Student Financial Aid | Allegany College of Maryland

MD'S PRIORITY DEADLINE IS

MAR 1

PA'S PRIORITY DEADLINE IS

MAY 1

FEDERAL
SCHOOL CODE

002057

What is financial aid?

It's money to help you pay for college expenses from federal and state governments and institutional and private sources. It includes the following:

Federal and state grants - aid that you don't repay, requires eligibility
Scholarships - aid that you don't repay, requires eligibility
Work-study jobs - aid in exchange for your work at ACM, requires eligibility
Loans - loans that you repay when you graduate or no longer meet eligibility

How do I receive financial aid?

1Apply for Admission

Take that first step and apply to ACM.

2Complete your FAFSA

The FAFSA or the Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a form that you complete each year to apply for financial aid while you attend ACM.

Whether you’re a student, parent, or borrower, you’ll need to create your own Federal Student Aid account to apply for, receive, and manage your federal student aid. It can take up to 3 days to be verified. If you have an FSA ID already, be sure to use that login.

💡 Apply early to maximize the amount of aid you may receive.

Create FSA ID

Complete FAFSA

Helpful Videos

3Monitor your ACM email

We need you to check your student email for two important reasons.

We may need to ask you questions or select you for verification.
You'll need to review and accept your financial aid package in Self-Service.

Contact us if you have questions about your financial aid offer. Your offer may include student loans that you’ll need to repay. You can decline or reduce the amount of student loans that you’re offered.

Types of Financial Aid

Federal Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduate students who display financial need and have not earned a bachelor's, graduate, or professional degree. Note: there is a limit to which you can receive the Pell Grant, typically 12 full-time terms.

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Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) undergraduate students with exceptional financial need. Each participating school receives a certain amount of FSEOG funds each year from the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid. Once the full amount of the school’s FSEOG funds has been awarded to students, no more FSEOG awards can be made for that year. This system works differently from the Federal Pell Grant Program, which provides funds to every eligible student.

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If your parent or guardian died in the line of duty while either (a) serving on active duty as a member of the U.S. armed forces on or after September 11, 2001; or (b) actively serving as and performing the duties of a public safety officer, you may be eligible for a Maximum Pell Grant.

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The Federal Work-Study Program allows you to earn money to pay for school by working part-time. Your total work-study award depends on

when you apply,
your level of financial need, and
your school's funding level.

Federal Work-Study Handbook for Students and Supervisors

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If you live in Maryland, the Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) offers:

This scholarship benefits members of certain groups or their surviving dependents (including stepchildren) or their surviving spouse (who has remarried): disabled or deceased Veterans, Vietnam War POW/MIAs, disabled or deceased public safety employees and volunteers, and 9/11 victims. The award amount varies, depending on the cost of attendance and other financial aid resources.
Deadline: July 15 for applications to be turned into our Student Financial Aid Office.

Visit MHEC’s website for a complete list of grants, deadlines, scholarships, criteria, and applications.

If you live in Pennsylvania, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) offers:

Pennsylvania State Grant program

Visit PHEAA’s website for program requirements. Note: the Summer PA State Grant requires a separate application.

If you live in Washington, D.C., you may be eligible to receive grants from:

If you live in West Virginia, you may be eligible to use funds from:

WV GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs) if you were a participant.

Thanks to the commitment of a growing number of community-minded people, we proudly help hundreds of students on an annual basis through scholarships. These scholarships are awarded based on criteria determined by the scholarship benefactor.

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Federal Direct Student Loans

Subsidized Loans: Awarded based on need. The federal government pays the interest on your loans until you finish college, cease enrollment, and/or choose an authorized period of deferment.
Unsubsidized Loans: Awarded without regard to need. You will be charged interest from the time the loan is disbursed until it is paid in full. You may pay the interest while in school or during a deferment/forbearance period, or allow interest to accrue and add to the principal amount of the loan.
PLUS Loans: Allow parents to borrow funds to help with their dependent student’s education. Parents may borrow up to your estimated cost of attendance minus any financial aid. Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan refunds are mailed directly to parent borrowers.

LEARN MORE.

We encourage you to apply for Federal Direct Loans before applying for a Private or Alternative Loan. Private loans are made by private organizations such banks, credit unions, and state-based or state-affiliated organizations, and have terms and conditions that are set by the lender. Private student loans are generally more expensive than federal student loans.

To learn more about the difference between federal and private loans, please click here.

Note: We will process your private loan request with any private lender that you choose, however we do have a preferred lender's list that you can find on our Private Lending webpage.

Important Dates

December 1 - FAFSA opens and it's time to apply/reapply for financial aid.
March 1 - Submit your FAFSA by Maryland’s priority filing date to maximize aid.
May 1 - Submit your FAFSA by Pennsylvania’s priority filing date to maximize aid.
June 30 - Priority deadline to use financial aid to live in Willowbrook Woods student housing.

Meet the Staff

We are here to help you through the financial aid process! If you have questions about grants, work-study, or student loans, please reach out. To make an appointment, please call or email our office. We look forward to assisting you!

Trisha Wagoner
studentfinancialaid@allegany.edu
Financial Aid Services Specialist

301-784-5213
College Center 138

A.A., Allegany College of Maryland

Louise Stein
studentfinancialaid@allegany.edu
Financial Aid Services Associate

301-784-5213
College Center 138

A.A., Allegany College of Maryland

Holly Montana
studentfinancialaid@allegany.edu
Financial Aid Counselor

301-784-5213
College Center 131

A.A., Garrett College
B.S., Frostburg State University

Amy Price
studentfinancialaid@allegany.edu
Financial Aid Student Loan Counselor

301-784-5213
College Center 132

A.A., Allegany College of Maryland
B.S., Towson University

Carrie Ford
studentfinancialaid@allegany.edu
Financial Aid Coordinator

301-784-5213
College Center 134

A.S., Allegany College of Maryland
B.S., M.S., Geneva College

Derek Young
studentfinancialaid@allegany.edu
Assistant Director of Student Financial Aid

301-784-5213
College Center 136

A.S., Garrett College
B.S., Frostburg State University

Meghan Palumbo
studentfinancialaid@allegany.edu
Director of Student Financial Aid

301-784-5213
College Center 133

A.S., Allegany College of Maryland
B.S., Towson University

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