Financial Aid Information
Did you know that you may qualify for FREE money for college? All you have to do is complete the FAFSA and the Mississippi State Financial Aid Application during your senior year. The FAFSA is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid that allows students to apply for the Pell Grant, Work-Study, and loans. The MS Financial Aid Application allows students to apply for MTAG, MESG, and the HELP Grant
FAFSA Information
Every year, almost three billion dollars go unclaimed simply because seniors and their parents do not complete the FAFSA. There are even some schools that won't distribute other scholarship funds without a completed FAFSA on file! Remember, the FAFSA does not obligate you to accept any financial aid that you do not want (this includes loans). Instead, the FAFSA helps determine your eligibility for money from the State of Mississippi, some colleges and universities, and even some private scholarship funds!
Before you complete the FAFSA, seniors and their parents must create
their FSA IDs at least three days prior to beginning the application.
Instructions on how to create your FSA ID can be found below.
MS Financial Aid
The Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid offers scholarships and grants based on merit and financial need to full-time (15 credit hours per semester) students attending eligible Mississippi colleges and universities. The application is available at https://www.msfinancialaid.org/ or you can link to the Mississippi application after completing the FAFSA and most of your info will be pre-filled.
Applications open October 1 and should be completed by the grant's deadlines (April 30th for HELP and the following October 15th for MTAG and MESG). For official information, eligibility requirements, and deadlines, please refer to the Mississippi Aid Application website: https://www.msfinancialaid.org/
The Mississippi Office of Student Financial Aid does accept ACT superscores. You can read more about their superscore requirements here.
MTAG--$3,000 over 4 years
($500/year for first two years, then $1,000 for second two years)
- legal resident of MS for at least one year
- 2.5 GPA and 15 composite or superscore ACT
- not full Pell Grant eligible
MESG--$10,000 over 4 years
($2,500/year, but may not exceed tuition and required fees)
- legal resident of MS for at least one year
- 3.5 GPA and 29 composite or superscore ACT or equivalent SAT score or National Merit/National Achievement Finalist or Semifinalist
HELP GRANT--covers tuition and fees for no more than 4 years at a public institution*
- legal resident of MS for at least one year
- 2.5 GPA and 20 composite or superscore ACT
- complete a specific high school curriculum
- complete the FAFSA & qualify for a full or partial Pell Grant
- complete the application prior to March 31st of the student's senior year
*students entering a private institution in MS will receive an award amount equal to the award of a student attending the nearest comparable MS public institution
FAITH SCHOLARSHIP--student's total cost of attendance less all other grant aid*
- legal resident of MS for at least one year
- meet at least one of the following criteria
- have been legal custody of the MS Department of Child Protection Services (CPS) at any time since age 13
- have lived in a qualified residential childcare agency (MS Baptist Children's Village, Sunnybrook Children's Home, or Berean Children's Home) at any time since age 13
- have been adopted from the legal custody of CPS or a qualified residential childcare agency at any time since age 13
- complete the FAFSA
- apply through CPS for an Educational and Training Voucher (ETV) if eligible to apply
- be younger than 25 by October 1 of the aid year for which the applicant is applying**
*participants attending a private institution will receive an award amount equal to the average of the prior year's published undergraduate cost of attendance of all public institutions less all other grant aid
**if the applicant was on active-duty status in the US Armed Forces for any time before the applicant reached age 25, the number of months served on active-duty status will be rounded up to the next higher year to determine the maximum extension of age eligibility allowed.