Review and Accept Your Offer

Follow these steps to complete the financial aid process. Accepting your awards allows us to disburse aid and apply payments to your UMKC account.

Receive Award Notice

You'll receive your award notice, listing the types of aid you are eligible to receive, by letter (mailed to your primary address) or email (to your UMKC assigned email address). You must then review and accept your aid package in order for us to process your awards. 

Initial award packages for the upcoming Fall term are typically sent in February. Keep an eye on your mail and UMKC email to see your awards as soon as we begin awarding. If you have not received your award notice, check Pathway to make sure we have not requested any additional documents. 

Accept, Decline, or Reduce Your Offers

First things first! Make sure you E-Consent in order to access your student account and financial aid information online. 
  • Log in to Pathway using your assigned username and password.
  • From the Student Center, select the Financial Aid tile
  • Choose Accept/Decline Awards
  • Select the Aid Year you wish to view
    • 2022 represents Fall 2021, Spring 2022, and Summer 2022
    • 2023 represents Fall 2022, Spring 2023, and Summer 2023

 Review and Accept Your Awards

  1. Review each of your awards, and refer to this page for information about the awards that you have been offered and important requirements and policies. Select any award to read the details.
  2. Read the Important Messages section at the bottom of your award notice. Make sure you note the enrollment status your awards are based on in this section. If the information is incorrect, please notify our office as your awards may need to be adjusted.
  3. Read the Consumer Information located at the bottom of the page. These are your rights and responsibilities as a student.
  4. Accept, Decline, or Reduce each type of aid you have been offered. Mark the appropriate checkbox after the award. If you decline a loan, you can contact us to request that the loan be reactivated at any time during the first three months of the semester.
    1. Adjust the amount of any loan by reducing it in the Accept box. The amount accepted will automatically be split between the Fall and Spring semesters. You must check the Accept box in order to adjust the award. You may decline any portion of your loan offer without affecting the other aid you are accepting.
    2. If you are awarded both a Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loan, you must accept your full Subsidized Loan before you can receive the Unsubsidized Loan.
  5. Submit your award notice by selecting Submit. Your aid will not be processed until you have submitted your financial aid offer.

Learn more about accepting your aid (PDF)   

What's Next

After you've reviewed your awards, make sure you double-check the following tasks to make sure no additional action is required. 

Respond to Requests for Information

Respond immediately to any requests for more information to avoid delay in your awards paying toward your UMKC bill. We send all official communication to your UMKC-assigned email address, so it is important to regularly check your UMKC email, as well as your To-Do list in Pathway.

Learn More About Your To Do List

For Students Who Accept a Federal Direct Loan

Complete Direct Loan Entrance Counseling

First-time federal Direct Loan borrowers must complete entrance counseling online through Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education.

Sign a Direct Loan Master Promissory Notes (MPN)

If you are a first-time UMKC Direct Loan borrower, you must also complete an online Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) to receive your funds.

IMPORTANT! If you have been awarded a Grad PLUS Loan, you must complete an additional online Grad PLUS MPN.

For Students Who Accepted a Direct Parent PLUS Loan

If you accept a Direct Parent PLUS Loan, a Parent PLUS Loan Application must also be completed online by the parent. If approved, the parent must also sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN).

For Students Who Accepted Work-Study

Be prepared to look for jobs! An email will be sent to your UMKC assigned email address before the semester starts with instructions for finding and starting a work-study position. See the Work-Study page for more details.

*Didn't receive a work-study award? Funding for work-study is limited; therefore, it is awarded on a first-come, first-served basis. Simply indicating interest in Work-Study on the FAFSA does not guarantee you will receive the award. If you are not awarded work-study, you should submit a request to be added to the wait list by using our online wait list portal. As funds become available throughout the year, the Financial Aid Office will award students off of this list in order of the wait list request date. Priority will be given to students who have previously been awarded work-study.

Award Adjustments

If we must adjust any of your awards, you will be notified by email at your UMKC email account that you have a revised award notification available on Pathway. Awards not accepted within 14 days of being offered may be canceled.

Report Outside Scholarships and Other Financial Resources

  • If you anticipate receiving assistance from outside sources not listed in you award notice, such as private scholarships, Vocational Rehabilitation, or employee tuition reimbursement benefits, please notify our office as soon as possible. Additional outside awards may impact your eligibility for aid listed on this award notice.

  • According to federal regulations and university policies, forms of assistance such as external scholarships and other funds you may have received from sources outside your family, including private scholarships offered to you from your high school, church or community; merit scholarships; awards and scholarships from your state; some prepaid tuition plans; and UMKC academic units and departments must be considered among your financial resources when eligibility for need-based aid is determined. They will improve your overall aid package; however, whenever you receive additional assistance, your awards may be adjusted or reduced, even if your aid has already been disbursed to you. 

  • If there is any change to your financial aid eligibility because of the additional assistance, you will receive a letter or email notification that you have a revised award.