About Your Aid Offer

Award Notices

We strive to provide financial assistance to qualified students based on financial needs. When we offer you a financial aid package, it’s reflected on the UMFK Financial Aid Award Notice. Your eligibility and aid package are based on the information you and your family gave on your financial aid application (i.e., Free Application for Federal Student Aid – FAFSA), any federal and state requirements, and the available funds.

Your award notice will be emailed to you. You can also view your award in MaineStreet. If there are changes to your aid package, we will email you asking you to review your adjusted award in MaineStreet. This updated notice will reflect any changes to your financial aid package.

Accepting, Declining, or Reducing Your Aid Package

We ask you to review your initial award notice and accept, decline, or reduce your aid package. This can be accomplished in the Classic MaineStreet Student Center.

• Login to the UMFK portal at my.umfk.edu.
• Below the LaunchPad icons, select the word “MaineStreet”; in the dropdown box, select “Classic Student Center”.
• Go to the Finance section.
• Under the financial aid section, select Accept/Decline Awards.
• Select the 2025 aid year at UMFK for acceptance for your 2024-2025 (Fall 24/Spring 25/ Summer 25) aid package.
• Accept loans or work-study, as needed (Note: loan offers can be accepted/declined or reduced as desired).
• Changes to the following must be reported in MaineStreet as you accept your aid or directly to the financial aid office:
  • Enrollment changes
  • Housing Plan changes (i.e., on or off campus, living with parents or own apartment)
  • Anticipated outside assistance not previously reported, etc.
• Submit

Types of Aid Offered to You

Grants and Scholarships: most grants or scholarships offered in your aid package either come from or are administered by UMFK. This may include but is not limited to: Federal Pell Grant, Federal SEOG, University Scholarships, and State Grants. This aid will appear on your UMFK award notice. As long as you meet all eligibility requirements (including being registered for classes), the funds are usually credited each semester to your account through the business office.

Outside Scholarships (Not awarded by UMFK): outside scholarships are money you receive from sources other than UMFK. This could include high school scholarships, employer assistance, and other sources. External assistance can affect your financial aid offer, and previous offers may need adjusting, so keeping the financial aid office informed of all outside help is essential. Usually, loans are the first type of aid adjusted. Remember, it is your responsibility to report to our office all the outside assistance you expect to receive.

Once we know the anticipated outside funds, the amount will be added to your award notice (viewable in MaineStreet) and listed as “Outside Assistance.” All reported outside scholarships will be added and reflected as one figure on the Award Notice. For financial aid purposes, this total is divided into two parts, one half each for the fall and spring semesters, though sometimes scholarships are more heavily paid during the spring semester.

Outside scholarships are usually credited to your account only once the funds are received. Some stipulations may apply, and disbursing procedures vary. Check with the external source granting you the award. If funds are only available after your first semester, notify the Business Office for arrangements to be considered.

Work-Study: if you’re offered and accept a work-study award, you will receive more information about hiring and payroll procedures at a later time. Your work-study award will not be credited to your student account. Instead, the total listed on your award notice is the amount you can earn. As you start to earn money from a work-study job, you can request a portion of these funds be applied directly to your account. Once you are in the payroll system, the work-study payroll is processed every two weeks.

When reviewing your award notice to determine how much you may need to pay out of pocket, we suggest you do not include the work-study allocation as part of your total aid since you only receive these funds as earned from a work-study job and are not immediately available upfront.

Loans: student loans must be repaid with interest. Educational loans include the Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loan, the Federal Parent (PLUS) loan, and (non-federal) Alternative loans.

Using MaineStreet

A student’s financial aid “FAFSA status”, financial aid “file status”, financial aid “TO DO” list, Financial Aid “Award Notice” offer, as well as other student records such as class registration, bill, grades, etc., are all available for a student to view in MaineStreet.

Note: Before logging in, you must activate your campus @maine.edu email, which can be done at the UMS User Account Management page. You will need your campus email ID and password to do so.

MaineStreet can be accessed by visiting the UMFK campus portal. Log into the portal using your (activated) campus email ID and password. Next, select the MaineStreet icon and choose Classic Student Center.

Financial Aid and Billing Information

Financial Aid and Billing information are available from the “Finance” section within MaineStreet. Once in MaineStreet, select Student Self Service > Student Center > Finance and select the appropriate link:

• Select View Financial Aid – to view your financial aid award by year (and/or by semester) OR
• Select Accept/Decline Financial Aid – to accept your work-study allocation or any Direct Loans that may have been offered to you. Follow the instructions as provided. Note: Loan amounts can be reduced.
• Select View My Bill to view your (UMS) Campus bill (total amount) owed by semester, view pending financial aid, and/or pay bill online.
• Select Account Activity to view the details of all charges and payments on your student bill. Note: All University of Maine System (UMS) campus charges can be viewed in detail here.

Your “TO DO List”, “HOLD List” and “Message Center”

The items below are located on the right-hand side of the screen in your MaineStreet Student Center:

• Your TO DO List: These are items or documents being requested by UMFK that you probably need to take action on. Click on the “details” hyperlink for more information and instructions. Here, forms can also be downloaded.
• Your Hold List: A Hold in this section can prevent you from registering for classes, acquiring an academic transcript, etc. Click the “details” hyperlink for more information and instructions to resolve the Hold. You may want to view this list periodically to address any Holds that may be posted as negative service indicators.
• Your Message Center: Besides your campus email, your Message Center is another place the University communicates with you. Important things that you need to know will be posted here. You may receive messages from the University throughout the academic year. We recommend that you check your Message Center periodically.

Your MaineStreet ID/School ID/Student ID

If you are asked for your MaineStreet ID/School ID/Student ID (all three terms refer to the same number), this refers to the 7-digit number at the top of your MaineStreet Student Center.

MaineStreet Quick Guides & Assistance

MaineStreet quick guides and process documents are available on the MaineStreet Student Information support page.

For further assistance accessing MaineStreet and your Student Center, contact the IT Help Desk by phone at (207) 834-7818 or by email at help@maine.edu.