During the 2016 Maryland Legislative Session, the College Affordability Act of 2016 (Chapters 689 and 690) was enacted to encourage on-time completion in the MHEC Howard P. Rawlings Educational Excellence Awards Program. This change directly impacts students receiving the Guaranteed Access (GA) Grant, Educational Assistance (EA) Grant, and/or Campus-Based Educational Assistance Grant (CB-EAG). Now, students who received an award for at least two years since the 2015-2016 academic year must meet certain Credit Completion Requirements in order to receive their renewal award for current and future academic years.
If you received either the GA, EA, and/or CB-EAG for two years since the 2015-2016 academic year, you are required to successfully complete at least 30 credits during the 2022-2023 academic year in order to receive your full (non-prorated) renewal award for the 2023-2024 academic year and thereafter. If you successfully complete at least 24 credits but less than 30 credits at the end of Spring 2022, your award will be prorated (reduced) in the 2022-2023 academic year. Credits earned in the Summer, Fall, Winter, and Spring terms of an award year all count towards the 30-credit requirement. Successfully completed courses are those in which a student received any grade higher than an “F.” Summer courses count toward the credit requirement for the upcoming academic year (2024-2025).
If you have questions about your award, please feel free to refer to the communication you received from MHEC. You may also log in to your MDCAPS account and send a secure message to MHEC, contact MHEC by telephone at 410-767-3300 or contact MHEC via e-mail at osfamail.mhec@maryland.gov.
Below are two charts that provide an estimate of what you may receive in the 2023-2024 award year based on the number of credits completed. Please note that these award amounts have been estimated by MHEC:
Estimated Award for Guaranteed Access (GA) Grant Recipient
| Completed Credits |
Estimated Award Amount |
| 23 or Less | $0 |
| 24 | $15,440 |
| 25 | $16,083 |
| 26 | $16,726 |
| 27 | $17,370 |
| 28 | $18,013 |
| 29 | $18,656 |
| 30 or More | $19,300 |
Estimated Award for Educational Assistance (EA) Grant Recipient
| Completed Credits |
Estimated Award Amount |
| 23 or Less | $0 |
| 24 | $2,400 |
| 25 | $2,500 |
| 26 | $2,600 |
| 27 | $2,700 |
| 28 | $2,800 |
| 29 | $2,900 |
| 30 or More | $3,000 |