The Office of Student Financial Services (OSFS) makes higher education accessible for the Longhorn student body by awarding and delivering federal, state and institutional need-based financial aid and merit/need-based scholarships. We partner with other University divisions to recruit and retain a highly qualified diverse student body. Through the creative use of technology and our team’s commitment to excellence, OSFS administers its aid programs in a highly efficient and fiscally responsible manner. Through acknowledged creativity, efficiency and accuracy, we seek recognition as the premier student financial support entity in the state and nation.

Helping students to attend The University of Texas at Austin by alleviating or eliminating financial barriers can be accomplished in a variety of ways. It is the goal and obligation of this office to maximize all available resources to help meet each student's financial needs. Additionally, we strive to develop policies and procedures which address not only the needs of the entire student population, but also recognize that each student is an individual with individual needs and individual financial concerns. Another way to alleviate financial barriers is to simply increase awareness of available financial resources and provide information for accessing those resources by reaching out to individual students, parents, and the general public. Our office recognizes that financial barriers are not always long term and significant, but can also be short term and only involve small amounts of funds. We also recognize that circumstances exist which create financial barriers for many students who may not otherwise be considered needy. Because of this, we continue to strive to provide options for every student and every situation.

The availability of financial resources for students can be meaningless if students cannot access resources because of cumbersome and/or incomprehensible procedures. Procedural constraints are inherent to the student financial aid process, because of the very nature of state and federal bureaucracies, regulations and other requirements. It is the responsibility of this office to develop systematic processes that will provide financial aid funds as efficiently and expediently as possible to students. Further more, it is also our responsibility to develop procedures that will facilitate a student's ability to apply for and receive funds with a minimum of problems and obstacles, while also permitting us to fulfill our fiscal responsibilities and ensuring that our procedures adhere to regulations, statutes, and all donor requirements, whether they be federal, state, or private.

The focus of the University and of this office is to recruit not only highly qualified students, but also a diverse student body. This office participates in a variety of ways in this effort. The Office of Student Financial Services assists the Office of Admissions and others by sending our employees into the community to attract diverse and highly qualified students to The University of Texas at Austin. We also assist in more subtle ways in recruiting and retaining students. Our day-to-day contact with students can have a significant impact on student lives and their perception of the University. We can make the difference in whether a student remains at the University and is successful here by helping them overcome financial barriers, by providing options to difficult situations or simply by providing courteous and friendly service.