Merit Scholarships
Merit scholarships range from $11,000 - $23,000 for Denver Campus Advanced-Standing MSW students and $22,000 - $46,000 for Denver Campus MSW students each year; the amount received is determined by the merit and strength of your application. GSSW does offer merit scholarship appeals to newly admitted and incoming GSSW students. To be considered for a merit appeal, please email gsswadmission@du.edu.
Loans
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan
To apply for state or federal financial assistance, you must complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form as soon as possible. This application is required to determine eligibility for grants, loans and student employment. The FAFSA application will open December 1, 2024.
The University of Denver school code is 001371. You can expect to receive your financial aid package by end of April 2025. After April, you can expect to receive your package within 4-6 weeks once you’ve completed the FAFSA application. You are eligible to receive up to *$20,500 each year you are in the program. You must be registered for at least 4 or more credits each quarter for the funds to disburse at the beginning of each quarter. Your loan will evenly disburse based upon the number of quarters outlined in your curriculum plan for the academic year.
- Summer start Denver Campus Advanced-Standing MSW students will need to submit a 24-25 and 25-26 FAFSA to receive aid for Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring quarters.
- Fall start Denver-Campus Advanced-Standing MSW students will need to submit a 25-26 FAFSA to receive aid for Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer quarters.
- Fall start Denver Campus MSW students will need to submit a 25-26 FAFSA for Fall, Winter, and Spring quarters and will need to reapply each academic year.
The interest rate for summer 2025 is 8.08%. This interest rate is fixed for the life of the loan and you do not need to start paying off the loan until 6 months after you graduate.
Tuition bills are generated by the Bursar's Office a month before each quarter. About 2 weeks before the start of the quarter, your financial aid will disburse to your student account. Your merit scholarship and federal loan will automatically pay towards your tuition bill. For example, if you are registered for 15 credits for Fall 2025, 15 credits x $1,310 per credit is $19,650. In addition, you have to pay a mandatory $4 technology fee for each registered credit. The total of these two direct fees will be your estimated Fall tuition bill. Once your merit scholarship and Federal loan pay out, if you have a remaining balance, that is where the Grad PLUS loan can come into play.
Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan
The Grad PLUS loan is an additional loan offered to students to pay for their education up to the total cost of attendance (COA), which includes direct and indirect costs. Direct costs are tuition, fees and health insurance (if enrolled in the DU plan). Indirect costs are books, housing, meals and transportation costs. The COA takes into account all of the expenses a student might have for that year including basic living costs. TThe average COA for a Denver Campus MSW student for 24-25 is about $79,522. To apply, visit StudentAid.gov
- Under the "Apply for Aid" drop-down, click "Apply for a Grad PLUS loan". The Grad PLUS loan application opens up May each year. After you apply, the Department of Education will send DU a confirmation of your loan approval and the details of the requested amount. The Central Financial Aid office will add the loan to your financial aid package and send you an updated award letter. Your Grad PLUS loan amount will evenly disburse just like the Federal Direct Unsubsidized loan timeline listed above. If you have a remaining tuition balance, your Grad PLUS will pay off the remaining amount.
- If you accept a larger Grad PLUS loan for indirect costs, you will receive a refund to your bank account as a direct deposit. Refunds will be initiated by the Bursar's Office about a week before classes begin. After you receive a refund and realize you don't need that excess money, you can email finaid@du.edu and return a portion of it back to DU. You can also email finaid@du.edu to increase or decrease quarter amounts as the year progresses.
- To figure out how much of a Grad PLUS loan to request for, you take the average cost of attendance for an MSW student, minus your merit scholarship, minus your Federal Loan amount, minus work-study, minus any other external scholarships you may have received. The remaining amount is what you potentially receive for that academic year. The Grad PLUS loan interest rate for summer 2025 is 9.08%. This interest rate is fixed for the life of the loan and you do not need to start paying off the loan until 6 months after you graduate. It's better to apply for the Grad PLUS loan at the beginning of the year and utilize the loan later than to not apply and realize you need it later on.
If you have questions regarding FAFSA, federal loans or the GradPLUS loan, please email finaid@du.edu.
Grants
Colorado "Critical Career" Graduate Grant
Funding for this grant—provided by the Colorado General Assembly—is extremely limited. If you're eligible to receive this grant, you'll be notified by the Central Financial Aid Office via email in October—no separate application is required. Award amounts vary from $1,000 to $7,000. To be eligible, you must:
- Be a Colorado resident and submit the CO Residency Form to the Registrar's Office
- Be enrolled in a critical career field, such as the MSW program, as determined by the Colorado Department of Higher Education
- Have an Expected Family Contribution (as determined by the FAFSA) of less than $7,000
- Be enrolled in 4 or more credits each quarter
Additional Financial Aid Resources
