Frequently Asked Questions

You can apply for financial aid online by completing a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid). Add FAU’s school code (001481).

The FSA ID ― a username and password ― must be used to log in to certain U.S. Department of Education websites. Whether you’re a student, parent, or borrower, you’ll need to create your own account to apply for, receive, and manage your federal student aid. You can create an account here https://studentaid.gov/fsa-id/create-account/launch

Per Federal regulations, every student is assigned a cost of attendance, also known as a budget. You can think of your cost of attendance as the upper limit of the maximum amount of financial aid (including grants, scholarships and federal and private loans) that you may receive for the year. We are unable to disburse or certify any financial aid which exceeds a student’s cost of attendance. Your cost of attendance is determined by several factors, including your academic classification (undergraduate or graduate student), residency status, housing status, and enrollment status.

Enrolling less than full time will affect your “cost of attendance”, which may affect your financial aid offer. When you receive your financial aid offer, it will be initially based on a full time enrollment status. After the semester’s drop/add period, we will automatically review your enrollment. If you are enrolled less than full time, your cost of attendance will be reduced. This may result in a reduction of your financial aid eligibility. IMPORTANT: Grants (such as Pell grant) are ALWAYS prorated (reduced) for less than full time enrollment! You must be enrolled in a minimum of half time credits in order to receive financial aid (6 credits for undergraduates, 4.5 credits for graduate students).

If the federal processor requests that we verify some portion of your income information, you may be asked to submit a tax return transcript and any W2’s for yourself and your spouse (if married) or parents (if you are a dependent student), including step parent tax information if one of the parents has remarried. These documents should be submitted via OWL FILES.

The FAFSA usually opens each year October 1 (other than the 2024-2025 FAFSA which opened December 2023). Always complete your FAFSA as early as possible in addition to submitting any requested verification documents (if applicable) as soon as requested to maximize financial aid consideration. Delays in submitting the FAFSA and submitting requested documents can reduce your financial aid offer. However, you can complete your FAFSA at any time during the school year. If eligible, you will receive any aid to which you are entitled - regardless of when you completed your FAFSA.

The FAFSA now uses your prior year's tax information.

By completing the FAFSA, you have applied for grants and loans. Please keep in mind that although loans are a type of financial aid, they are still loans and must be repaid. State-funded and some FAU need-based scholarships also require having a FAFSA on file.

There are many scholarships available for students, and FAU offers many resources to help you in your search. Scholarship Universe is Florida Atlantic University’s online application and search portal for prospective and continuing FAU students in which students can apply or connect to various internal and external scholarships. Internal scholarships refer to scholarships directly awarded by Florida Atlantic, and external scholarships refer to any scholarships awarded by an outside source.

After completing your FAFSA, you will receive a FAFSA Submission Summary which will contain estimates of your aid eligibility. After you have received your financial aid offer by FAU, an offer notification will be emailed to you via your FAU email account. If you are a First-Time-In-College (FTIC) student, in addition, an email will be sent to the email used on your FAFSA. You will be instructed to log on to "Accept Your Financial Aid Offer".

For instructions on checking your aid, please go to Check Financial Aid Status. There, you can check to see if you have unsatisfied requirements or if you have submitted documents which have not yet been reviewed. If you have received a financial aid offer, you will see a message stating the amount which you have been offered and instructing you on how to accept your offer. If you have questions, chat with us using Owlsley Chat in the right-hand corner of your screen or call us at 561-297-3530.

Per Federal regulations, we are required to verify a portion of financial aid applications. Please be aware that we cannot disburse financial aid until all outstanding verification requirements have been satisfied.

Financial aid begins to disburse during the second and third weeks of classes (remember, failure to complete the Mandatory Course Entry Quiz for all classes can delay this process). The aid will automatically apply towards your balance. After your tuition and fees are paid and your balance is zero, any leftover funds will be distributed to you as a “refund” which can take another week or two to receive (depending on if you set up direct deposit or not).

Signing up for direct deposit will expedite receipt of funds for financial aid and all other refunds due from your student account. If direct deposit is not setup, refunds will be issued from Tuition & Billing by mail.

In order to receive financial aid, you must meet the criteria for maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Generally, this means you must maintain a 2.0 minimum GPA (3.0 for Graduate students), complete at least 67% of your attempted credits, and not exceed 180 attempted credit hours.

The financial aid disbursement estimator is designed as a tool to help you determine what you need to pay the University and represents only an ESTIMATE of what financial aid may disburse based on your enrollment and offer status. The Controller’s office handles all student account transactions. For instructions on accessing your account information, please go to Financial Aid and MYFAU.
PLEASE NOTE: Students receive their account statements via their FAU E-mail address ONLY.

Federal regulations require your eligibility to be based on your income and that of your parents' unless you meet certain criteria. If you feel that you have exceptional circumstances, your parents are unwilling to provide their information for FAFSA purposes, or for more information on Dependent vs. Independent students, please contact your financial aid counselor.

You may access your Financial Aid information online. Click here for instructions on how to access this information. You may also email your financial aid counselor or visit the financial aid office in-person (at the Boca Raton, Davie, or Jupiter campus). If you are not the student and are requesting information on a student's account, you will need the student to submit a FERPA form.

Speak with your Financial Aid Counselor and you may be able to submit a request for Professional Judgment to our office. After a review, you may be offered additional assistance.

Financial aid refunds do not begin to disburse until third and fourth weeks of classes; disbursement of aid is a function of the Controller’s office. It is essential that you set aside personal funds to cover expenses incurred during the first few weeks of class. You may request a portion of your financial aid to be distributed to you early - an “advance” on your financial aid - if you meet all eligibility criteria. For more information on the Short Term Advance and other help with books, visit Help Buying Books
NOTE: For students under 18 years of age, please download and submit the Parental Short Term Advance Application to the Office of Student Financial Aid.

Yes. However, summer financial aid is typically very limited. We highly recommend that if you receive a financial aid refund in the fall or spring terms and you plan on taking summer courses, you should save a portion of these funds to help pay your summer tuition. If you are PELL Eligible you must register for classes by the 1st Drop/Add Deadline of the Summer.

As long as you are degree seeking at FAU and the classes will be credited toward your FAU degree, you may be eligible to receive assistance. Contact the FAU Financial Aid Office to see what forms you must complete and for which programs you may qualify.

Please use link for instructions: ex-scholarship-instr-8-3.pdf (fau.edu)

Students should never be listed as payee but can be added to the memo line along with the Z number Make all checks payable to Florida Atlantic University

All External Scholarships should be mailed to the FAU Scholarship Lockbox at:

Florida Atlantic University PO Box 505576 St Louis, MO 63150-5576

Any scholarship checks mailed directly to FAU will be forwarded to the PO Box address, which may delay processing and payment to the student.

Once received in the Lockbox please allow up to 2-3 business days for processing. During peak, please allow up to 3-5 business days.

Yes, for efficient processing please include a letter that includes the following information.

• Student’s full name and school ID
• Donor’s name, address, phone number, and email address
• Enrollment requirement of scholarship, if applicable (example: full-time enrollment: undergraduate 12 credits, graduate 9 credits half-time would be 6-9 undergraduate, graduate 3 credits)

If you have any questions, please email Shaveta Dabas or call 561-297-1250.

The scholarship donor or recipient is responsible to provide a letter to the financial aid office with the student ID number, the amount of offer, conditions and which term(s) the scholarship should be applied to. The scholarship amount will be posted on your financial aid offer summary in your myFAU. Once the Financial Aid Office receives the check from the donor the funds will be deposited in the student’s FAU account.

When the paper work is received the custodial scholarship is placed on the system as “Offered”, if there is only one scholarship it will go on as EX1SCH. A notation will be posted naming the donor. When the check is received, it will then show as “Accepted”. If there is more than one custodial scholarship, subsequent scholarships will be added, each one using a different fund ID, ex. EX1SCH, EX2SCH.

Only the Financial Aid Office can accept scholarship on the system. The scholarship will be accepted as soon as the check is received from the donor.

If the student comes in a different term than originally planned, the check will be returned to the donor. We are not permitted to retain funds beyond the one term. The student will need to contact the donor to make arrangements regarding reissuing the scholarship check.

We encourage all students to make a copy of the scholarship criteria letter received by thet donor prior to submitting it to the financial aid office. Students may also check with the Financial Aid Scholarship office to verify the scholarship criteria in question.

If it has not been posted to the system, we have not received the scholarship paperwork.

Departmental and Foundation scholarships have varying criteria, and the student would need to check with their department.

The Office of Undergraduate Admissions also offers scholarships for fall and spring terms to incoming students upon being admitted to the university. Students must fill out the Freshman/Transfer Online Application for scholarships by the indicated deadlines prior to their first semester at FAU. Scholarships are offered based on academic merit and financial need. Please visit Undergraduate Admissions's site on how to apply.

If it is one of the major institutional scholarships, they all require F/T enrollment in order to be paid. TEAA is the only exception and it requires a minimum of 6 credits at FAU. (Exceptions can be made for various circumstances). Any exceptions would require that the student file a scholarship appeal.

No, you should read each scholarship and only apply to the ones for which you feel you are qualified. Applying to every listed scholarship makes the scholarship committees question your effort and credibility.

Yes, but only apply to those that reflect your qualifications.

The student can file a scholarship Reinstatement/Appeal Form (available under forms), explaining the extenuating circumstances, and attach any documentation to support claim, as well as an unofficial transcript. Allow two weeks for a response.

The student would need to complete the scholarship Reinstatement/Appeal form, requesting the scholarship for the summer term, and attach an unofficial transcript. The request would be evaluated, after the spring grades are posted. The student must be in compliance with the scholarship criteria, ie: FAU cumulative GPA and completed credits. Only the following scholarships are available for the summer term:

• Community College Honors / Phi Theta Kappa (CCHPTK)
• Community College Scholars / All Florida Academica Team (CCSSCH)
• Transfer Educational Achievement Award (TEASCH)

YES. Only FAU credits are recognized for FAU Scholarships.

Bright Futures (and any other accepted financial aid you have) will be applied to your FAU balance around 2-3 weeks into the semester.
Florida Pre-paid will be applied around 3-4 weeks into the semester to the remaining balance.
If there is an overage of payment (with the combination of Bright Futures/Financial Aid and Prepaid) you will receive any excess funding in the form of a refund.
If there is still an FAU balance after both Bright Futures and all pending financial aid has paid out, you are responsible for covering the remaining balance by the published deadline. .

To apply for a Direct loan, simply complete your FAFSA. We will offer you the maximum amount of subsidized and/or unsubsidized Direct loans for which you are eligible. To apply for a Parent PLUS loan or a Graduate PLUS loan, visit StudentAid.gov. If you are applying for a private or alternative loan (through a bank), you will need to contact potential lenders on your own - we are not permitted to recommend specific private lenders. ELMSELECT is a private loan search and comparison tool FAU students have successfully used to obtain funding.

You must be enrolled half-time to receive a Direct loan. For undergraduates, this is 6 credit hours. For graduate students, half time is 4.5 credits during FALL & SPRING semesters and 3 credits during the SUMMER semester.

A Direct Subsidized loan will not accumulate interest until you graduate or drop below half time status; it is considered “subsidized” because the government pays the interest on it while you are in school. A Direct Unsubsidized loan will start to accumulate interest right away. You should always exhaust your subsidized loan availability before accepting an unsubsidized loan.

First, you must accept your offer on your MYFAU. Next, you will need to complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) as well as Entrance Counseling. Both the Direct Loan Master Promissory Note and Direct Loan Entrance Counseling requirements may be satisfied online at StudentAid.gov. Entrance Counseling is a tutorial that will explain to you the terms of your loans, such as interest rates and repayment options. Your Master Promissory Note is your guarantee that you will repay your loan.

You can submit a Direct Loan Revision Request form (found on the Forms page) to request an increase or decrease of your loan.

If you are a dependent student, you can ask your parent to go to StudentAid.gov and apply for a Parent Plus loan. If approved, you will receive additional loan money. If denied, you may submit a Direct Loan Revision Request Form to request additional unsubsidized loan funds.
NOTE: If you are a graduate student, you may go to StudentAid.gov and apply for a Graduate PLUS loan.

A grant, unlike a loan, does not have to be repaid. However, under certain circumstances, (if you withdraw from classes, for example), you may be billed back a grant which has already disbursed.

When you complete your FAFSA, the federal processor determines your eligibility using a number of factors. Basically, your FAFSA calculates whether or not you are eligible for grants. If you are eligible for Pell grant, your FAFSA also determines the amount of funding you receive.

You may be able to receive Pell grant funds over the summer term if you are eligible and are enrolled in one or more credits. For details, visit: Grants | Florida Atlantic University

In order to receive the full amount of Pell grant for which you are eligible, you must be enrolled in at least 12 credits by the end of the add/drop period. Effective Fall 2024: Pell grant will prorate and disburse based on enrollment intensity at the end of the add/drop period. Enrollment intensity is the percentage of full-time enrollment at which a student is enrolled, rounded to the nearest whole percent. For example, if full-time enrollment is 12 credit hours and the student is enrolled in 7 hours, the enrollment intensity would be 7 ÷ 12 × 100% = 58.3% (round to 58%). After registering for the term, students eligible for Pell grant are encouraged to use the Financial Aid Disbursement Estimator.

If a student who has been offered a grant adds a class after the drop/add deadline, the grant offer will NOT increase due to late enrollment. The student will receive disbursement for the number of credits enrolled at the end of the drop/add period.

No - the FAFSA covers all state, institutional, and federal grants. You should complete your FAFSA early, since some grants are distributed on a first come, first served basis.

The Pell grant is considered an “entitlement” grant - meaning that, if eligible and maintaining all necessary criteria, you will be offered the Pell grant. Other grants (First Generation Grant, FSAG) are not entitlement grants and are very limited. Unfortunately, this means that many students are technically eligible for these additional grants but do not receive them. Some of these grants are distributed on a first come, first served basis - that is why you should be sure to complete your FAFSA as early as possible.

“FERPA” stands for “Family Education Rights and Privacy Act”. The FERPA is a federal law which is designed to protect the student’s educational records. Per the FERPA, we cannot disclose a student's financial aid information to anyone other than the student - unless he or she has given written permission for us to do so with a FERPA release form , submitted to the Registrar’s Office. The FERPA applies to the student as soon as he or she is admitted to FAU, regardless of age or dependency status.

Students can directly access their information by logging into MYFAU. You should encourage your child to monitor this information themselves in order to gain experience with financial aid planning and processing. Before contacting our office directly, keep in mind you may only inquire about your child’s financial aid if he or she has completed a FERPA release form authorizing us to give you such information. You may email your student’s financial aid counselor or call or visit in person at the Boca, Jupiter, or Davie financial aid office. Be sure that you have your child’s z number.

No. Only the student may request changes in type of offer or amount of the offer. College is a setting where students begin to make their own decisions. Therefore, parents are encouraged to let their child understand and experience the many challenges of budgeting, time management, and financial aid processing. We urge the student to contact our office herself with any questions or concerns, in order to build greater involvement and financial literacy.

Contact your child’s financial aid counselor and explain your situation - you may be eligible to request Professional Judgment. Include your child’s z number in any e-mails and make sure that he or she has submitted a FERPA form.

PLUS Loans require a completed FAFSA by students, while Alternative Loans do not. Please refer to Financial Aid -PLUS Loan Information and Financial Aid -Alternative Student Loans for more details.

Yes. If you are denied a Parent PLUS loan, your child may submit a Direct Loan Revision Request Form to our office in order to request additional unsubsidized Direct loan funds.

The Federal Work-Study Program is a federally-funded program for eligible students who demonstrate financial need. Students will be required to complete a FAFSA application. For more details please refer to Financial Aid - Student Employment and click on Need Based Employment.

First, complete your FAFSA - if eligible, the student will be offered Direct Loans. These are federal loans in the student’s name and are not credit based. If you would like to request additional funds, you can visit StudentAid.gov and request a Parent PLUS loan. This is a credit based loan which is in the Parent’s name. If approved, you may receive additional funds - if you are denied, your child may submit a Direct Loan Revision Request form to request additional Direct Loan funds. You may seek private or alternative loan funding on your own; however, we are not permitted to recommend potential lenders. We recommend that you exhaust your federal loan options before pursuing a private loan.

Yes. If you are denied a Parent PLUS loan, your child may submit a Direct Loan Revision Request Form to our office in order to request additional unsubsidized Direct loan funds.

The FAFSA covers all state, institutional, and federal grants. By completing your FAFSA, you have already applied for them all! You should complete your FAFSA early, since some grants are distributed on a first come, first served basis.

The Pell grant is considered an “entitlement” grant - meaning that, if eligible and maintaining all necessary criteria, the student will be offered the Pell grant. Other grants (First Generation Grant, FSAG) are not entitlement grants and are very limited. Unfortunately, this means that many students are technically eligible for these additional grants but do not receive them. Some of these grants are distributed on a first come, first served basis - that is why you should be sure to complete your FAFSA as early as possible.

There are many scholarships available for students, and FAU offers many resources to help you in your search. All FAU scholarships are listed in an online searchable database. Many other scholarship are listed on our website scholarship page

As long as your son/daughter is degree seeking and enrolled in at least 6 credit hours at FAU, then classes may be credited toward an FAU degree and your son/daughter may be eligible to receive assistance. Students are not eligible to receive financial aid at more than one institution for any one term. Therefore, you must apply for financial aid by completing the FAFSA application at the institution where you are degree-seeking, referred to as your home institution. Additional forms are required, refer to Financial Aid Policies - Concurrent Enrollment page.

Financial aid regulations require that students maintain satisfactory academic progress. Generally, this means that students must maintain a 2.0 GPA (3.0 for graduate students) and successfully complete 67% of their attempted classes. If they do not, they may be placed on probation or denied future assistance. Please refer to Financial Aid Policies/Rules & Regulations -Academic Progress page.

It is essential that the student set aside personal funds to cover expenses incurred during the first few weeks of class, since financial aid refunds do not begin to disburse until the second and third weeks of classes. Your child may request a portion of her financial aid to be disbursed early - an “advance” on her financial aid - if she meets all eligibility criteria. Funds will be directly deposited into the student’s bank account. FAU Short Term Advance Applications are available between two weeks BEFORE the start of classes until two weeks PRIOR to the end of classes of each semester. Click here for more information about the Short Term Advance.

Every student is sent a monthly bill via their FAU email for tuition, fees and other charges. This statement reflects all payments received through the statement date. If you are certain you have financial aid that exceeds your tuition and fees plus any other amounts due to the University, you can disregard this bill. For questions regarding your Billing Statements, please go to the Controller's Office FAQs webpage.

Internet calculators are available for you to estimate college costs, loan payments, financial aid payment estimations, or graduated student loan repayment. Please refer to our FAU Financial Aid Disbursement Estimator.

Graduate students are generally eligible for Unsubsidized Direct Loans. For graduate students, Unsubsidized Direct Loans have an annual limit of $20,500. To apply, visit FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and add FAU’s school code (001481).

Graduate students may also be eligible for FAU Graduate Grant. These funds are limited and offered on a first come, first served basis, so be sure to complete your FAFSA early (prior to our April 1^st priority deadline).

Additionally, graduate students may be eligible for tuition waivers, federal work study, scholarships, and fellowships.

Graduate students are not eligible for federal (Pell) and state grants. There is institutional grant money available (FAU Graduate Grant) – however, this funding is extremely limited. To be considered, you must demonstrate financial need and complete your FAFSA early (before April 1, the priority deadline).

Before your Direct Unsubsidized Loan can disburse, you must visit StudentAid.gov and complete Entrance Counseling. This is an online tutorial which will explain in detail the terms of the loan (such as interest rates and repayment options).
Click here for additional information including interest rates, borrowing limits, and how and when your loan will be repaid.

If you have been offered a Direct Unsubsidized Loan from FAFSA but would like additional loan funding, you may apply for a Graduate PLUS loan at StudentAid.gov. This is a credit-based federal loan. You may also pursue a private or alternative loan through a bank – however, we are unable to recommend specific lending institutions.

To receive financial aid as a graduate student, you must be enrolled at least half time (4.5 credits or 3 credits for summer). If you are enrolled less than full time (9 credits), however, your financial aid eligibility may be reduced.

Receiving a tuition waiver, employer reimbursement, or other financial resource may reduce your financial aid eligibility.All students must notify the Office of Student Financial Aid (OSFA) immediately if they receive or anticipate receiving a tuition waiver, as these resources must be considered a part of a student’s financial aid package. To report outside offers, complete the Student Statement of Outside Resources and submit to the OSFA. Should it later be found that you are receiving outside resources which you neglected to report, your financial aid package will be adjusted retroactively to include these resources. This adjustment may result in repayment of previously disbursed financial aid.

To receive financial aid (including loans) as a graduate student, you must maintain certain standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress. You must maintain an institutional GPA of at least 3.0 and complete at least 67% of your attempted credits. If you fail to meet these criteria, you may appeal to request to have aid reinstated. View more information about Satisfactory Academic Progress.

Although you are considered full time for academic purposes and eligible to receive financial aid, your “cost of attendance” is lower than if you were enrolled in 9 credits – which means that your financial aid eligibility will be reduced.
You can think of your cost of attendance as the upper limit of the maximum amount of financial aid (including grants, scholarships and federal and private loans) that you may receive for the year. Your cost of attendance is determined by your academic classification (graduate student), residency status, housing status, and enrollment status.

Click here for information about Public Service Loan Forgiveness.

Athletic scholarships are disbursed the week after the drop and add period. Tuition and fee payment is automatically deferred up to the amount of the student’s athletic scholarship.

If you did not complete the Free Application of Federal Student Aid and are on a partial scholarship, you must complete theFinancial Aid Budget Form.

Athletics scholarships plus all other aid has to equal the student’s total cost of attendance. Therefore if your total financial aid package goes over your total cost of attendance you financial aid offers will be reduced.

The Concurrent Enrollment form must be filled out. The athletic scholarship is only going to be disbursed after theConcurrent Enrollment Form is completed.

Actual Disbursement of financial aid checks or Electronic Fund Transfers are a function of the Controller's Office as requested by the Financial Aid Office starting the third week of classes. Please make sure you fill out your direct deposit. If you are a full ride scholarship recipient, please read Off Campus Students Procedures.

The scholarship donor must fill out the Custodial Scholarship Letter. This form will help determine if the scholarship was offered using athletics participation as major criteria.

Students are responsible to pay the portion of fees that the athletic scholarship does not cover. If payments of such fees are received after the payment due date, students will receive a late fee.

Total athletic aid may be a combination of athletic scholarships and the Athletic Matriculation Exemption. The addition of the two will equal to the total scholarship offered to you.

A student refund will vary from student to student because of the differences in the in number of credits taken in the semester, parking tickets, late fees, lab fees, housing status, meal plan and additional financial aid offers

You may qualify for scholarships outside of the Honors College. For web links go to our Scholarships webpage. You may also qualify for the alternative loan program; see private loans section You may apply for on-campus student employment (restrictions apply). Once you arrive, visit the Financial Aid office on your campus for assistance.
PLEASE NOTE: International students should not complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). They are not eligible for federal/state/institutional grants and loans.

You should work closely with your high school counselor to see if you qualify for the Florida Bright Futures scholarship. The final decision lies with the State programs office:888-827-2044 or http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/home/uamain.htm. You/your parents may qualify for the alternative loan program. See: Loans webpage for more information. You may also apply for on-campus student employment.
PLEASE NOTE: Freshman students who are deemed early admit (dual enrolled) should not complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). They are not eligible for federal/state/institutional grants and loans at this time.

To receive their Honors College scholarship, students must be enrolled in an average of 12 credit hours in the Honors College each semester (fall and spring).

The initial scholarship offer is based on academic history and expected performance. Unfortunately the Honors College cannot increase your offer if you earn good grades in college, though if your academic performance is below the renewal criteria, the offer may be reduced.

The Honors College scholarship is offered only during fall and spring semesters and will not cover summer study abroad or internships. You will receive your Honors College scholarship during fall or spring if you sign up for Honors College credit for your study abroad or internship. However, students who enter a non-FAU study abroad program may find it more advantageous to forego their Honors College scholarship and not pay tuition for FAU credit since they will be paying tuition to the non-FAU program. For more information about your options, see http://www.fau.edu/honors/academics/study-abroad.php.

No, a student may receive only one admissions based scholarship from the institution (This would include all freshman admissions scholarships listed at http://www.fau.edu/admissions/freshmen/scholarships.php) However, students may apply and be considered for all other institutional scholarships for which they meet the criteria.

Named scholars do not receive additional dollars. Students selected as “named scholars” receive special recognition and are given the privilege of meeting the donor who supplied the funds for the student’s Honors College scholarship.

The Honors College scholarship does not require the student to file a FAFSA. Some scholarship programs DO have this requirement. We strongly recommend submitting the FAFSA as it maximizes your possibilities for support. File the FAFSA by April 1st this year for FAU's priority consideration.

Scholarships are viewed as a resource. It is very rare (but possible) that a student receives too much scholarship support. Please view FAU's overaward policy

Yes, a student may use the aid refund they receive from one term for expenses associated with an upcoming term.

Disbursement of aid is a function of the Controller’s office. The scholarship and financial aid fund disbursement process takes several weeks. It is essential that you set aside personal funds to cover expenses incurred during the first few weeks of class. For students who do not have sufficient monetary resources, FAU offers the “Short Term Advance” - a University monetary advance to all students - ONLY if they meet all eligibility criteria. The Short Term Advance Application is located on MYFAU. For more information, please go to Help Buying Books.

The Controller’s office handles all student account transactions. To check on the status of your account, please log on to MYFAU and click on FAU Self-Service link.
PLEASE NOTE: Students receive their account statements via their FAU E-mail address only.

No. If you have filed a FAFSA, you may receive financial aid during the summer. However, summer financial aid is typically very limited. We highly recommend that if you receive a financial aid refund in the fall or spring terms and you plan on taking summer courses, you should save a portion of these funds to help pay your summer tuition. Also, if you receive Bright Futures, you may be eligible for a summer disbursement. Register for summer courses prior to the 1st summer term Add/Drop deadline if you are eligible for PELL.

Sign into MYFAU and click on the Money Matters! tile:

• Click on "Your Financial Aid" to access Self-Service.
• Click on "Eligibility" to review student requirements.
• Select "Student Requirements" and select the Aid Year (if prompted).

If there are any documents under the "Unsatisfied Requirements" section, you must submit these documents ASAP in order to complete the processing of your financial aid.

Students will be sent an email to their FAU email address notifying them of documents needed to complete the processing of their financial aid.

After all necessary documents are submitted to the Financial Aid Office, students will be offered up to their maximum eligibility and notified via their FAU email address that they have offers to accept online (the email will also have instructions on how to accept offers).

The Offer Summary by Term is an actual offer letter stating the Financial aid offered and the breakdown of allocated funds per term. Students may print this page for their personal records. This page is for Informational Purposes ONLY. Students must go to the Accept Offers link to formally accept an offer decision online.

Disbursement of aid is dependent upon your enrollment status and compliance with the offer provisions. FAU reserves the right to revise this offer upon receipt of information which affects a student’s eligibility. All offers are based on continued eligibility and are contingent upon the availability of funds (i.e. a student was offered a full Pell Grant but is actually enrolled half-time - - the student will be offered the Pell Grant for half-time status).

Some scholarships and the Federal Pell Grant will be automatically ACCEPTED on the system. All other types of aid will have to be ACCEPTED or DECLINED. Click on the Accept Offers link and for each offer, in the offer decision column, select Accept, Accept Partial, or Decline.
NOTE: If you select Accept Partial in the offer decision column, then you will need to enter an amount in the Accept Partial Amount column (remembering that all your amounts, even partial, will be split between Fall and Spring, when you are accepting in the Fall). Make sure that you read the Terms and Conditions of Offers Document and then click the Submit Decision button when finished.
If students want to accept ALL offers offered without making changes to the amounts, students can click on the Accept Full Amount All Offers button.

Students may submit an Offer Revision Request form to revise their offers. Select the appropriate Revision Request form for your situation. Click here to go to the Forms to Download Page to view forms

Total athletic aid may be a combination of athletic scholarships and the Athletic Matriculation Exemption. The addition of the two will equal to the total scholarship offered to you.

Disbursement of aid is a function of the Controller’s Office, beginning the third week of classes. Click on the Account Summary by Term link to view financial aid offers that have been processed/disbursed and if the student has received a financial aid refund. If the student has a balance after all financial aid has disbursed, the student will see the amount that they owe the University in the Account Balance field for that academic year.

Students who receive a financial refund may have this refund direct deposited into their existing bank account. In Self-Service, click on the Main Menu link, then click on Direct Deposit for Financial Aid. Follow the instructions on establishing or updating your bank account information.

The Short Term Advance is a University monetary advance available to assist degree-seeking students enrolled at least half-time with:

• Purchasing textbooks
• Emergency funds relating to educational expenses
• Unanticipated living expenses

Keep in mind that the Short Term Advance is NOT a source to assist with paying tuition and/or other related fees.

Students must:

• be degree-seeking
• be enrolled at least half-time
• have an FAU institutional GPA of 2.0
• NOT have an outstanding balance with the University
• establish direct deposit
• be at least 18 years old (if not, the Parental Short Term Advance application will need to be submitted. This form is located on the Forms to Download section of the Financial Aid website.

The Short Term Advance is located on the Money Matters tile of MYFAU.

The Short Term Advance application is available about 2 weeks prior to the beginning of each semester. The online application will close approximately 2-3 weeks after disbursements for the last part of term begin.

Students are ONLY allowed one Short Term Advance per semester. Preference will be given to full-time students when funds are limited.

Students can borrow up to $750 each semester.

There is a $5.00 fee that will be assessed each time a Short Term Advance is processed.

No. Students will have to establish direct deposit. Funds will be direct deposited in the student's existing bank account.

Actual approvals don't begin until disbursements start for the term, so if you are checking your status before disbursements begin, you will only see a Requested Amount and not an Approved Amount. If the student meets ALL eligibility requirements, the Short Term Advance will process at least 3 BUSINESS days before the first day of classes. Learn how to check the status of Short Term Advance.

Funds should be direct deposited in student's bank account within 2-3 BUSINESS days AFTER it has been approved/disbursed (sometimes sooner). Remember the Approved Amount will show $0 until disbursements begin.

It depends. Federal financial aid (Pell grant, Direct loans) will not pay for courses that do not apply to your degree. If a course does not apply to your degree, that means that it is not required for you to complete your major. Other types of state or institutional financial aid - such as scholarships - may pay for courses that are not degree applicable.

Pell grant disburses based on your enrollment intensity (for more information on Enrollment Intensity, please visit Grants | Florida Atlantic University Only courses which count towards your degree program will be used in determining your enrollment intensity for Pell grant purposes. For example, if you are enrolled in 6 credits of courses which are degree applicable and 6 credits of courses which are not degree applicable, you are only considered half time to have an enrollment intensity of 50% for Pell grant purposes and will receive half of your offered Pell grant. To receive your full Pell grant, you must take at least 12 credits (or 100% Enrollment Intensity) which apply to your program of study.

Enrollment status for federal Direct loan purposes will be based only on courses which are degree applicable. To be eligible for Direct loans, undergraduate students must be enrolled half time (6 credits). Therefore, if you are an undergraduate student you must be enrolled in at least 6 credits which count towards your program of study in order to receive a Direct Loan. If you are not enrolled in at least 6 credits which are degree applicable, the loan will be cancelled for the term. Graduate students are also required to be enrolled half time (4.5 credits in fall or spring, 3 credits in summer) in credits which apply to the degree in order to receive federal loans.

Yes, if your academic record indicates a double major or double degree, federal financial aid can be paid based on courses that are applicable for both programs.

Yes, as long as your declared minor is appearing on your academic record, courses applicable to the minor will be used in calculating your eligibility.

To receive Federal Work Study funds, you must be enrolled at least half time (6 credits) in courses which apply to your degree.

Non-federal funds such as FAU Undergraduate Grant, Bright Futures and other scholarships may pay based on courses that do not apply to your degree. Please contact the Office of Student Financial Aid for additional information.

If you are an undergraduate student, you can verify that your classes will count towards your degree by running a Degree Audit Report. If you are a graduate student, please confer with your academic/faculty advisor.

Once you receive a passing grade in a course, only one additional graded attempt for the same course is eligible for federal aid. Any additional attempts beyond this limit will not be funded. Exceptions may be made for cases where the student’s program requires enrollment in same course on a continuing basis over several semesters, with each attempt having significantly different course content (such as fine arts or thesis/dissertation courses).

All students are assigned a budget, or “cost of attendance”, which represents the maximum amount of aid that they can potentially receive. Your cost of attendance is partly based on the number of credits which you are taking. Only credits that count towards your program of study will be used in determining your cost of attendance.

Federal regulations require including your parent’s legal spouse, even if they are a step parent who does not support you.

You can use the IRS web services to request a non-filers letter:https://www.irs.gov/individuals/get-transcript.

Per federal regulations, for FAFSA purposes, you are typically considered dependent until you are 24 years old.  If you think you might have special circumstances, contact your assigned financial aid counselor using instructions found at:  http://www.fau.edu/finaid/contact/financial-counselor/.

No. You may not list anyone who does not live in your home even if you can prove that you are providing over 50% of their support.

You may. All self-prepared 1040 must be physically signed in the proper place in ink and dated with the date of submission to the IRS. Also, you must submit Schedules 1, 2 and/or 3 if they are part of the return.

When verification is completed, you must acknowledge the amounts listed on the tax return you are submitting are true and correct with a physical signature.

Completing verification allows you to receive all federal aid for which you are eligible. Federal loans are part of the federal aid package and therefore verification must be completed before you can be offered Federal Direct Loans.

Sometimes the federal system selects students for verification 5 after verification 4 has been completed. Yes, this must be completed to be offered aid. Florida Atlantic University also reserves the right to request verification on a case by case basis.

The federal selection for verification is typically random. Some years you might be selected and other years you might not. Always complete FAFSA early to avoid any delays.