Grants and Scholarships

Grants and scholarships are both forms of gift aid that you will not need to pay back. Gift aid can come from Hamline, the MN State Government, the Federal Government, or outside sources. Please see the information below for more details about various programs available.

Hamline Gift Aid

For Undergraduate Students
Hamline University is the largest single source of grant and scholarship assistance for undergraduate students. Students must maintain full-time status to be eligible for a Hamline sponsored grant or scholarship assistance. Students are normally allowed grant and scholarship assistance up to eight cumulative terms, including all previous post-secondary work.

View a full list of merit-based scholarships for incoming students.

For Master and Graduate Certificates Students
Hamline offers some scholarships to help graduate and graduate certificate students finance the cost of their education.

Explore our graduate scholarship and discount opportunities.

State Gift Aid

Minnesota State Grants for Undergraduate and Online Bachelor's Degree Completion Students
Minnesota State Grants are given by the State of Minnesota. Students are eligible for State Grant for the equivalent of eight full time semesters in total. This total includes all previous post-secondary credits attempted or earned at other institutions. The amount listed on the award letter is an estimate until the state officially confirms award values for students. 

The estimated grant is based on full-time enrollment of 15 credits per semester and will be pro-rated if registered for less.  Winter term credits may be combined with either fall or spring semester to achieve 15 credits.

Your eligibility to participate in the Minnesota State Grant Program is dependent on timely submission of your FAFSA. You can learn more about how to complete the FAFSA by viewing our How to Apply for Financial Aid page. Failing to have your FAFSA received by the required deadline will result in a loss of funds for the term(s) in question. The deadlines for Hamline students are as follows:

Minnesota State Grant Program Deadlines for the 2020-2021 academic year:

    Undergraduate Program:

• Fall 2020: October 8, 2020
• Spring 2021: March 4, 2021
• Summer 2021: July 6, 2021 

    Online Bachelor's Degree Completion Program:

• Fall 2020: September 29, 2020
• Spring 2021: February 2, 2021
• Summer 2021: June 1, 2021

Minnesota State Grant Program Deadlines for the 2019-2020 academic year:

    Undergraduate Program

• Fall 2019: October 3, 2019
• Spring 2020: March 5, 2020
• Summer 2020: June 30, 2020 

    Online Bachelor's Degree Completion Program:

• Fall 2019: October 2, 2019
• Spring 2020: February 4, 2020
• Summer 2020: June 2, 2020

Minnesota Teacher Candidate Grant for Undergraduate and Graduate Students
The Minnesota Teacher Candidate Grant provides financial assistance to students during the term they are student teaching. The fund is limited in size, thus not guaranteed.  Priority deadlines for the grant will be August 16th, 2019 for fall semester, and December 13th, 2019 for spring semester. Priority deadlines for 2020-2021 are TBD. Note: you may apply prior to your student teaching placement.  Applications received after these dates will be placed on a waiting list, but are much less likely to be awarded.  

Undergraduate and Graduate may be eligible to receive up to $7,500 for one term.

See the Minnesota Office of Higher Education website for the application and specific guidelines. Teacher candidates who belong to a racial or ethnic group underrepresented in the Minnesota teacher workforce are given priority in the awarding process and are encouraged to apply.

Minnesota GI Bill® for Undergraduate and Graduate Students
The Minnesota GI Bill® provides financial assistance to Minnesota veterans and service members as well as eligible spouses and children of deceased or severely disabled eligible Minnesota veterans. Full-time undergraduate or graduate students may be eligible to receive up to $1,000 per term and part-time students can receive up to $500 per term. 

Students can learn more and complete an online application at Minnesota Office of Higher Education website.

More information is also available by calling the Minnesota Office of Higher Education at 651-642-0675 or by contacting a regional representative of the Minnesota Department of Veterans Affairs.

Minnesota Postsecondary Child Care Grant for Undergraduate Students
The Minnesota Postsecondary Child Care Grant program offers small grants to eligible low-income students with young children to help pay for child care while the student attends classes. To be eligible, students must be Minnesota residents, be enrolled for at least six credits per term, not have completed four years of postsecondary education, not have defaulted on a student loan, and the student must not be receiving assistance from the Minnesota Family Investment Program (MFIP).

The maximum available to a full-time student is $2,800 for each eligible child per academic year. The amount of child care assistance depends on: the number of people in the student's household, the number of day care hours necessary to cover education and work obligations, income of the applicant and spouse, the availability of funding, and the student's enrollment status.

To start your application, visit our forms page and print the Postsecondary Child Care Grant Application.

MN Dream Act and/or Qualifying DACA Students

Undocumented students can apply for state financial aid by accessing the online  MN Dream Act - State Financial Aid application. To be eligible for the MN State Grant, the application must be submitted no later than the 30th day of the term. 

The MN Dream Act application should be submitted once for each academic year the student is enrolled in college.

Other State Grants
Non-Minnesota residents are encouraged to research any home state grant programs that can be used in Minnesota. While many states limit the use of state funds to colleges or universities located within that state, some states will allow funds to transfer and be used in Minnesota. 

Federal Gift Aid

Federal TEACH Grant for Master and Undergraduate Students
The Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grant Program provides up to $1,862 per semester in grants to graduate and undergraduate students who intend to teach full-time in high-need subject areas for at least four years at schools that serve students from low-income families. Students enrolled in TEACH Grant-approved programs may receive up to $16,000 for undergraduate study and up to $8,000 for graduate study.

Please note: If you fail to meet the 4-year teaching obligation within 8 years of completing or ceasing your degree program, your grant will convert to an unsubsidized Stafford loan. This loan will have to be repaid with interest accrued from the date the grant funds were first disbursed. You can visit the Federal Student Aid TEACH Grant website for more information about the TEACH Grant Program.

To start your application, go to our forms page and print the Hamline TEACH Grant Application.

Federal Pell/SEOG for Undergraduate and Online Bachelor's Degree Completion Students
The Federal Pell and SEOG grants are federally funded grants that are credited to your student account after the Financial Aid Office verifies your information with the federal processor.

Students are limited to 12 semesters (or 600%) of Pell Grant eligibility. If you have attended college for 4 years or longer, receiving the Pell Grant each year, you are likely to exhaust or have already exhausted your lifetime limit of 12 semesters of Pell Grant eligibility. If you have attended college and received the Pell Grant for 3 years or less you will likely not surpass the lifetime limit during the upcoming school year. Whether you have used all of your Pell Grant eligibility or only half, please be conscious about the lifetime limit of the Pell Grant when changing majors and/or scheduling classes.

You may view your percentage of Pell Grant used by logging into the National Student Loan Data System. Your ‘Lifetime Eligibility Used’ percentage will be displayed in the ‘Grants’ section. You can also visit the Federal Student Aid website for more information.

Outside Gift Aid

Outside Gift Aid for All Student Types
Grants and scholarships can be applied for through a large variety of outside sources.  All outside scholarships, grants, and resources you receive must be reported to the Financial Aid Office. Outside grants may reduce the self-help portion of your financial aid award.

For a list of scholarships Hamline is aware of, along with a list of great search sites, please visit our list of outside scholarships.

United Methodist Scholarships and Loans for Undergraduate Students
These United Methodist Funds are only available to undergraduate students who are members of the United Methodist Church.

When are Grants and Scholarships Credited to Your Account?

Once Hamline University receives the outside scholarship or grant money, it is applied to your student account. Grants and scholarships will be credited to your account no earlier than the start of the term, assuming your financial aid is complete. J-term and spring enrollment will be combined for financial aid purposes. Federal grants and scholarships for this combined term will be credited to student accounts no earlier than the start of spring term.

Award Letter Changes and Revisions

In the event that we receive new or additional information including, but not limited to housing, outside funding or enrollment, your financial aid is subject to change. Any Hamline merit and/or need based scholarships and grants my be funded by a named donor scholarship. Students will retain the honorary winner of the original award. An e-mail will be sent to your Hamline email account that will instruct you to log into Piperline to review your revised award. If at any time you would like a paper copy of your financial aid award, you may request one at Student Administrative Services.