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Financial
aid awards (with the exception of Federal Work Study, external scholarships,
tuition remissions, and third party contracts) are applied to the charges
that appear on your student account through a processes called disbursement.
Disbursement occurs on a quarterly basis. Aid may be disbursed to your
account for a given term as early as ten (10) days prior to the start
of your classes, provided you've been awarded financial aid, are enrolled
at WSU, and are eligible for disbursement. If you apply late for financial
aid, your aid may be delayed or you may become ineligible for disbursement.
Loans
may not disburse if additional requirements are needed. See our Loan Processing
page for more information.
Aid
Adjustments
Your
Award Notice displays your financial aid eligibility based upon full-time
enrollment each quarter. The amount of aid that will disburse to your
account for a given quarter however shall be based on your actual registered
credit hours for that quarter. For example, if you register half-time,
then the amount of aid that will disburse to you will be adjusted to match
your half-time eligibility. It is important to note that not all financial
aid awards are adjusted based on your enrollment status but almost all
financial aid awards have minimum enrollment status requirements in order
to disburse.
The
following chart illustrates an example of quarterly aid adjustments at
the undergraduate level. The amount of your need-based aid awards is determined
by your financial need.
| Financial Aid Award* |
Full-time
(12+ hours) |
Three-fourths time
(9 to 11 hours) |
Half-time
(6 to 8 hours) |
Less than half-time
(1 to 5 hours) |
| Raider Scholar |
$500 |
$0 |
$0 |
$0 |
| Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant |
$250 |
$187 |
$125 |
$0 |
| Federal Pell Grant |
$1,783 |
$1,337 |
$891 |
$446 |
| Federal SMART Grant |
$1,334 |
$1,000 |
$667 |
$0 |
| Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant |
$100 |
$100 |
$100 |
$100 |
| WSU Need-Based Grant |
$600 |
$450 |
$300 |
$150 |
| Federal Stafford Loan |
$1,833 |
$1,833 |
$1,833 |
$0 |
| Federal Parent PLUS Loan |
$2,000 |
$2,000 |
$2,000 |
$0 |
*Half-time
enrollment, at minimum, is required for federal student and parent loan funds to disburse. Many institutional scholarships require full-time
enrollment in order to disburse. Federal Pell Grant amounts listed above
are based on a 0 Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for the 2009-2010
aid year. Federal Academic Competitiveness Grant amounts listed above are for freshmen attending Fall, Winter and Spring.
Hold
and Release
When
WSU certifies Federal Stafford, Graduate PLUS and Parent PLUS Loan funds, disbursements
are placed in a “hold” status. Once WSU has verified the student has satisfied
all of his or her requirements for loan processing, the loan has been
approved (guaranteed), and the student is eligible for disbursement for
the given term, then WSU will request the disbursement be “released” for
that term.
Freeze
Date
Aid
adjustments cease after each quarter's freeze date. The freeze date is
typically the eighth day of the quarter. Each time you change your registration
prior to a quarter's freeze date, the amount of financial aid disbursed
to you will be evaluated for aid adjustment and the aid disbursed to your
account may be increased or reduced accordingly. After the freeze date
passed, the amount of aid disbursed to your account will be frozen based
upon your recorded enrollment status as of the freeze date. Your financial
aid awards may be adjusted after a freeze date if you officially or unofficially
withdrawal from the quarter, receive a refund of institutional charges,
or become eligible or ineligible for financial aid.
Fee
Payment and Refunds
Once
aid has been disbursed to your account for a given term, the Office of
the Bursar shall apply the aid disbursed as payment towards your charges.
Any remaining financial aid awards left on your account after your bill
is paid shall be issued to you (or your parent in the case of a Federal
Parent PLUS Loan) in the form of a refund. Refund monies can be directly deposited
into a personal bank account. For more information about fee payment,
refunds from excess financial aid awards and direct deposit contact the
Office of the Bursar.
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