<p>For those of you waiting…this came via the Texas Parents Newsletter:</p>
<p>Here is more detail about what OSFS is doing and why:
Summer Aid. Beginning mid-April, OSFS plans to begin sending summer financial aid packages to students after they register for summer. This is not due to any action the Regents may take, but to Congress’ decision to eliminate summer Pell Grants for needy undergraduates beginning this year. OSFS saw this coming and saved what should be a sufficient amount of institutional grant money to replace the Pell dollars that formerly helped cover such students’ summer expenses. However, until students register, OSFS has no way of knowing whether students plan to attend summer school. To help ensure that OSFS will direct summer institutional grants to those who will use them, summer aid packages will be offered to students only after they actually register for summer.<br>
Fall/Spring Aid. OSFS plans to send fall/spring financial aid packages to current students as soon as possible after May 7. Newly admitted students need to decide whether the university is affordable to them by their May 1 enrollment deposit deadline. The Regents’ next regularly scheduled meeting is May 2-3, after which OSFS may know whether tuition rates will change. OSFS will revise newly admitted students’ fall/spring aid packages if necessary after the Regents decide future rates. However, if rate revisions do occur, OSFS hopes to incorporate them into current students’ fall/spring aid packages right from the start, thereby avoiding any confusion and inconvenience that could be triggered by subsequent revisions. Equally important, OSFS expects to know on or about May 7 which admitted freshmen do not plan to enroll in the university this fall. This may generate some opportunities to reuse grants originally offered to admitted freshmen who are forgoing those awards, thereby helping OSFS increase the number of needy current students to whom they can offer grants.</p>