Financial Aid

Paying for College

Funding your Montana Tech education is a major financial commitment for you and perhaps for your family as well. We will work with you to make your path to a successful future affordable, through grants, loans, student employment on campus, and scholarships.  Approximately 90 percent of our first-time students receive some form of financial aid.

If you have questions, contact Financial Aid at 406-496-4223 or financialaid@mtech.edu.  We'll be happy to help. 

Apply for Financial Aid.
Scholarships

We award approximately $1-million to each incoming class of first-time undergraduate Orediggers.

Apply for scholarships here.
Cost of Attendance

Cost of Attendance (COA) is an estimate of what it costs the average student to attend Montana Tech.

Calculate your COA.
Forms and Directions

If you applied for Financial Aid and are selected for verification, view and complete all of the necessary documents to receive your aid.

Complete your documents.
Financial Aid Procedures and Additional Resources

How to Apply and Timeline

Step 1:  Apply for admission at Montana Tech.

Step 2:  Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on-line.  The application for the following academic year is available October 1.

  • Montana Tech's school code is 002531.
  • The priority deadline for applying for financial aid at Montana Tech is December 1st for the following academic year.  We continue processing aid through the academic year.

Step 3: We will contact you via email or postal mail to ask for additional verification information if necessary.  An explanation of what information is required for verification is also available on the Forms page. It is also important to educate yourself about your responsibility as a financial aid borrower. Please use our Financial Education page to learn how to become a responsible borrower.

Step 4:  We will notify you via email and postcard mailed to your mailing address that you provided the school of your financial aid offer.  Expect notification in the middle of February.

  1. Log into MyMTech
  2. Choose Student & Financial Aid under OrediggerWeb
  3. Choose Financial Aid

On the home page, you will see any outstanding requirements.

  1. Log into MyMTech
  2. Choose Student & Financial Aid under OrediggerWeb
  3. Choose Financial Aid
  4. There are questions on the Home page available to you
  5. Click Award Offer - This page will provide your estimated Cost of Attendance and the financial aid that has been offered to you.
  6. After making a decision on your financial aid fund offers, click the Submit button.
  7. The Terms and Conditions of receiving financial aid will then appear. You can read and submit your acknowledgement of the terms and conditions. These can be viewed on the Notifications tab if needed again for future reference.

If you have accepted a loan and are a first-time borrower at Montana Tech, you MUST complete the online entrance counseling. Please be aware, if not completed, your Federal Subsidized and/or Unsubsidized Direct Loan will not disburse.

Students can elect to complete the Annual Student Loan Acknowledgement for Federal Student Loans at https://studentaid.gov/asla/. This is currently not a requirement to receive federal student loans but can help you track how much you are borrowing as you proceed through school.

If you are graduating, transferring, or will not be attending Montana Tech and have borrowed Direct Loans you MUST complete the On-Line Exit Counseling.

All students who are eligible and have never borrowed a Direct Loan from the federal government before must sign a Master Promissory Note.

The Master Promissory Note (MPN) is a legal document that when signed is a promise to repay your loan(s) and any accrued interest and fees to the U.S. Department of Education. In addition, it also explains your terms and conditions of your loan(s).

You may receive more than one loan under an MPN over a period of up to 10 years to pay for your or your child’s education costs at Montana Tech. There are different MPNs for each type of loan.

Dependent Students

If your parent is interested in borrowing a Direct PLUS Loan, the parent applying for the loan must follow the steps below:
  1. Go to studentaid.gov to obtain information about the Direct PLUS loan and click Use the online application to apply for a parent PLUS loan to apply.
  2. The parent will sign in with their FSA ID.
  3. Click the Log In To Start button.
  4. If credit is approved and the parent wishes to continue with borrowing the PLUS Loan, the master promissory note for the Federal Direct PLUS Loan for Parents must be completed at the same site.
  5. If credit is denied, the parent may find an endorser for the loan or the student may contact Financial Aid at financialaid@mtech.edu or 406-496-4223 to discuss additional Direct Unsubsidized Loan options; or the family may want to explore alternative/private loan options on FASTChoice.

Private Loans

What is a private student loan?

Private student loans are obtained through lending institutions and are not part of the federal student loan programs.  In most cases, federal student loan terms and conditions are more favorable than terms and conditions for private loans.  Care should be taken when choosing to use private loans to assist in paying for higher education.  It is important to remember that student loans of any kind must ultimately be repaid.

Students may seek a private loan to cover expenses not covered by their federal student loan eligibility but they cannot receive more than their cost of attendance minus any other assistance they are receiving to help with college related costs. Application for private loans is initiated by the student through a lending institution of their choice.

What is the difference between federal and private loans?

Federal loans are made by the government and the terms and conditions are set by law. Private loans are made by organizations such as banks and credit unions. The lender sets the terms and conditions for private loans. A chart showing the primary differences can be found at https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/federal-vs-private.

How do I find a lender?

Montana Tech partners with Great Lakes Higher Education Corporation to provide you with FASTChoice. FASTChoice is a tool which will help you compare the loan products that our students have used historically.

*Please note that students have the right to choose any lender that offers a private student loan. It does not have to be a lender listed in FASTChoice or one that has been used historically at our school.

What is the process to apply for a private loan?

Montana Tech recommends that you first exhaust all Federal Subsidized and Unsubsidized loan options at your disposal before choosing private loans as an option. Once you have decided that private loans are necessary, you should then research the loan terms offered by lending institutions to determine if you are comfortable with them.  Once you have chosen a lender, the steps to apply are:

  1. Complete the loan application located on the lender's website.  Unless you have excellent personal credit, will most likely need a credit-worthy co-signer (parent, spouse, grandparent, other close relative) to sponsor your loan application. Co-signers are responsible for repaying the loan should the student fail to make timely payments.
  2. Application passes through credit analysis.
  3. Application is sent to the school for certification.
  4. Montana Tech will certify that the loan amount requested is within Federal guidelines.
  5. Student self-certifies the loan using the Private Education Loan Self Certification form.
  6. Once the self-certification form is received by the lender from the student, the lender must wait the mandatory number of days before they release the funds to the school to give the borrower time to decide if they want to cancel the loan.
  7. Funds arrive at Montana Tech and are posted to your Business Office account. If the funds create a credit balance, a check made payable to you will be distributed by the Business Office.

More information on tuition waivers, for faculty, staff, and their dependents may be found here.

If you are having a tough time navigating My MTech, your campus email, Registration or Financial Aid via our online resources, check out our handy guide. 
Types of Financial Aid

The following is information concerning federal financial and state aid you may have been awarded.

Learn about different types of aid.
Student Employment

Montana Tech offers work opportunities designed to help offset the cost of education while providing students with valuable work experience.

Work on campus.
Work-Study

Find jobs, apply for Work-Study, find a flexible schedule.

Work for campus.
Special or Unusual Circumstances

Eligibility for financial aid for the 2023-2024 academic year is based on the 2021 tax year which may not be indicative of a family’s continuing ability to pay for a student’s education. To remedy this, the school’s financial aid administrator is authorized to evaluate special or unusual circumstances on a case-by-case basis with adequate documentation. Please review the Special or Unusual Circumstance Forms to see if you may qualify for this review. If you don’t see a form for your circumstance, please contact financial aid at (406) 496-4223 or by email at financialaid@mtech.edu.

Additional Resources
Keep Your Information Current

If we can't reach you, you may lose your opportunity to accept your financial aid offer. Be sure to notify Enrollment Services of any changes in your email address, mailing address, and/or telephone number. Contact us at 406-496-4256 or enrollment@mtech.edu to make these changes.

Email us.
Check How Much You Have Borrowed

If you have borrowed a Federal Student Loan or if you are unsure if you have borrowed a Federal Student Loan, please visit the Federal Student Aid website. Navigate the student loan repayment process with confidence: make payments, change repayment plans, explore options, and get help.

See How Much You Have Borrowed.
Student Debt Relief

On August 24, 2022, Federal Student Aid and the Biden-Harris Administration announced loan forgiveness plans of up to $20,000 for prior Pell-Grant recipients and up to $10,000 for all other loan borrowers. However, Courts have issued orders blocking the student debt relief program. As a result, at this time, the Department of Education is not accepting applications. If you've already applied, they will hold your application. 

Sign up for updates.
Connect with us.

We can answer your questions and help you get started.

Financial Aid Office
Phone: (406) 496-4223
Fax: 406-496-4705
Student Success Center, Room 3.126
Send an email.