The University of Arizona withdrew funding for offers to some graduate students who had not yet confirmed they wanted to come to the university, the school said Thursday.

That means some prospective graduate students who were offered spots in programs and funding alongside it can no longer get that financial help. The offers of admission will still be honored.

Grants and scholarships are still included in a student's financial aid package, though, UA said.

For students who already had accepted funded offers, those will remain in place, UA said.

Daily Nous, a blog for the philosophy profession, broke the news about the withdrawn offers after the university's philosophy department informed prospective students of the change.

The move comes as Arizona universities feel the financial crunch of COVID-19.

"The University is facing unprecedented financial challenges for next year and we find ourselves in the position that we are certain we would not be able to honor all the financial commitments we made in good faith before the crisis," UA spokeswoman Pam Scott said in an email.

These students typically would have until April 15 to accept the funded offers, Scott said.

"We were anxious to make sure that students who had not yet accepted were informed quickly, so that they could make appropriate decisions on whether to accept our offers of admission under these circumstances or pursue opportunities elsewhere," she said. "It is our goal to protect our current and incoming graduate students from potential losses of support."

UA did not have the exact number of graduate students affected because departments send their own offer letters. But the university expected the number to be small since the decision cycle ends next week, Scott said.

The university is set to receive $31 million from the federal government as part of the CARES Act stimulus. Half of that money must go to emergency cash grants for students affected by COVID-19. The university said it is still figuring out how the funding will be used and how students will be able to access it.

Arizona State University and Northern Arizona University both told The Arizona Republic that they were not withdrawing any funded offers to graduate students.

Reach reporter Rachel Leingang by email at rachel.leingang@gannett.com or by phone at 602-444-8157, or find her on Twitter and Facebook.

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