Provided that all required forms have been received by the appropriate deadlines, students will learn of their financial aid eligibility on June 13 at 3 p.m. online through their personalized My Hamilton website. If your financial aid application was submitted after the posted deadline, you will be notified of your award eligibility in the order that your application was received by the Financial Aid Office. It is important to remember that students will only receive notification of their eligibility online – they will not receive any paper notification. If your financial aid application is incomplete, you will not receive notification of your financial aid eligibility until you have submitted all the required documentation to the Financial Aid Office.
Financial aid packages at Hamilton are comprised of two types of aid: scholarship and self-help (loans and work-study). Each type of aid works in slightly different ways.
Scholarships and grants are financial aid that does not need to be repaid, and they will be applied to the comprehensive fee on your bill each semester, not paid to you directly. Information on the specific kinds of scholarships you may receive at Hamilton can be found on our Scholarships page. By applying for financial aid, you will automatically be considered for all Hamilton scholarships. Students are encouraged to pursue outside scholarships unaffiliated with Hamilton to complement their financial aid package.
Loans (Direct Student Loans) are a type of self-help financial aid that is borrowed from the US Department of Education and must be repaid to the US Department of Education. There are two types of Direct Student Loans: subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized loans do not accrue interest until six months after the graduation of the student receiving the loan, and unsubsidized loans will begin accruing interest as soon as they are disbursed to the college. Loans disburse and are applied to your bill each semester instead of being paid directly to you. Loans should be considered a vital investment by the student in his or her college education. More information about loans can be found on our Student Loan page.
Work-study, another component of self-help financial aid, is the estimated earnings of the student from campus employment. Work-study is not paid to the student in advance, but is accrued through biweekly paychecks given directly to the student based on actual hours worked. These paychecks are not applied to your bill. Keep in mind that work-study financial aid is an estimate, not a guarantee, and is based on an average of ten hours per week in a campus job. More information about work-study at Hamilton can be found on our Work-Study page. Additional information about campus employment can be found on the Student Employment Office website.
