Consortium Agreements

During the course of your academic career at UMBC you may want to take a course(s) at another institution and transfer the course(s) back to your degree program at UMBC. If you are not taking enough credits to be considered full time (12 or more credits) at UMBC, but your enrollment at another institution would bring you to full time status when combined with your credits at UMBC, you can complete a consortium agreement to be considered for full time aid eligibility.

What is a Consortium Agreement?

A consortium agreement is an agreement between two colleges/universities to recognize your registration at each location for financial aid purposes. It also certifies only one of the two institutions can administer Title IV and State financial aid.

The Consortium Agreement refers to the two colleges/universities as the “Home Institution” and the “Host Institution:”

The Home Institution is the school where the student is fully matriculated and from which he/she will earn a degree.

The Host Institution is where the student temporarily takes courses, whose credits will be transferred back to his/her “Home Campus.”

To Be Eligible for a Consortium Agreement at UMBC, you must do the following:

  1. Be enrolled as a degree seeking student at UMBC, taking between 1 and 11 credits
  2. Have a 2024-2025 FAFSA on file with UMBC (school code: 002105)
  3. Be meeting SAP
  4. Within 30 days of the end of the semester covered by the consortium agreement, the student must provide an official transcript from the host institution listing the course(s) on the consortium agreement to the Registrar’s Office

To Complete a Consortium Agreement, submit the following to your financial aid counselor:

  1. A completed UMBC consortium agreement: Consortium Agreement 2024-25
  2. A completed Verification of Transferability (VOT) form for the courses you intend to transfer from the Host institution to UMBC. This can be requested from the Registrar’s Office here: https://registrar.umbc.edu/forms/transfer-request-forms/
  3. A copy of your class schedule listing the course(s) at the Host institution
  4. A copy of your bill at the Host institution