges on your account or you are having the funds sent to your bank via direct deposit.

More information is available at https://www.washington.edu/financialaid/types-of-aid/loans/short-term-loans/

UW Tacoma students will occasionally need to enroll at a community college to complete admission deficiencies for their major. The credits at the community college may be counted toward the student’s total quarter enrollment credits using a financial aid consortium request available through the Financial Aid Office. Both UW Tacoma and the community college financial aid offices must approve consortium agreements. Students cannot receive aid at the host school as well as from UW Tacoma for the same quarter. If approved, students will receive their UW Tacoma financial aid based on the combined credits of both institutions. Requests must be submitted no later than three weeks prior to the start of the quarter. Students may also qualify to receive aid if enrolled in the UWT-TCC Dual Enrollment program.

Washington State's Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program is a 529 college savings program named for the section of the IRS code that defines these types of plans. This program allows individuals to prepay for students’ college educational expenses. Funds from the GET program are used to reduce qualified educational expenses. The amounts used to pay these expenses are not taxable or reported to the IRS on the 1098T forms that the UW provides students for filing their tax returns.