UMD students face rising costs amid financial aid changes

The 2026-2027 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, released Sept. 24, has some University of Maryland students concerned about the decrease in financial aid under new changes as tuition and campus living costs continue to rise.

The 2026-27 FAFSA opened early this year, compared to the 2024-2025 delayed release due to technical issues with the new “Better FAFSA” system, which caused confusion and delays in aid packages nationwide. This year’s release gives students and colleges more time to process applications and finalize financial aid. 

The new FAFSA form reflects processing improvements, but the recent changes to Pell Grant eligibility come from the federal “One Big, Beautiful Pell Grant Expansion Act” and not from updates to the FAFSA itself.

The law expands Pell Grant access to additional groups of students, including incarcerated learners in approved prison education programs and students in short-term workforce training programs. The FAFSA update mainly focuses on simplifying the form and streamlining data processing.

Many students are worried that the Pell Grant changes could make it harder to qualify for the level of support received in previous years. 

“They expanded the eligibility for the Pell Grant, but also decreased how much students like me get,” Ezekiel Jatto, a full-time information sciences junior, said. 

Like other students, Jatto comes from a lower-income family and relies on federal aid to cover tuition and housing costs. While broader eligibility means more students qualify, Jatto said it also spreads the available funds thinner, leaving others with less support than before.

“That’s the main thing I’ve noticed, and it’s definitely affecting me,” he said.

FAFSA aims to make the aid application process easier and more efficient by reducing the number of questions and directly pulling tax information from the IRS.

Changes like those in the Pell Grant have created new challenges for students who rely on federal aid to pay for college. The changes, which tie eligibility more closely to family income and household size, mean that some middle-income students may receive smaller awards than before, according to the U.S. Department of Education’s August 15 announcement.

The updated eligibility rules represent a major shift from previous years. Under the new formula, students whose families make above $14,730 with a Student Aid Index score higher than 1500 will no longer qualify for Pell Grants, according to the Federal Student Aid announcement. 

“Financial aid covers almost everything for me,” Jatto said, “But even with that, I still have to pay for smaller things like food and my scooter, which adds up.”

At UMD, tuition and mandatory fees continue to increase as the academic years continue. The University of Maryland Board of Regents approved a tuition increase in-state tuition by 4%, out-of-state tuition by 2% and mandatory fees by 4.5% increase, according to the University System of Maryland’s budget report. 

“With tuition fees going up, it feels like the cost of staying here is out of reach, even with scholarships and my part-time job,” Michael Cook, a part-time business management junior who works part-time at Weis, said. 

The new FAFSA changes and rising costs could disproportionately impact Black and brown students who come from low-income households and rely heavily on need-based aid to afford college.

FAFSA completion rates dropped 16.7%  in high-poverty and predominantly Black and Latino communities during the 2024-25 FAFSA release. In high-poverty school districts, the completions fell by 16.4%, while low-poverty areas saw a 12.8% decline. Students in those high-poverty and majority-minority schools were nearly twice as likely to submit incomplete applications, according to the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.

Many Black and Latino families who statistically hold less generational wealth still face larger financial gaps even after receiving need-based aid. 

“I rely almost completely on financial aid and scholarships cover up most of my tuition,” Aaliyah Preston, a junior majoring in public health. “If my aid continues to decrease, some things like my books for classes would have to be sacrificed, which sucks but it is what it is.” 

Black students make up about 13.6% of the undergraduate population, while Hispanics make up about 11.5%, according to the 2025 UMD Office of Institutional Research student profile. Many depend on Pell Grants and other forms of federal aid, as tuition and housing prices continue to rise, these students face greater barriers to staying enrolled and graduating on time. 

“I think financial aid definitely hits harder on people of color students, many of us are lower class and don’t have a safety net to fall back on,” Jessica Rivera, a Latina first-generation education student, said.

Cultural student organizations at UMD, such as the Black Student Union and the Latinx Student Association, have advocated for better transparency in tuition spending and more outreach about financial resources. 

“Personally, I have immigrant parents, money is already tight enough, and opportunities are already low, so even a small increase in tuition or housing can feel huge,” Rivera said.  

In addition to the tuition, student housing and dining costs are expected to rise. UMD’s Department of Resident Life announced in 2024 that starting in Fall 2025, on-campus housing costs will increase by 4% due to inflation and maintenance expenses. 

Many students feel uncertain about financial futures; the combination of higher costs and reduced aid could mean taking on loans, extra shifts at jobs, or risk losing their enrollment altogether. 

“Tuition keeps going up, but the help we’re getting keeps going down,” Jatto said.

For many students, the rising costs have become a source of added stress in their lives. When trying to balance academics, jobs and social life on campus, financial pressure often becomes another burden to manage.  

“I worry that I won’t be able to keep up with the changes, and ultimately it may end in my leaving the university,” Cook said.

Some students who rely more on parental income or family savings haven’t noticed any changes in the way they pay for school under the new FAFSA system. “This is my first time hearing about tuition going up,” Ike Gbolagun, a full-time sophomore mechanical engineering and resident assistant, said. 

“Engineering and business majors already pay more, so I just figured the extra costs were part of that. My scholarships usually cover the difference, but it adds up.”

UMD charges upper-level engineering, business and computer science students a differential tuition fee of $1,607 per semester on top of the standard undergraduate tuition rate, according to UMD’s Student Financial Services and Cashiering. 

Students are taking on and off-campus jobs to keep up with the increase in tuition and living costs. Campus jobs offer flexible hours, but some students struggle to balance work and classes. Positions can be competitive for students and fill up quickly. 

“I’ve got about three years of experience at Chick-fil-A and just started at Weis,” Cook said. “Finding a job wasn’t too difficult; it was just a matter of finding a place and schedule that fit around my classes and extracurriculars.”

“I know people who rely more on aid or campus jobs, and it’s definitely harder for them,” Gbolagun said.

UMD’s Office of Student Financial Aid encourages students to submit their FAFSA forms as early as possible to ensure full consideration for all available aid. 

The FAFSA will remain open until June 30, 2027. University officials encourage students to complete it before school-specific deadlines to avoid missing priority aid opportunities. UMD’s deadline for submitting the 2026-27 FAFSA is March 1, 2026, according to the Office of Student Financial Aid. The wait for financial aid notifications will determine how manageable the next academic year will be for UMD students.