Funding Your Education

Recent Hood undergraduate alums - who graduated with a bachelor's degree in the last three academic years - are eligible for Alumni of the Last Three Years (ALTY) benefits when they stay on or return to Hood College to pursue a Hood graduate degree to hone their workplace skills for today's competitive job market.

ALTY benefits include:

• Graduate application fee waived
• Expedited graduate admission decision for recent undergraduate alumni
• Undergraduate credits applied to master's degrees (based on major and graduate degree)
• Priority consideration for TA/GA positions
• Last three graduate credits at no cost

Learn more about ALTY benefits here.

Direct Payment Programs
Qualified employees in the Frederick County Public School (FCPS) or Montgomery County Public School (MCPS) systems are now able to take advantage of a user friendly Direct Payment program when enrolling in graduate courses at Hood College.  To learn more about this convenient option, visit our Funding Your Education page and scroll toward the bottom for expandable menus describing the steps for Direct Pay.

Cohort Agreements
Hood College's Educational Leadership program has formal partnerships with Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) that provides reduced pricing for dedicated cohorts of students--both master’s and certificate options. In addition, we employ local system administrators as adjuncts for these cohort courses, which enables the delivery of course materials and topics using local system case studies. Such a feature further enhances the student experience with frequent guest speakers and presenters directly from the leadership ranks of the county. With this system support, we are able to design very responsive courses for future leaders of these school systems.

Cohort Program Contacts:
Director of Graduate Admissions: Tanith Fowler Corsi
Phone: 301-696-3603
Email: fowlercorsi@hood.edu

Program Director: Daniel Shea
Phone: 301-696-3766
Email: shea@hood.edu

• Hood works cooperatively and strategically with its many Frederick county neighbors to augment student learning and enhance the quality of life in the region and beyond. Hood is thanking its community partners with the NeighborHOOD Partners Program. Neighborhood partners include:
   
• Frederick Chamber of Commerce Verification Form
• Frederick Chamber of Commerce Member Employment Verification Form
• City of Frederick Employment Verification Form
• FCPS Employment Verification Form
• Frederick County Government Employment Verification Form
• Frederick Health
• Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research Verification Form

Click here to learn more about our NeighborHOOD partnerships.

Hood College provides services to veterans and dependents of veterans eligible for veterans' educational benefits, including the Yellow Ribbon Scholarship Program. Information about veterans' benefits is available through the Office of Financial Aid. 

In addition, active duty soldiers at Fort Detrick who qualify for tuition assistance (TA) are eligible for Hood College's Fort Detrick tuition waiver program, which fully covers tuition for our certificate and master's programs. Click here for more details.

Visit the graduate assistantship webpage here.

Search for Graduate assistant positions postings here 

Teaching assistantships provide new and continuing students an opportunity to finance their graduate education, to pursue professional experience and to engage in the life of Hood College. These positions specifically have an instruction component in the content area of the enrolled student.  Additionally, Spanish assistantships are designed for native speakers of Spanish to assist with language program activities. Language assistants are recruited by the faculty in the department of global languages and cultures. As part of the award, the assistants live in the Spanish House near campus.

To be eligible, all students must maintain a 3.0 GPA. Due to the increased responsibilities, Global language TAs must maintain a 3.5 GPA for the global languages positions.

Assistantships are competitive positions and are open to degree-seeking graduate students. Students may apply for these positions for the fall semester. Some positions may become available in the spring semester. Students are encouraged to contact the individual programs, departments and offices directly regarding questions about the positions. (The Graduate School office does not have this specific information.) Hiring supervisors will directly contact selected applicants to schedule an interview.

The following departments offer teaching assistantships:

• Biology Department, contact: Dr. Oney Smith
• Computer Science Department, contact: Dr. George Dimitoglou, dimitoglou@hood.edu
• Global Languages Department, contact: Dr. Scott Pincikowski

Graduate students can view current Hood College job openings on the Human Resources website here. The HR website will include full-time and part-time job openings, including graduate and teaching assistantships, as well as adjust teaching positions. Please note that graduate students holding a previous master's degree may be eligible to teach as an adjust instructor in their field of study. 

Federal Loans

To apply for a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Graduate Loan (up to $20,500 maximum eligibility):

• Submit a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid)
  • Hood College’s federal school code is: 002076
     
• Apply for an FSA ID (username and password) and access your personal information
• First time borrowers at Hood must also complete both Direct Loan Entrance Counseling and a Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN)

You may also choose to apply for a Private Alternative Education Loan.

* Please note that graduate certificate programs are eligible for loans.

For more information about financing your graduate studies, please contact the Hood College Office of Financial Aid at Finaid@hood.edu

Payment plan

Hood College offers families the option of paying tuition bills over a four or five month period covering one semester. Please view the instructions on how to sign up for the Payment Plan by clicking here.

Paying your tuition over a period of months allows you to avoid paying in one lump sum and prevents late fees from being applied to your student account. This monthly payment plan is administered by Nelnet Business Solutions and there is a nonrefundable application fee of $30 to participate in the plan. Payments will be made by debiting your checking or savings account or by credit card. For detailed information regarding the Hood College Monthly Payment Plan, including last day to enroll and the date the payments will be processed, please visit www.mycollegepaymentplan.com/hood. All registrations will be done online at www.hood.edu/paymentplan. Unfortunately, we are not able to offer a payment plan option for the summer sessions.

Please contact the accounting office at 301-696-3621 with any questions or concerns.

Tuition Prepayment Plan

Hood College offers a prepayment plan to students and parents who would like to lock-in the current tuition rate, thus guaranteeing savings by avoiding future rate increases. This plan is available to full-time undergraduate students who are not receiving need-based financial aid, and covers tuition and the comprehensive fee. Room, board and other fees cannot be prepaid and will be charged each semester at the prevailing rate.

To qualify for the prepayment plan, a lump sum payment for a two-, three- or four-year period must be made by August 1 for students entering in the fall semester and January 1 for students entering in the spring semester. A prepayment account will be established with automatic payments to the student’s account each semester. If the student withdraws from the College, a refund of the tuition and comprehensive fee for the current term will be made in accordance with the standard refund policy. Any prepaid funds for future years will be fully refunded. Students taking an official leave of absence of one year or less may either: continue participation in the prepayment plan as long as the unused prepayment amount remains deposited with the College, or cancel the prepayment plan and request a refund of the prepaid funds. If the leave of absence exceeds one year, the College will automatically cancel the prepayment plan and issue a refund of any prepaid amounts. Under no circumstances will the College pay interest on any portion of the deposited funds.

For more information regarding Hood College's tuition payment policies, please visit Accounting Services.

Hood College does not offer scholarships for international students, but we provide excellent OPT and CPT job placement support, along with part-time on-campus employment opportunities.

Click here for list of available partial funding opportunities available to international students.

The Hood College Accounting department would like to introduce our newest payment method for International students, called PayMyTuition!  With PayMyTuition, you can pay your tuition payments from any bank, in any country in any currency at better than bank exchange rates.  The process is fast, simple, and cost effective.  

A link to the payment site is located on several pages on the Hood website, including Accounting Services, and on the International Student Services page, where it can be found in the “Hood International Student Resources” tab as “Paying your Fees.”  International Students: Paying Your Fees | Hood College

You can find step by step instructions in multiple languages, Frequently Asked Questions, PayMyTuition’s Rate Guarantee, and all the ways you can reach someone in Customer Support.  No matter where you are, PayMyTuition will be there to help you!

It is our hope that this additional option to make payments will make it easier for all International students to pay their tuition fees, and to make sure that your costs are minimized.  If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact either myself or Amani Al-Dajane, Director of International Services and Hood’s Primary Designated School Official (PDSO).