2020-2021 Financial Aid Awards
We are pleased to offer you aid for the 2020-21 academic year. We are excited to see you continue your education at the University of Cincinnati!
Initial award offers of the year are sent as a unique webpage that includes video content along with your offered aid and projected costs.
This unique webpage remains available for 90 days or, for incoming students, until May 15, whichever comes later.
Your award offer remains viewable througout the academic year within Catalyst. Any updates made to your aid offer including actions taken to accept or decline aid are shown in Catalyst.
Always review Catalyst for your current aid offer.
Accessing Catalyst
Catalyst is the University of Cincinnati student information system. Access Catalyst at catalyst.uc.edu and logon using your user name and password.
- If you have not signed on previously, search your email account using "Catalyst" to find the introductory email sent to you when you applied for admission.
- If you have difficulty with your login, there is self-service information on recovering your username and password.
Viewing Award and Accepting/Declining Aid
Scholarships and grants are automatically accepted when they are awarded.
For any Federal Work-Study or loan awards, you will need to take action to accept them.
- Logon to catalyst.uc.edu.
- Click on the "My Finances" tile.
- Use the "Manage Financial Aid" to choose the appropriate aid year and accept or decline as you wish.
- Be sure to hit "submit" after taking any action.
Also, please alert us if you anticipate aid that is not showing as part of your award offer.
Your award is generally made based on full-time attendance. Enrolling in co-op or as a part-time student for any given term this academic year can change your aid distribution.
When accepting loans, please review detailed information on loan next steps.
Tasks Checklist
You may have additional steps now or as you move through the financial aid process. These required additional steps and other important matters will be detailed via your "Tasks" tile in Catalyst. These tasks are often referred to as "To Do" items.
Leaving "To Do" items incomplete can result in delays or loss of aid. Additionally, any awards made prior to completing these items are estimations of eligibility. Full determination of your award will be made once all "To Do" requirements are met.
Take action to complete items as they post to your record. Review the status of your "Tasks" each time you log into Catalyst.
Additional Options
Financial aid can assist in meeting your costs, but rarely will financial aid cover all of a student's costs. Families should review remaining costs to determine how to meet them through family finances or other means.
The UC Tuition Payment Plan, a Federal Parent PLUS loan and non-federal alternative loans are also ways families seek to meet more of their costs.