Maryland Higher Education Commission/Tuition assistance
Maryland Tuition Exemption for Foster and Homeless Students
Amount varies
No tuition at any Maryland public institution, for students who were still in foster care at 18 or when they left school, and for students verified as homeless. Unusually, any scholarship you win may NOT be put toward tuition, so it stays yours for everything else. It lasts up to ten years, and you also get priority for on campus housing.
All tuition at a Maryland public institution, and it is not reduced by anything else you receive. Note that it is tuition rather than tuition and fees, so fees are still yours to pay. It lasts until ten years after you first enrol or until you are awarded a bachelor's degree, whichever comes first.
No deadline
What you need
The official page does not list required documents. Check the official page before you apply, since a provider can ask for paperwork it does not publish.
How to apply
- 1Ask for the homeless and foster student liaison by nameEvery Maryland public institution is required to designate one, in the financial aid office or elsewhere, with expertise in exactly this. Asking for that person rather than for general financial aid is the difference between a useful conversation and being sent in a circle.
- 2File both federal and state financial aid applicationsHaving filed for federal AND state aid is a condition of the exemption. The FAFSA alone is not enough in Maryland.
- 3If you transfer, ask them to pass on your designationA student determined to be homeless can require their institution to notify the next public institution they enrol at, which must then designate them the same way. It saves proving it twice.
Where this comes from
- Official source
- https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Laws/StatuteText?article=ged§ion=15-106.1&enactments=false
- Last checked by SCRN
- 2026-09-03Verified null days ago
- How it was verified
- Checked against the official page by a person at SCRN
- Source level
- Provider verifiedRead from the provider's own page.
- Deadline
- The source states there is noneNo date, but you must be enrolled on or before your 25th birthday. Enrolling once before then is what secures it, and it then runs for up to ten years.
- How often
- per term