Students will have an additional month to qualify for the Nebraska Promise financial aid program under a deadline extension announced today by University of Nebraska President Ted Carter.
All campuses in the NU system are extending from April 1 to May 1 the priority date by which students can file the 2021-22 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and qualify for the Nebraska Promise. The Nebraska Promise guarantees that tuition will be covered for qualifying Nebraska students with family incomes of $60,000 or less.
“These are unusual times, and we want to provide students and families with as much flexibility as possible as they plan for college,” Carter said. “With the Nebraska Promise, our message to Nebraskans is that a high-quality, affordable university education is within reach. I thank our campus teams for taking extra steps to put students first, and I encourage students to take advantage of this additional opportunity to qualify for critical financial aid.”
Launched in 2020, the Nebraska Promise covers full undergraduate tuition costs for Nebraska students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, University of Nebraska at Omaha, University of Nebraska at Kearney and University of Nebraska Medical Center. Students must meet academic qualifications and have a family income of $60,000 or less. No separate application is required, but students must complete the FAFSA each year to remain eligible.
In the program’s first year, more than 7,000 students qualified for the Nebraska Promise – an 18% increase over the number of students who qualified for the university’s previous need-based financial aid program in 2019.
Complete details and eligibility requirements for the Nebraska Promise are available here.
Students who do not qualify for the Nebraska Promise still may qualify for other forms of financial aid by filling out the FAFSA. Students and families are encouraged to contact the Office of Undergraduate Admissions with questions and requests for assistance.
In addition to launching the Nebraska Promise, the university has taken a number of steps at the system and campus levels to ensure continued access for students throughout the pandemic. Tuition rates across the NU system will be frozen for the next two years. The university has also reduced and standardized across campuses the costs of most undergraduate online programs.
