Consortium Agreement Policy
Federal regulations do not allow students to receive federal financial aid from two schools at the same time. By completing a Consortium Agreement, a student can attend the University of Arizona and another accredited school (referred to as the “visiting institution”) during the same semester and receive federal financial aid funding for the total combined units. This process most benefits Federal Pell Grant recipients who are enrolled in less than 12 units at the University of Arizona.
Important Dates
| Semester | Open Date | Submission Deadline |
|---|---|---|
| Fall 2025 Consortium Agreement Form | July 1, 2025 | August 1, 2025 |
To access this form, please contact our office to speak with an Ask Aid team member. They will help you determine if you are eligible and will provide you with a copy of the Consortium Agreement.
How to Complete a Consortium Agreement
Before getting started, please take a moment to review the policy and student expectations outlined below. Once you are ready, contact our office to speak with an Ask Aid team member. They will help you determine if you are eligible and will provide you with a copy of the Consortium Agreement.
Please note: Effective Fall 2025, it is the student's responsibility to ensure all sections of the agreement are fully completed — including those by the student, the visiting institution, and the Arizona Office of the Registrar — before submitting it to our office for final review.
Consortium Agreement Policy
The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) will only consider approving a Consortium Agreement if all of the following conditions are met:
- The student is enrolled in at least 6 units at the University of Arizona.
- A completed Consortium Agreement is submitted to OSFA by the deadline (listed on the form and above).
- One of the following situations applies:
- The University of Arizona equivalent course(s) are full, as verified by the Office of the Registrar, or
- The course(s) are not offered through the University of Arizona.
If a student does not meet all of the above conditions but has an extenuating circumstance that requires taking a course at a visiting institution, they must also submit a signed and dated personal statement explaining their situation along with the Consortium Agreement form. Please note: If a personal statement is required but not included, the request will be automatically denied.
Before Submitting Your Consortium Agreement to OSFA, Take a Moment to Review These Frequently Asked Questions
The following University of Arizona scholarships and institutional grant awards require full-time (12+ units) enrollment at the University of Arizona. A Consortium Agreement will not be approved for students with the following awards:
- Merit-based tuition scholarships (see the Scholarship Terms and Conditions page for awards applicable to your cohort year).
- Arizona Assurance Grant
- Arizona Promise Grant
- Arizona Native Scholars Grant
- Achievement Award Grant
- Earn to Learn Scholarship
- University Grant
- Minimum 12 unit enrollment required in the fall and spring semesters
- Minimum 6 unit enrollment required in the summer semester
- Engineering Grant
If a student still wishes to pursue a Consortium Agreement, they must submit a signed and dated personal statement acknowledging they understand and accept the following:
- The student will be forfeiting their financial aid award for the semester the agreement may be approved for.
- The forfeited award for a semester will still count toward the student’s usage limits for the awards listed above.
- The student understands any units taken at the visiting institution will not be applied toward the minimum Arizona unit requirement needed for scholarship renewal. Non‑Arizona units will not count when evaluating whether a student has met their scholarship’s renewal criteria.
Students receiving scholarships from outside the university or from Native American tribes or tribal scholarship organizations must obtain permission from the donor or scholarship organization to take non-Arizona classes under a Consortium Agreement.
- Course(s) taken at a visiting institution must be courses that align with a student’s academic plan, transferable to the University of Arizona, and passed with a C or better. To verify if courses have been accepted, refer to the transfer credit report on UAccess Student Center. Classes that are not successfully transferred will not count towards your academic year units.
- If a student has already taken a course at a visiting institution through a previously approved Consortium Agreement and earned a grade of C or better, they cannot retake that same course under a new agreement.
- If the student did not earn at least a C, federal financial aid may be used to retake the course one more time at the visiting institution.
- Audit and correspondence courses do not count and are therefore not included in the total enrollment used for financial aid purposes.
- We encourage students to consult with their academic advisor to determine how these units taken at a visiting institution will apply to their degree program.
Undergraduate students are initially offered financial aid based on full-time enrollment (12 or more units) for both the fall and spring semesters.
If a student is enrolled in less than 12 units — whether just at the University of Arizona or combined with units from a visiting institution listed on your Consortium Agreement — OSFA will adjust the estimated cost of attendance and the amount of aid the student is offered.
This could lead to a recalculation of financial aid, since we are required to ensure that the total aid does not exceed a student’s cost of attendance.
The visiting institution will disclose on the agreement how much the student will be charged for the course(s) they are enrolled in. That tuition amount will be included in the cost of attendance at the University of Arizona for the semester the Consortium Agreement is approved.
- If a student is planning to participate in a non-Arizona sponsored Study Abroad program and wishes to complete a Consortium Agreement, please contact our office directly to discuss further.
Please note, financial aid cannot be used for the following programs: CEA, CIEE, Semester at Sea, DIS. For this reason, a Consortium Agreement will automatically be denied.
After Your Consortium Agreement is Approved by OSFA
Once a Consortium Agreement is approved, here are the expectations students must meet in order to receive federal financial aid in the upcoming semesters:
Approved Courses and Enrollment:
- The approved units from the visiting institution will be added to a student’s University of Arizona record for financial aid purposes.
- If a student drops any of the courses approved at the visiting institution, the student must notify our office immediately.
Satisfactory Academic Progress and Transcripts:
- Students must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) according to University of Arizona policy.
- A student's SAP status will not be reviewed until the student has submitted all transcripts for any course(s) taken through a Consortium Agreement.
- It is the student’s responsibility to request official transcripts from the visiting institution and have them sent to the University of Arizona Office of the Registrar.
- Remember: Only the units transfer from the visiting institution, not the grades.
- Future financial aid will not be awarded until the student submits their transcripts to the Office of the Registrar for any courses taken through a Consortium Agreement.
Enrollment Changes:
- Notify our office of any changes to enrollment at either school.
- If a student withdraws from any or all courses, they may be responsible for repaying some or all of their financial aid.
- Federal Pell Grant and TEACH Grant amounts are based on a student’s financial need and total enrolled units.
- If a student drops a class on or before the first day, or does not attend, they may need to repay all or part of their grant.
Paying for the Approved Courses at the Visiting Institution:
- Students are responsible for paying tuition and fees directly to the visiting institution.
- If a student’s financial aid exceeds their University of Arizona charges, they may be eligible for a temporary loan to help cover those costs. Students can contact our office if they would like to explore this option.
Financial Aid Processing:
- The University of Arizona will process all financial aid for the semester covered by the agreement.
- Students cannot receive federal financial aid from the visiting institution for the same semester. If a student has already received aid from the visiting school, they must return those funds and notify our office right away.