Commonwealth Hurricane Katrina Emergency Tuition Waiver

The following is a brief description for students. Institutions should refer to the most recent guidelines for information.

Overview

The Massachusetts Board of Higher Education created the Commonwealth Hurricane Katrina Emergency Tuition Waiver in response to Hurricane Katrina. The waiver provides free tuition to undergraduate students displaced from attending colleges and universities due to Hurricane Katrina and who are now attending public colleges and universities in Massachusetts.

Additional Resources

Tuition Waiver Guidelines

Who Is Eligible?

In order to be considered eligible for the Hurricane Katrina Emergency Tuition Waiver, a student must provide one of the two following documentations:

• Verification of admission to or enrollment in an institution of higher education for fall semester, 2005; or
• A signed Hurricane Katrina Tuition Waiver Affidavit attesting admission or enrollment in an academic program leading to a degree, certificate or other recognized credential for the 2005-2006 academic year at an institution.

Eligible Institutions

An eligible institution is within the system of public institutions of higher education Section 5 of Chapter 15A of the General Laws.

* Eligible programs must be a state-supported course offered by an institution at a public college or university, excluding all graduate courses and courses in the medical degree program at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center. Eligible courses include those toward an undergraduate degree program, certificate program, short-term certificate program, and non-credit courses. Institutions are encouraged to develop waiver programs for eligible students that would provide a 100% tuition waiver for any non-state-supported course and/or certificate program.

Award Amounts

Students eligible under this program will be entitled to a tuition waiver equal to 100 % of the resident or non-resident tuition rate for eligible state-supported courses offered at the participating public higher education institution.

View the full value of tuition waivers, by school, for a full-time student in the current academic year.

How to Apply

Tuition waiver recipients shall be responsible for submitting documentation of eligibility to the institution where he/she will enroll. The institution shall award a waiver equal to the value of required tuition. Contact the financial aid office at the institution you are attending or plan to attend for application requirements or deadlines.

You can also call the DHE’s Office of Student Financial Assistance at [phone] to obtain more information.