Occasionally students want to spend a semester or an academic year at another domestic institution and transfer the hours earned back to UI. Often students enroll simultaneously at UI and a community college and want to combine the hours at both institutions for financial aid purposes. It is possible to receive financial aid under these circumstances as long as certain requirements are met. In order to receive financial aid for study at an institution other than The University of Iowa, you must follow these procedures.

1. File a complete financial aid application with the Office of Student Financial Aid. You must meet all the terms and conditions required by the federal financial aid programs.

2. Obtain a Transfer Credit Evaluation Request form from the UI Office of Admissions, 108 Calvin Hall, list on it the courses you will take at the other school, and return the form to Admissions for approval of the transfer credit. (Graduate students may obtain the proper version of this form from Betty Wood in the Graduate Admissions office.) You may receive financial aid only for courses that transfer back to UI and count as hours toward your degree. Unless you will receive transfer credit, any hours taken at another institution must be at your own expense.

3. After obtaining the approval from Admissions, take the Transfer Credit Evaluation Request to the Office of Student Financial Aid and speak with a financial aid counselor. The counselor will determine whether you are eligible to receive financial aid for the transfer hours. If you are eligible, the counselor will initiate a consortium agreement with the other institution. Typically it takes three weeks or longer to get all the necessary signatures on a consortium agreement. We cannot disburse aid to you without this signed agreement.

4. You must complete steps 2 and 3 each term that you register at another school. Even if you plan to attend the other school for an entire academic year, the consortium agreement will cover only classes for which you have already registered. Therefore, a consortium agreement signed in the fall will cover only fall classes and you will have to process another agreement in the spring.

5. Deadline: If you will enroll simultaneously at The University of Iowa and another institution, you must complete step 3 no later than the last day to drop individual courses in order to affect tuition and fee assessments. This typically occurs the second week of classes during the fall and spring semesters and after the first week of classes during summer session. Please submit the Transfer Credit Evaluation Request form to Admissions at least two weeks in advance of the deadline.

Other things you should know about the consortium agreement process »