Workforce Shortage Student Assistance Grant Program
Scholarship Sponsored by Maryland Higher Education Commission
Here’s a clearer, teacher-style summary of the Workforce Shortage Student Assistance Grant (WSSAG) application process and eligibility.
Key dates
- 2025–2026 academic year: Application closes April 1, 2026.
- 2026–2027 academic year: Application opens January 15, 2026 and closes October 15, 2026.
How to apply
- Submit the online application through the Maryland College Aid Processing System (MDCAPS) using the MHEC One App.
- If you want your financial need considered, file the FAFSA for the academic year you will attend at www.fafsa.gov. The FAFSA is optional, but it will be used to determine the order in which awards are made.
- Some majors require extra documentation — the application will tell you if that applies to you.
Who may apply
To be eligible for WSSAG, you must:
- Be a Maryland resident. (If you are a dependent student, at least one parent must be a Maryland resident.)
- Be enrolled at a Maryland two‑ or four‑year college or university as a degree‑seeking student in an approved major that leads to employment in an eligible field.
- Be enrolled as either:
- An undergraduate: full‑time (12+ credits/semester) or part‑time (6–11 credits/semester); OR
- A graduate student: full‑time (9+ credits/semester) or part‑time (6–8 credits/semester).
- Note: You may be enrolled for fewer than 6 credits in a single semester, but you must still earn at least 12 credit hours in the academic year if you are an undergraduate (or at least 9 credit hours in the academic year if you are a graduate student). Summer term credits may count toward this annual minimum.
- Maintain your institution’s satisfactory academic progress standards.
Important note about prior awards
Students who already receive scholarships from MHEC’s earlier career/occupational programs (for example, Child Care Provider; Developmental Disabilities, Mental Health, Child Welfare, and Juvenile Justice Workforce Tuition Assistance) may continue to receive those awards if they remain eligible. However, recipients of those former awards are not eligible to receive a WSSAG award in addition.
If you want, I can turn this into a checklist you can print or save for your application.
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