Financial Aid and Scholarships

Undergraduate Student Financial Assistance

The role of the Mines Financial Assistance Program is to assist students to enroll and complete their education.  Please visit the financial aid website for more information on how financial aid works, current costs and other processing questions: finaid.mines.edu. Financial aid is only able to pay towards courses that will count towards a student current degree program.  Students must be enrolled in at least half-time in those courses to be eligible for aid.

Applying for Assistance

The Mines Application for Admission serves as the application for merit-based scholarships for new students. Students will receive information regarding additional scholarship applications once admitted. Continuing students may be recommended by their major department for scholarships designated for students from that department. To apply for need-based Mines, Federal and Colorado assistance, students should complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

Once evaluated, a financial aid award notification will be sent to the student. New students can anticipate award notification by early January via email and US mail. Continuing students will be notified in early June via their Mines email.

Types of Financial Assistance

Need-based assistance will typically include grants, part-time employment, and student loans. Grants are provided by Mines, by the State of Colorado (Colorado State Grants), and by the federal government (Pell Grants and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants).

Work Study funds also come from Mines, State of Colorado and the federal government. Students work between 8 and 10 hours a week, and typically earn between $500 to $1,500 to help pay for books, travel, and other personal expenses.

Student Loans may be offered from The Direct lending program through the federal government.  Mines offers a limited amount of institutional loans to assist students during the summer.

Supplemental student loans may also be offered through private bank loan programs.

Merit-based assistance is offered to incoming freshmen to recognize them for their outstanding achievements. Awards to new freshmen students are made on the basis of their academic performance in high school as well as information on the admissions application such as outside activities. New transfer students who are seeking their first degree may be eligible for a merit award if they belong to Phi Theta Kappa. Continuing students can receive departmental scholarships based on their academic performance at Mines, particularly in their major field of study, and on financial need.

General Scholarship Application will be available for both incoming and continuing students.  Incoming students will be informed of the application and how to log in during the admissions process.  Continuing students will be notified in the Daily Blast once it is available.  The General Scholarship Application link will be in Trailhead.

Alumni Association Grants are awarded to students who are children of alumni who have been active in the Mines Alumni Association for the two years prior to the student’s enrollment. The students may also receive a senior award, based on their academic scholarship, and the availability of funds.

Engineers’ Day Scholarships are available to Colorado residents. Based on high school records, an essay, and other information, a committee of Mines' students selects the recipients for these four-year awards.  Students will be informed of the application during the admission process.

Athletic scholarships may be awarded to promising student-athletes in sixteen men’s and women’s sports. The scholarships are renewable for up to three years, based on the recommendation of the Athletics Department.

Army ROTC scholarships are available from Mines and the U.S. Army for outstanding young men and women who are interested in a military career. The one, two, three, and four-year scholarships can provide up to full tuition and fees, a book allowance, and a monthly stipend for personal expenses. The Mines Military Science Department assists students in applying for these scholarships.

U.S. Navy Scholarships through the Civil Engineering Program, Nuclear Power Officer Program, and Baccalaureate Degree Completion Program are also available to Mines students. The local Navy Recruiting District Office provides information about these scholarships.

U.S. Air Force ROTC Scholarships are available from Mines and the U.S. Air Force. The three and four year scholarships can provide up to full tuition, fees, a book allowance, and a stipend. Further information is available through the Department of Aerospace Studies at the University of Colorado Boulder (the official home base for the Mines detachment).

In addition to scholarships through Mines, many students receive scholarships from their hometown civic, religious or other organizations. All students are urged to contact organizations with which they or their parents are affiliated to investigate such scholarships. The Financial Aid Office reserves the right, unless otherwise instructed by the student, to release the student’s information to scholarship providers for the purpose of assisting students in obtaining scholarships.

Financial Aid Policies

General

Students are required to report to the Financial Aid Office all financial assistance offered or received from all sources, including Mines, immediately upon receipt or notification of such assistance. For the purpose of this paragraph, “financial assistance” shall include, but not be limited to, grants, scholarships, fellowships, or loans funded by public or private sources, as well as all income not considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue Service. Upon receipt of this information, Mines shall evaluate, and may adjust any financial assistance provided to the student from Mines, Colorado, or federal funds. No student shall receive financial assistance from Mines if such student’s total assistance from all sources exceeds the total cost of the student’s education. For the purpose of this paragraph, the “total cost of education” shall be defined to include the cost of tuition, fees, books, room and board, transportation, and personal expenses.

Funds for the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, Federal College Work-Study Program, Federal Direct Stafford Loan, and Federal Direct PLUS Loans are provided in whole or part by appropriations of the United States Congress. The Colorado General Assembly provides funds for the Colorado Grant and Colorado Work-Study programs. These programs are all subject to renewed funding each year.

Financial aid is only able to pay towards courses that will count towards a student current degree program.  Students must be enrolled in at least half-time in those courses to be eligible for aid.

Satisfactory Academic Progress

Mines students receiving scholarships must make satisfactory academic progress as specified in the rules and regulations for each individual scholarship.

Students receiving assistance from federal, Colorado or need-based Mines funds must make satisfactory academic progress toward their degree. Satisfactory progress is defined by maintaining adequate pace towards graduation and maintaining a 2.0 cumulative GPA at all times. Pace is measured by dividing the overall credit hours attempted by the overall credit hours completed. Students will be required to maintain a 75% completion rate at all times. Satisfactory standing is determined after each semester, including summer. If students are deficient in either the pace or grade average measure, they will receive a one semester warning period during which they must return to satisfactory standing.

If this is not done, their eligibility will be terminated until such time as they return to satisfactory standing. Financial aid eligibility termination may be appealed to the Financial Aid Office on the basis of extenuating or special circumstances having negatively affected the student's academic performance. If approved, the student will receive a probationary period of one semester to regain satisfactory standing.

Study Abroad

Students wishing to pursue study abroad opportunities should contact the Office of Global Education (OGE). Colorado School of Mines encourages students to include an international study/work experience in their undergraduate education. Mines maintains student exchange programs with a wide variety of institutions. Courses successfully passed abroad can be substituted for their equivalent course at Mines. Overall GPA is not affected by courses taken abroad. A well-planned study abroad program will not delay graduation. In addition, study abroad can be arranged on an individual basis at universities throughout the world.

Financial aid and selected scholarships and grants can be used to finance approved study abroad programs where hours toward the student's program will be transferred to Mines. The OGE has developed a resource center for study abroad information, abroad@mines.edu. Students are invited to use the resource materials and meet with staff to discuss overseas study opportunities.

Withdrawals

We understand that unexpected events occur in life that will cause a student to withdraw from classes at Colorado School of Mines. Federal regulation requires financial aid to be awarded under the assumption that a student will attend the institution for the entire period in which federal assistance was disbursed. The following policies will help you to understand the impact a withdrawal may have if you are receiving financial aid. The tuition and fees refund policy set by Mines is separate from the return calculation required by federal regulation.

An official withdrawal will be recorded once the withdrawal process has been completed by the student. Students who withdraw from the University should contact the financial aid office as part of the withdrawal process to determine what effect this will have on their financial aid. A withdrawal requires the financial aid office to determine how much of the federal, state and institutional financial aid the student has earned. Financial aid is not considered earned until the 60% point of the semester. The unearned portion will be returned to the program from which it came (i.e. student loans to the lender, Pell to the federal department of education, etc). Students need to be aware that they may owe Colorado School of Mines for unearned federal, state and/or institutional aid even if they are receiving a refund in tuition and fees.

Federal regulations consider a student to be an unofficial withdrawal if the student receives all failing grades for the term. If the student has not completely withdrawn and has failed to earn a passing grade in at least one class for the term, Mines is required to determine whether the student established eligibility for financial aid by attending at least one class or participating in any Mines academic-related activity. An unofficial withdrawal calculation will be performed and funds returned to their respective federal, state and/or institutional aid programs if there is not documentation supporting the student's last day of attendance, or the documentation indicates the student stopped attending prior to the 60% point of the semester.