Financial Aid
Evaluating one’s current and long-term financial objectives is an essential part of the admission process. Although it is the applicant’s responsibility to gather this information, St. Mary’s can help students to become educated consumers. The Office of Financial Assistance is available to assist with questions about financial aid types and processes. Additional information and resources are included in the sections below.
St. Mary’s strongly encourages applicants to assess their borrowing needs and to learn about the types of loans and scholarships available to them. The best time to begin to gather financial information is now.
Types of Financial Aid
Loans
Special Funds
Student Loan Information
- Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
- The Unsubsidized Stafford Loan is automatically awarded when students submit their FAFSA. You can find details on loan limits, interest rates, and terms of repayment at www.StudentAid.gov.
- You will need to complete Loan Entrance Counseling and sign your Master Promissory Note (MPN) at www.StudentAid.gov.
- Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loans are non-need based and may be offered up to a maximum of $20,500 per academic year. The maximum aggregate for Stafford loans is $138,500, of which no more than $65,500 may be subsidized.
- Credit-based Loan options
- The Graduate PLUS Loan – for details and to apply, go to www.StudentAid.gov
- Private Loan Options – go to St. Mary’s University Elm Select page
Students are encouraged to apply for all the financial assistance that is available to them, since American Bar Association rules prohibit law students from working more than 20 hours per week in outside employment.
Applying for Financial Aid
- Be accepted for admission
- File a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
- Be a citizen of the United States or a permanent resident alien.
Financial Aid Checklist:
Use the checklist below to apply for financial aid. Then follow the steps once you have been awarded to review, budget, and ensure your aid will disburse by the start of the semester.
- Submit your FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) on the Federal Student Aid webpage
- Review your financial aid status by checking your Gateway student portal
- You can then expect an Unsubsidized Stafford Loan award offer for the aid year (Fall and Spring)
- Under LAUNCHPAD > Select Financial Aid
- In the new window, select Award then View Award Offer and Select Aid Year
- Select the Accept Award Offer tab and begin Accepting or Declining your loans
- Entrance Counseling
- Master Promissory Note for Graduate/Professional Students
- Graduate PLUS Loan which can be applied for through https://studentaid.gov/plus-app/grad/landing.
- You can review all other options via https://www.elmselect.com/v4/school/849/program-select
Cost of Attendance
2023-2024 Cost Of Attendance Budget
2022-2023 Cost Of Attendance Budget
Your Cost of Attendance budget may be adjusted (Special Condition form) upward for:
- Supervised childcare expenses for children 12 years of age and under.
- One time cost of a laptop computer.
- Bar review course.
- Mortgage payments.
- Spousal/dependent maintenance expenses.
- The cost for owning, insuring and maintaining a car.
- Credit card and consumer debt payments.
Tuition and Fees for Law Students
The tuition and fees outlined in each schedule outline the actual charges that a student will incur from the institution in a given academic term. Specific tuition charges and fees are detailed in each section for the previous, current, and upcoming academic years.
The 2022-2023 tuition and fee rates are in effect from Aug. 1, 2022, until July 31, 2023.
Student Deposits
Forms and Resources
General Forms
- Law and Graduate Financial Aid Guide
- 2023-2024 Law and Graduate Special Conditions Form
- Texas Residency Questionnaire (Required for THECB-College Access Loan certification)
Personal Finance Resources
Find additional free financial planning resources through AccessLex©.
Ask EDNA! – the Education Network at AccessLex is a personal finance program for law students. Register for your free account at AskEDNA.AccessLex.org now to enter MAX by AccessLex® and sign up for live events, one-on-one financing coaching with Accredited Financial Counselors®, and more.
Academic Requirements
- The Qualitative Standard for SAP requires after the first academic year of attendance at St. Mary’s, a graduate student must have a cumulative C (2.0 or better) average or its equivalent or have academic standing at that point in the program that is consistent with the university’s requirement for graduation.
- The Quantitative Standard for SAP, also referred as the Pace of Progression, considers the number of credit hours a student successfully completes, in comparison to the number of credit hours attempted. A full-time graduate students at St. Mary’s is expected to complete 67 percent of all hours attempted with a minimum 9 hours completed each semester (see chart below). Remember, repeat courses or those a student receives a grade of incomplete (I) will not count against a student’s GPA, but will be factored into his/her completion rate.
Required Hour Law Students | Cumulative GPA |
Year 1 (18 hours) | 2.0 |
Year 2 (36 hours) | 2.0 |
Year 3 (54 hours) | 2.0 |
Year 4 (72 hours) | 2.0 |
Year 5 (90 hours) | 2.0 |
- In addition to the Qualitative and Quantitative Standards, to be eligible for financial aid, a student must not exceed 150% of the required program hours to graduate from any one degree program. A student who exceeds the maximum hours is ineligible for financial aid. For example, a student enrolled in a program requiring 36 hours to graduate may not attempt more than 54 hours and still receive financial aid.
If a student fails to meet one or more of the above standards, he/she is placed on one of three financial aid SAP statues, as described below and receives a notification from the Office of Financial Assistance.
- SAP Warning: A student not meeting SAP will be designated under a SAP Warning status for one semester, which means a student is being warned that he/she is not meeting the SAP eligibility and has one semester to meet the eligibility requirement before being placed on Probation Graduate. During this semester, a student will continue to receive financial aid. Warning status does not need to be appealed because a student is still eligible to receive financial assistance.
- Probation Graduate: A student placed on financial aid Suspension, has the option of appealing the suspension through the SAP appeal process. If after the review process, an appeal is granted, a student will be placed on Probation Graduate for the next semester, and a student must bring his/her SAP eligibility to Good Standing Graduate status during the semester or be placed on Suspension Graduate. While on Probation Graduate, a student may continue to receive financial assistance as long as a student is otherwise eligible.
- Suspension Graduate: A student with a previous SAP status of SAP Warning or Probation Graduate and fails to meet SAP eligibility during the next semester, will be assigned SAP status of Suspension Graduate and will not be eligible for financial assistance during the next semester he/she attends the university. A student under the Suspension Graduate may appeal this decision through the appeal process.
The Appeals Committee will review your appeal and determine whether the suspension is justified. You will be notified in writing of the final decision. If your appeal is granted, the status will be updated to Probation and you will be eligible for financial aid for the next semester. If your appeal is not approved, you may become eligible again by meeting the standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).
Repeated Courses
- A student may receive financial aid when repeating a course that was previously failed (received a 0.0 or No Pass), regardless of the number of times the course was attempted and failed.
- A student may receive financial aid to repeat a previously passed course one additional time.
- Once a student has completed any course twice with a passing grade, no longer eligible to receive financial aid for that course.
- If a student retakes a course that is not financial aid eligible, a recalculation of aid is done to exclude the credits for the repeated course.
- This rule applies whether or not the student received financial aid for earlier enrollments in the course.
- Students will receive notification if receiving financial aid and attempt to repeat coursework beyond the limits.
Contact the Office of Financial Assistance
For information or questions about financial assistance, please reach out to Kyle Mullen at 210-436-3141 or kmullen3@stmarytx.edu, or any other member of the Financial Assistance team at finaid@stmarytx.edu, for financial aid counseling.
The Office of Financial Assistance can help with questions about the following:
- Understanding your financial aid package
- FAFSA completion
- Applicable deadlines
- Financial aid for study abroad and co-curricular experiences
- Student loan repayment
- Other questions you have about financial assistance in law school
Kyle Mullen, Financial Aid Counselor Office of Financial Assistance Phone: 210-436-3141 Email: kmullen3@stmarytx.edu |
Office of Financial Assistance Email: finaid@stmarytx.edu Phone Local: 210-436-3141 Toll-free: 1-800-367-7868 Fax: 210-431-2221 |
Visit: St. Louis Hall, Suite 301 St. Mary’s University One Camino Santa Maria San Antonio, Texas 78228 |