Federal regulations require that your total financial aid, including funds from federal, state, university, and other sources, not exceed your Cost of Attendance (COA) and demonstrated financial need.

An overaward exists when any of the following situations occur:

Cost of Attendance Overaward

• The student’s financial aid exceeds the student’s Cost of Attendance (COA).  Financial aid is defined as any educational cash or cash-equivalent (i.e., gift cards) benefits received by the student as either paid to the student's account or directly to the student because of enrollment at UConn, such as:
  • Pell Grants;
  • Federal Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans;
  • Federal Direct PLUS and Graduate PLUS Loans;
  • Alternative loans;
  • Grants (federal, state, institutional, external);
  • Scholarships (federal, state, institutional, external), including athletic scholarships;
  • Employer reimbursement of employee's tuition;
  • Waivers of tuition and fees;
  • Fellowships;
  • Net income from need-based employment such as Federal Work-Study;
  • AmeriCorp awards or post-service benefits (except when determining eligibility for Direct Subsidized Loans);
  • TEACH Grants;
  • Gift cards and other cash-equivalents.

• Students receiving a scholarship from a resource outside of the university, must submit a Scholarship Deferral Request form as soon as possible when the student becomes aware that he or she is receiving an external financial aid resource.

Overawards are usually the result of the student receiving aid that the Office of Student Financial Aid Services was not aware of when the student’s financial aid offer was created or when other changes occur.

Overawards may also be created when the student’s Student Aid Index (SAI) increases as a result of Verification. Overawards can result from changes to the FAFSA as well.

Regardless of the reason for the overaward, the Office of Student Financial Aid Services is required to resolve it.  Resolving the overaward could result in the student owing the University money if the overawarded financial aid funds have already paid (disbursed) to the student’s account.

If your total financial aid exceeds your demonstrated financial need or Cost of Attendance, the Office of Student Financial Aid Services will reduce your aid in the following order:

• loans first (federal and/or private),
• then work-study,
• followed by need-based grants and/or scholarships (grants and scholarships are counted towards a student’s demonstrated financial need, unless the above aid is not listed on the financial aid offer).

Before aid adjustments occur, the Office of Student Financial Aid Services will determine whether the student has increased costs that were not anticipated when the student was initially offered aid. Following this step, if the student’s total aid still exceeds their COA or financial need, loans will be reduced or cancelled. Following this step, if there is still an overaward and the student is no longer eligible for Federal Work-Study, the student should stop working immediately unless their employer is able to continue their employment on the student labor payroll. If the Work-Study earnings exceed the new award amount, departments may be required to reimburse the Work-Study account via Salary Transfer. If, after loans and Federal Work-study have been adjusted, an overaward still remains, grants or other forms of gift aid, that require need, will be reduced or cancelled.