Undergraduate Financial Aid

Applications open for about a month at the beginning of each semester, and results are announced about eight weeks later. BIO sends an email to students to announce when an application opens.   

Awards are not guaranteed to each applicant, and they are not disbursed until mid-semester, so it’s important that you make alternative arrangements to stay current on your tuition and fees payments. We encourage you to enroll in the Fee Payment Plan or to apply for a short-term emergency loan if you need assistance in making your first payment for registration.  

In order to be eligible to apply for these awards, you must:

1. Demonstrate financial need due to a significant and unexpected change in your situation.  Such changes might include loss of financial sponsorship; medical issues; change in family structure; sudden and severe currency devaluation; geo-political events and natural disasters.  
2. Have completed two consecutive semesters in your current visa status and current program at UC Berkeley prior to the semester in which you are requesting aid. (Summer does not count toward the two-semester requirement.) 
3. Be a full-time, degree-seeking student at UC Berkeley.

In addition: 

Undergraduate students are limited to two semesters of Tuition and Fees Grants, but they may still complete the application every fall in order to be considered for the Need and Merit-based Scholarship.  

If you’re experiencing an extreme hardship, please speak with a BIO advisor so we can provide further support resources.

Students can apply for this need-based grant once per semester. It is paid directly toward the tuition and fees balance in the semester that you apply. Grants do not need to be repaid. Undergraduate students may only receive this grant twice.  

This grant can only be used to pay eligible tuition and fees charges. These include the following: Tuition; Student Services Fee; Berkeley Campus Fee; Class Pass Fee - Transit; Non-Resident Supplemental Tuition; Instructional Resilience & Enhancement Fee; Health Insurance Fee.  It cannot be applied toward other fees such as UHS service fees, or late payment fees.  

To see if you have any eligible unpaid tuition and fees, please log into Cal Central. Click My Finances > View Transactions > Unpaid Balance. Filter by the current semester. Scroll through the list of unpaid items and refer to the list of tuition and fees charges above that a BIO tuition and fees grant can pay.

This scholarship takes into account both financial need and academic achievement. It is awarded in the fall only but is disbursed in two portions: once in fall and once in spring. Scholarships do not need to be repaid. There is no limit to the number of times a student may receive this scholarship. In the fall, when you fill out an Undergraduate Tuition and Fees Grant application, you will automatically be considered for this scholarship as well.