First-Year/Freshmen

FAU Financial Aid Timeline

Here is a chronological guide of important dates within the financial aid process at FAU. Use this as a checklist and guide to understanding what actions you should be taking throughout the Academic Year!
Financial Aid Timeline

Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA)

Students, if you would like to authorize the Office of Financial Aid to share information on your account to anyone else, including a parent, complete the FERPA form online.

How to Apply for Financial Aid

Apply for the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) online.

This annual application allows FAU to consider all admitted, degree-seeking students for a financial aid package.

The 2025-26 FAFSA is available as of December 2024. To receive the best financial aid offer, complete the FAFSA as early as possible.

Note: If you are accepted into the Summer 2025 semester, you should complete BOTH the 2024-2025 and the 2025-2026 application.

Complete the FAFSA each academic year — financial aid is not renewed automatically. Check out these FAFSA Pro Tips.

Create an FSA ID. Follow the instructions on the site. An FSA ID gives you access to Federal Student Aid’s online systems and can serve as your legal signature.
Go to FAFSA on the WEB to submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
List “Florida Atlantic University” or Federal School Code (001481) as a school choice in the “School Selection” section.
Sign the FAFSA. Students should sign the FAFSA electronically using their FSA ID. Parents of dependent students should also sign electronically if possible with their own FSA ID.
The 2025-26 FAFSA will use students’ and parents’ 2023 income and tax information, if applicable. In most cases, the 2023 tax information will be imported directly from the IRS onto the application.
Once you have successfully submitted your application, print and keep the confirmation page, which contains your confirmation number and other important information.

More information is available at FAFSA on the WEB or 1-800-433-3243.

Florida Bright Futures, Florida Prepaid, and Scholarships

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program, funded by the State of Florida, is based on high school academic achievement.

Florida Prepaid is administered by the Tuition and Billing Services department.

If you are bringing in scholarships from a private source, please follow these steps.

Review and apply for FAU Scholarship Opportunities at Scholarship Universe, which is Florida Atlantic University’s online application and search portal for FAU students in which students can apply or connect to various internal and external scholarships. It includes FAU specific scholarships as well as scholarships from other entities for various achievements.

Freshmen accepted into Summer or Fall semesters are also considered for merit scholarships purely based on their Admissions information. These do not require an additional application. To be considered for merit-based scholarships from the Office of Admissions, students must submit a complete admissions application by January 15, 2025 with all supporting documents (application, application fee, SSAR and test scores).

FAFSA financial aid, scholarships, Bright Futures, and Florida Prepaid are all stackable. They would all disburse towards a student’s FAU balance around 3-4 weeks into each semester. If a student has a remaining balance, they are responsible for it by the published deadline. If a student has excess financial aid, it will be issued as a direct deposit refund around 4-5 weeks into each semester.

Estimating Your Costs

Find the most up to date Cost of Attendance.

Review the Net Price Calculator to estimate your cost of attendance – including tuition, required fees, books, supplies, room, board (meals) and other related expenses.

For those students who have been accepted to FAU and received financial aid offers, the Financial Aid Disbursement Estimator tool gives you an estimate of what financial aid may disburse based on your FAU enrollment and financial aid offer status at that time.

Complete All Student Requirements

Students will not receive a financial aid offer until all required documents have been submitted and satisfied. Students will receive an email at their FAU email account to view these requirements or students may review student requirements online via FAU Self-Service to make sure that you do not have any unsatisfied requirements:

Sign into MYFAU with your FAU credentials
Click the "Money Matters!" tile
Click the "Your Financial Aid" tile to go directly to Financial Aid within FAU Self-Service
Click the "Financial Aid Status" tile
Select "Academic Year" from the drop-down list
Click "Student Requirements'

Reviewing and Accepting your Financial Aid Offer

Florida Atlantic University is committed to using the Principles & Standards of the College Cost Transparency Initiative in its student financial aid offer.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ACCEPTING FINANCIAL AID OFFER

Students will receive an email at their FAU email account to review/accept/decline their financial aid offer online via FAU Self-Service.

The financial aid offer is based on full-time enrollment (Undergraduate = 12+ credit hours, Graduate = 9+ credit hours). Most financial aid offers will be prorated down if you are enrolled less than full-time. Most financial aid offers require a student to be enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours.

Most grants and scholarships are already in 'accepted' status. Student loans need to be either accepted or declined. Private loans require application to the lender of your choice.

Students who accept loans will need to complete these two steps as first time borrowers, using their FSA ID:

Important: when receiving financial aid, students must adhere to the Terms and Conditions and applicable Financial Aid Policies.

Need Money to Buy Books?

(How to buy books tutorial)

Two options students have for assistance purchasing textbooks before the disbursement of financial aid include: