Once your FAFSA has been submitted, completed and reviewed, the FAU Office of Student Financial Aid will offer students according to their financial aid eligibility. For the upcoming academic year, which begins with the FALL semester, students will be notified of any student requirements needed through their myFAU.
Keep in mind that once the Financial Aid Offering process begins, the Financial Aid offer given is based on full-time enrollment for the FALL and SPRING semesters. After the drop/add deadline of each semester, is when your actual enrollment will be determined and the funds will begin to disburse.
As an FAU student, you are responsible for keeping track of your financial aid file, before and after you receive your offer.
- Check your FAU Self-Service financial aid account via MyFAU to monitor any student requirements that may be required (Note: Required documents can post to your student account after an offer has been given).
- Check your FAU email account regularly. This is how the financial aid office communicates with students.
- If selected for Verification, remember that your eligibility may change as a result of documentation submitted.
- Outside resources, such as scholarships not reported to the financial aid office, can affect your eligibility. Please notify us, if you have any resources or scholarships that were given directly to you. Other resources that may affect your eligibility are: Florida PrePaid, Third Party payments, SSN or military benefits.
Terms & Conditions of Offers
It is the student's responsibility to fully read and understand the Terms & Conditions of Offers. The terms and conditions of offers gives more details on (including, but not limited to):
- Enrollment
- Attendance Policy
- Payments/Fees
- Withdrawing from Classes
- Disbursement of Aid
- Federal Pell Grant
- Bright Futures
- Loans
- Summer Financial Aid
- FERPA
Transient Student Enrollment
If you are taking classes at another institution through concurrent/transient enrollment, this will affect how your financial aid offers will pay out. For example:
- Student enrolled 6 credits at FAU and 6 credits at a local college
- Student has been offered Federal Pell Grant & Federal Direct Loans
- The Federal Pell Grant will only disburse on 6 credits
- All of the Federal Direct Loans will disburse (since you only need to be half-time for loans to disburse)
- The other 6 credits of Federal Pell Grant will disburse once we receive your Transient Student Enrollment Paperwork and it has been processed.
Financial Aid Disbursement Estimator
Withdrawing from Classes
Please keep in mind that withdrawing from classes after your financial aid has disbursed may affect your eligibility for some forms of financial aid. Students may have to repay all or a portion of their financial aid.
Financial Aid Overaward Policy
The Office of Student Financial Aid is required to monitor and adjust students’ financial aid awards to eliminate overawards and/or overpayments in compliance with federal and state regulations and university policy.
An overaward or overpayment exists when any of these situations occur:
- The student’s financial aid exceeds the student’s Cost of Attendance (COA).
- The student is receiving need based aid in excess of the student’s financial need. Financial need is determined by subtracting the student’s Student Aid Index (SAI) from the estimated Cost of Attendance.
- The student receives multiple tuition specific awards (scholarships, grants, or waivers) that exceed the student’s tuition charges.
- The student receives multiple housing specific awards that exceed the student’s housing charges.
- The student’s award in an individual program (e.g., Federal Pell Grant, Federal Direct Loan) exceeds annual or aggregate/lifetime limits.
- The student is receiving Federal Pell Grant or Federal Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grant at multiple schools for the same payment period.
Overawards are usually the result of the student receiving aid that the Office of Student Financial Aid was not aware of when the student’s financial aid was initially offered.
Overawards may also occur when a student’s estimated cost of attendance changes due to a change in residency status, enrollment, or housing status. For example, when residency status changes from Non-Florida resident to Florida resident after financial aid has already been awarded.
Overawards may also be created when the student’s Student Aid Index (SAI) increases as a result of verification. Overawards can result from application errors as well. Regardless of the reason for overaward, the Office of Student Financial Aid is bound by regulations and policy to correct the overaward by reducing or cancelling a portion of the student’s aid.
Resolving the overaward may result in the student owing the University money if the overawarded funds have already disbursed to the student’s account. It is the student’s responsibility, therefore, to notify the Office of Student Financial Aid as soon as possible when the student becomes aware that he or she is receiving an external financial aid resource.
SAI | $3,000
Eligibility for Need-Based Aid | $24,884- $3,000 = $21,884
Total Need-Based Aid (example: Direct Subsidized Loan, Federal Pell Grant, FAU Grant, FSAG Grant) Offer | $22,884
Need-Based Overaward | $21,884 - $22,884 = -$1,000
This student has a Need-Based Overaward because the student's need-based aid offer exceeds their eligibility for need-based aid by $1,000.
Total Aid Offer (example: Direct Unsubsidized and Direct Subsidized Loans, Federal Pell Grant, FAU Grant, FSAG Grant, Bright Futures Scholarship) | $26,884
COA Overaward | $24,884 - $26,884 = -$2,000
This student has a COA Overaward because the student's total aid offer exceeds the estimated cost of attendance by $2,000.