Terms & Conditions of FINANCIAL AID offers

Scholarships and grants are considered gift aid and generally do not have to be repaid, except in cases in which a student withdraws from coursework, becomes ineligible or does not meet applicable requirements of the fund. If a student withdraws from coursework, they may be required to repay aid based on nonattendance or Return to Title IV regulations. Scholarships may also require repayment or not be renewed based on the requirements of the specific fund.  Loans (including Direct subsidized, unsubsidized, and Parent PLUS loans) must be repaid. Any federal work study funds must be earned through employment.

Prioritize accepting the most advantageous forms of financial aid. Begin with gift aid, such as scholarships and grants, followed by self-help aid like work-study, and then consider borrowing money through direct student loans. Private loans should only be considered after exhausting other options. More information here.

Students should accept financial aid by the first Friday of add/drop week in order to be deferred. Financial aid can be accepted up to two weeks before a semester ends to allow disbursement. Incoming students are required to submit their deposit by the specified Admissions Tuition Deadline in order to secure their financial aid offer.

To be considered eligible for most forms of financial aid, you must attend at least half-time at FAU.

• For Fall and Spring semesters, half time is defined as 6 credits for undergraduate students (including those pursuing a second bachelor degree) and 4.5 credits for graduate students.
  
  
• For Summer semester, half time is defined as 6 credits for undergraduate students and 3 credits for graduate students.
  
  
• Audited courses, courses which are not applicable to the student’s degree, and some repeated courses do not count towards financial aid enrollment requirements.
  
  
• If you are not enrolled at least half-time at FAU, you will be viewed as INELIGIBLE for most financial aid funding with the exception of Federal Pell Grant funding (for some eligible students), and certain private/alternative loan products, and some select scholarships.
  
  
• Consortium Enrollment is defined as enrollment for students who are degree seeking at FAU but are enrolled in zero credits at FAU for the term because they are enrolled in approved courses at a host institution. Refer to the Transient Student Enrollment page for instructions.  Students requesting finanical aid for consortium enrollment must abide to the Transient Terms and Conditions.
  
  
• Concurrent Enrollment is defined as enrollment for students who are degree seeking at FAU and are enrolled in credits at FAU while simultaneously enrolled in approved courses at a host institution. Refer to the Transient Student Enrollment page for instructions.  Students requesting finanical aid for concurrent enrollment must abide to the Transient Terms and Conditions.
  
  
• See the Summer Financial Aid page for criteria for half time, concurrent and consortium enrollment processing in Summer semesters.
  
  
• You are eligible to receive Title IV funding based on your course attendance. If you withdraw from a course, we may be required to confirm your attendance in the course. In cases where requested documentation of attendance cannot be provided, you may be required to repay Title IV funds you received.

Degree Applicability of Courses is Required for Title IV Funding: Federal regulations require that your enrollment status for Federal Title IV financial aid must be based on courses that are applicable to your program of study. Coursework which is not applicable to your degree will not count towards your enrollment status for Title IV aid. Please note this restriction only applies to the determination of your enrollment status for Federal Title IV programs (Federal Pell grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), Federal Direct Loans, Federal PLUS Loans, and Federal Work-Study). This restriction does not apply to the determination of your enrollment status for institutional, state, and private aid. To see whether or not the courses you are registered for are degree applicable, you should view your degree audit results via the Degree Audit Reporting System (DARS). You can access the DARS system by signing into MYFAU. On the Home tab, select the FAU Self-Service link and log in to Self-Service. After logging in to Self-Service, click on Student Services, then Student Records. Select View Degree Audit (DARS) to run your degree audit.

Limited Eligibility of Repeated Courses for Title IV Funding: Regulations prohibit a student from receiving Title IV funding for more than one graded repeat attempt of a course which has previously been completed with a non-failing grade. Only one additional graded attempt of a course which has been previously completed with a non-failing grade will be considered eligible for Title IV funding. Any attempts in excess of the one additional graded attempt allowed by regulations will be ineligible for Title IV funding. 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). 

Contact your assigned financial aid counselor prior to the end of drop/add if further guidance is needed.

Examples of Repeated Course Eligibility for Financial Aid

Financial aid is offered based on an estimated cost of attendance, which is primarily determined by the following:

• Academic Classification: Undergraduate, Graduate, Executive, Medical
• Residency: Florida or Non-Florida
• Enrollment Status: Full-Time, ¾ time, half-time or less than half-time
• Housing Status: On-campus, off-campus or with parents

Your housing status may be determined by your indication of planned housing on your FAFSA application, your admissions application, or other information available to FAU. Review and confirm your housing status on MYFAU Self Service in the Financial Aid Status/Offer Overview section. If your housing status is incorrect, e-mail your financial aid counselor (contact information located on MyFAU Self Service).

Your financial aid offer is initially based on an estimated enrollment status of full time. If your enrollment is less than full time after the add/drop period for the term has passed, your cost of attendance will be reduced. Your cost of attendance may also change based on updates to your residency status or housing status, even if those changes happen after financial aid disburses. This may reduce the amount of aid you were initially offered. Financial aid may need to be repaid based on cost of attendance changes.

Financial aid may be adjusted if at any time the student’s financial aid package is determined to be over awarded, or if the student is found to have insufficient financial need to receive need-based aid. This may occur due to changes to a student’s enrollment, residency status, or housing status after the time of initial financial aid packaging. This may also occur when a student receives resources such as scholarships which were not anticipated at the time of initial financial aid packaging. In some cases, previously disbursed financial aid may need to be repaid to comply with federal, state, or institutional regulations. Visit our Overaward page for more information.

To maintain compliance with Federal Regulations, the FAU Office of Student Financial Aid requires students to begin attendance in all courses for which they are receiving Title IV financial aid funding (examples include Pell Grant, Direct Loans, SEOG, and Work-Study). Confirmation of course entry is a prerequisite for Title IV funds to disburse for the course.

If you are a current financial aid recipient or you think you may need financial aid at some point during the semester, please complete the Mandatory Course Entry Quiz for each registered class. Failure to complete the quiz for any class may result in a delay in the disbursement of your financial aid while we confirm your attendance through alternative means.

In addition to completing the Mandatory Course Entry Quiz, students are required to maintain eligibility for Title IV funding by displaying documented academic activity in the course. Examples of valid forms of documented activity include faculty attendance rosters, graded assignments, quizzes, or exams. Students should be aware that they may be required to repay any aid disbursed for a course for which they have no documented academic activity.

You are strongly encouraged to review the following site for more details: Mandatory Course Entry Quiz.

If a student withdraws from school, drops below half-time, or changes enrollment status after the drop/add period, the financial aid offer may be reduced or canceled. Financial aid is designed to help meet living expenses while attending school, therefore the student may be required to repay all or part of any funds received prior to his/her withdrawal from school. In addition, refunds issued by the Controller’s Office may have to be returned to the financial aid program from which the aid was offered. The amount of the refund and/or repayment owed is calculated based on a formula provided by the U.S. Department of Education. View the details regarding Refund and Repayment for Withdrawals.

Bright Futures Recipients: IMPORTANT: The Florida Legislature requires institutions to refund any Bright Futures offers received for courses which were dropped or withdrawn AFTER the drop/add period. Students are required to REPAY their institution for any offer amount received for course(s) which were dropped or withdrawn after the drop/add period. If you medically withdraw from school, your entire Bright Futures Scholarship disbursement must be returned to the Florida Department of Education.  Delay in repaying your Bright Futures for withdrawn courses could result in delayed processing for future semesters.

Federal Pell Grant offers will be automatically posted to the student’s account as "ACCEPTED".  Pell Grant disbursement is based on the number of eligible credits the student is enrolled in as of the last day of the student’s earliest add/drop period. If you are enrolled less than full time, the actual disbursed amount may be a prorated portion of the accepted amount. Courses added after the census date (including courses added through the wait-list process) will not be eligible for Pell Grant funding. Pell Grant funds will NOT be disbursed for courses which are not applicable to the student’s degree.

If you withdraw from a course, you will be required to repay Pell Grant funds received for courses which your proof of attendance is not confirmed. Proof of attendance is verified through institutional documentation of any of the following: physical course attendance (note: signing in to an online class does not qualify), any graded assignment/exam, or communication initiated by the student specifically pertaining to the academic subject matter studied in the course.

The U.S. Department of Education has restricted the lifetime Federal Pell Grant funding a student may receive to a maximum of 12 full time offers (or part time equivalent). Each full time offer is viewed as utilizing 50 percentage points of a lifetime eligibility limit of 600 percentage points. To learn more about Federal Pell Grant limits and how your remaining eligibility is calculated, please review the information at Pell Grant Eligibility.

Please be advised that your estimated offer prior to the end of drop/add is based on 13 semester credits. Your offer will be adjusted at the end of drop/add if you are enrolled in less than 13 credits. Bright Futures recipients must not owe a repayment on a Federal Pell Grant, a Federal Perkins Loan, a Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, or a State Student Incentive Grant; nor be in default on any federal Title IV or state loan program received for attendance at any institution.

• MPN: A Completed Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) must be on file with the Federal Government. In most cases, once a borrower has a completed MPN, additional loans can be made under the same MPN for a period of 10 years from the MPN signature date. For information regarding MPN completion for the specific loan type, please refer to the Federal Direct Loan section or Graduate PLUS Loan section of the FAU web site.
   
• Loan Entrance Counseling: Students who have not previously received a Federal Direct Loan and/or Graduate PLUS Loan disbursement must complete Loan Entrance Counseling for the respective loan type prior to receiving funds. This requirement is satisfied by completing the interactive Loan Entrance Counseling session on-line at the studentaid.gov. After signing in, students should select Entrance Counseling from the Manage My Direct Loan menu box and follow the on screen instructions. Students who have previously received a Federal Direct Loan and/or Graduate PLUS Loan while attending FAU have already satisfied the Loan Entrance Counseling requirement for the respective loan type and do not need to re-satisfy this requirement.
   
• Graduating Undergraduates in their Final Semester: When a senior's remaining period of study consists of only one semester in the academic year, the Direct Loan eligibility for their final term must be prorated based on enrollment. Graduating seniors may be retroactively billed if they have already received loan disbursements in excess of their prorated eligibility. Students who owe a balance to FAU will not receive their diplomas.
   
• Disbursements: Federal Direct Loans and/or Federal PLUS Loans are disbursed via EFT after the end of the drop/add period. Disbursements will occur either (1) within 10 business days after the end of the drop/add period, if all loan disbursement eligibility requirements are met, or (2) within 10 business days after all loan disbursement eligibility requirements are met, whichever is later. 
   
• Exit Counseling: All Federal Direct and/or Graduate Plus loan borrowers are required to complete exit counseling when one of the following conditions applies: 1) Prior to graduation; 2) If the student withdraws or transfers to another school; 3) Anytime the student’s enrollment drops below half-time. Students who have received a Federal Direct loan or Federal Graduate PLUS loan must complete the exit loan counseling at studentaid.gov.

Students may request aid changes, reinstatements or cancellations of loan amounts, or changes to housing status and budgets. View and download forms on the Financial Aid  Forms  page.