UMUC

Financial Aid Office

Federal AC Grant and SMART Grants

The Academic Competitiveness Grant (AC Grant)

You may receive an AC Grant of up to $750 for your first academic year of study and up to $1,300 for your second academic year of study.  To receive the AC Grant you must have the following qualifications:

  • U.S. citizenship
  • Federal Pell Grant recipient
  • Completion of a rigorous high school program of study (for both first and second year students)
  • Full-time enrollment (12 credits or more) in a degree program
  • First year student (0-29 earned credits) who has not taken any college courses after high school graduation
  • Second-year student (30-59 earned credits), with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (if you are a second-year student with transfer credits, you must have at least a 3.0 GPA for the credits accepted for transfer).

This federal grant is for first year students who graduated from high school after January 1, 2006 and second year students who graduated from high school after January 1, 2005.

If you are a new freshman, your aid offer may include an AC Grant if it appears that you will meet all of the eligibility requirements for the grant.  If you are a continuing student who received an AC Grant for your freshman year, your eligibility for a second year AC Grant will be determined during the fall term. 

As with all other forms of aid, if at any time you are found not to meet all requirements, the grant will be withdrawn.

The National Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant

This federal grant is for students in the third and fourth year of a bachelor’s program who are pursuing college majors in high demand in the global economy.  (Fifth year undergraduate students and second bachelor’s degree students are not eligible.)  You may receive a SMART Grant of up to $4,000 if you have the following qualifications:

  • U.S. citizenship
  • Federal Pell Grant recipient
  • Full-time enrollment (12 credits or more) in an undergraduate degree program
  • Cumulative GPA of at least 3.0
  • Third (60-90 earned credits) or fourth year student (90-120 earned credits)
  • Recipient must be enrolled in a declared eligible UMUC major.  Eligible UMUC majors for the SMART Grant include the following:
    • Biotechnology
    • Computer and information science
    • Computer information technology
    • Computer science
    • Computer studies
    • Information systems management
3501 University Blvd., East, Rm. 1229, Adelphi, MD 20783     
800-888-UMUC (8682)      finaid@umuc.edu
Walk-in Appointments: Monday-Thursday 8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.; Friday 8:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m.