Disbursement (Receiving Your Aid)
Disbursement is the payment of your financial aid. It’s when the aid you have accepted is released to your student account. This includes grants, scholarships, and loans.
Disbursement Schedule
The earliest date that your financial aid is released is ten days prior to the start of the semester.
- Review our Dates and Deadlines for start of term disbursement dates
- Disbursement occurs 2-3 times per week for eligible students throughout the semester.
Common Reasons for Delayed Disbursements
There are several reasons your aid may be delayed. You can view your disbursement status to see if your aid is ready to release or pay your fees.
- Incomplete To-Do Items
- Incomplete verification
- Not enrolled in enough credits
You must be half-time (6+ undergraduate or 5+ graduate credits) for loans - Unaccepted aid
- Incomplete Loan Counseling and Loan Agreement
- Satisfactory Academic Progress issues
How Financial Aid Pays
Financial aid for a semester can only be used to pay charges for that same semester. For example, spring aid cannot be used to pay for fall past-due fees. Your financial aid is applied to your charges in this order:
- Tuition and fees for the current semester
- On-campus housing and meal plan charges
If there is a balance remaining after the above charges are paid, you will receive a refund via check or direct deposit. You can use the refund to pay other expenses like late fees, off-campus housing, books, parking, Health Center charges, health insurance, or tuition at other schools.
Refunds
The Student Financial Services Office issues all refunds if you have enough aid at the time of disbursement to pay your semester charges. After your aid is disbursed, refunds will take up to 3-5 days for a direct deposit to your bank account, or 5-7 days for a check mailed to you.
Payment Deadlines and Late Fees
You are responsible for making tuition payments by the published fee payment deadline each semester.  Missing payment deadline results in a one-time $50 late fee with ongoing late fees of 1.75% of the balance assessed per month. Please visit the Student Financial Services page for more information about late fees and payments.
You are responsible for any late fees are charged due to:
- Late application
- Late To-Do completion
- Late aid acceptance
Will you owe money or receive a refund? Plan ahead with the Bottom Line Estimator.
Note: You can stay enrolled in classes even if you have an owing balance, but you won’t be able to register for future semesters.