Sometimes students receive money, reimbursements, or prizes from WSU departments or programs. In many cases, these resources count as Other Financial Assistance (OFA) and may need to be accounted for in your financial aid offer.
What is “Other Financial Assistance”?
OFA includes any funding you receive because you are a student, regardless of the amount. OFA is typically accounted for on your financial aid award as a placeholder.
OFA must be reported to the university
Federal regulations require WSU to include certain types of student funding when calculating financial aid. This helps ensure compliance and accurate aid packaging. If our office learns of outside funding after your financial aid has disbursed, we may have to pull back money that has already been sent to you.
What counts as OFA?
Your department may need to report the following to Student Financial Services if WSU tracks who received them:
- Cash prizes or gift cards you receive from a WSU department, if they track who received them
- Fitness center or membership reimbursements, monetary awards, bonuses, and post‑enrollment or graduation awards
- Giveaways or physical items from events, if the department tracks student recipients
- Help with transportation or course materials, such as covering bus passes or book expenses
- Stipends, fellowships, or funding received from department grants
- School‑sponsored trips or conferences when WSU pays you directly, rather than reimbursing for actual expenses
Some situations do not need to be added to your financial aid:
- School‑sponsored trips or conferences when WSU pays the provider directly or reimburses you only for actual expenses with receipts
- RSO expense reimbursements, rotation reimbursements, group project expenses, capstone expenses, and school‑club travel