Aid Disbursement
The earliest date that your financial aid is released is ten days prior to the start of the semester. Once aid begins disbursing, it will automatically apply to authorized university charges. (Note: Pell Grant, Washington College Grant, Institutional Grant, College Bound, and Cougar Commitment will not disburse if a student is enrolled less than full time.) To-Do items or Holds can prevent your aid from disbursing.
Fall Disbursement Schedule:
- One Week Prior to the First Day of Classes: Financial aid will begin to disburse and will continue to run throughout the semester for eligible students.
- One Week Prior to the First Day of Classes: Direct deposits and paper checks will be issued after disbursement to students who have aid greater than charges, after all charges have been paid.
Spring Disbursement Schedule:
- One Week Prior to the First Day of Classes: Financial aid will begin to disburse and will continue to run throughout the semester for eligible students.
- One Week Prior to the First Day of Classes: Direct deposits and paper checks will be issued after disbursement to students who have aid greater than charges, after all charges have been paid.
If you don’t see your award..
There are several reasons your aid may be delayed. You can view your award status to see if your aid is ready to release or pay your fees.
**For the 24-25 academic year – accepting/declining of offered loans will open mid-summer! Our office will send an email when you can take action. Visit our Accepting Loans page for more information and details about the process.**
- Incomplete To-Do Items
- Check your myWSU To-Do List: if we need something from you, this is where you’ll see it
- myWSU > Click “Tasks” on Student Homepage > Select task for further details
- Unaccepted Aid
- Review & Accept Your Loans on myWSU NOW!
- Make your decisions as soon as possible so funds deliver on time
- Incomplete Entrance Counseling and Loan Agreement (Master Promissory Note)
- First Time Borrowers — Complete Direct Loan Entrance Counseling & Master Promissory Note
- Complete Entrance Counseling and Loan agreement at studentaid.gov
- Not enrolled in enough credits
- If your aid is not disbursing check your enrollment
- You must be in at least half time enrollment (6+ undergraduates; 5+ graduates) for loans to disburse
- Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) issues
How to Complete Entrance Counseling & MPN
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 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
- Any charges that you have authorized financial aid to pay for (Sports pass, placement testing, parking tickets, etc)
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.
How to Apply Financial Aid to All Charges
- Login to myWSU
- Click “Account Services & 1098-T”
- Click “View Student Permissions”
- Click “Grant Permissions”
- Select “TITLE IV – Permission to apply aid to all charges”
- Click “Next”
- Read the agreement, then Click “Yes, I have read the agreement”
- Click “Submit”
Refunds
The Bursar’s Office issues all refunds. After your aid is disbursed, refunds will take up to 3-5 days for a direct deposit to your bank account, checks will be mailed to the address on myWSU.
To set up direct deposit via myWSU, visit the Financial Account tile and then select Enroll in Direct Deposit under “Account Services”.
Please note: if charges post after a refund check is sent to a student, the student is responsible for paying charges remaining to the account.
Census
Part-time Students and Aid Eligibility/Disbursement:
Most students are packaged assuming they will be attending full-time. Students who are at least half-time, but less than full-time, may have some grant and scholarship funds that will not disburse due to enrollment level. WSU runs a process called Census on the 10th day of the term. This allows us to take a “snap-shot” of enrollment for a number of reasons.
Potential Outcomes of Census Adjustments:
- Full-time students who remain at full-time enrollment will not see any change.
- Part-time students who remain part-time will have their aid adjusted accordingly and the aid will disburse.
- Students who were at full-time enrollment pre-census and part-time enrollment at census will have these awards reduced, which will likely create a bill for the student that will need to be paid back to WSU.
Student who enroll on the census day sometimes do not have this change recorded and must complete a Census Petition to have their aid adjusted. The Census Petition Form will be made available once Census has run.
Payment Deadlines and Late Fees
You are responsible for making tuition payments by the published fee payment deadline each semester. For more information about payments, charges, and refunds, please contact University Receivables Office.