Student Financial Aid and Scholarships

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Accept Your Award Online

Award Notification

All students will receive a notification indicating that their financial aid offer is ready for review. Award packages can be reviewed online through JagWire. The award package will include all eligible financial aid awards, as long as funds are available. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that all necessary steps are completed to receive financial aid.

Review and Accept the Financial Aid Offer

  1. Complete the following steps online to review and accept the financial aid offer.
    1. Log into JagWire.
    2. Select “Paying for College.”
    3. In the “Financial Aid Step” section, select “Review Your Financial Aid Requirements.”
    4. Complete the “TIV Authorization” and “Pay Prior Year Charges” requirements.
    5. Close the tab to return to JagWire.
    6. In the “Financial Aid Steps” section, select “Review/Accept Terms and Conditions and Award.”
    7. Select the appropriate aid year.
    8. Review the terms and conditions and agree.
    9. Select “Accept Award Offer.”
    10. Review the award package and select the appropriate decisions to finalize package. 

Please note: The financial aid package is for the aid year. The award will be split between the fall and spring semesters. If accepting in spring, loans will be disbursed in two payments.

Master Promissory Note and Entrance Counseling

Since you’ve accepted a federal student loan as part of your financial aid offer, there are two final steps to completing the loan process. The sooner you complete both steps, the sooner the loans can be applied to your student account. 

1.) Complete and sign the Master Promissory Note (MPN)

This is a legal document that you must read and sign promising to pay back your federal loans. It takes less than 30 minutes to complete. The MPN explains your rights and responsibilities as a student loan borrower and is valid for up to 10 years. 

Undergraduate Students:

  • Go to studentaid.gov/mpn
  • Select “MPN for Subsidized/Unsubsidized Loans”
  • Log in using your FSA ID and complete the steps to read and sign the MPN

Parents:

If you are a parent of a dependent undergraduate student and you have accepted a Direct PLUS Loan, you’ll need to sign your own MPN.

Graduate Students:

  • Go to studentaid.gov/mpn/grad/landing
  • If you are borrowing a Direct Unsubsidized Loan, select “MPN for Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans.” 
  • If you are borrowing a Graduate PLUS Loan, select “MPN for Direct PLUS Loans.” 
  • If you are borrowing both an Unsubsidized Loan and a Graduate PLUS Loan, please complete both MPNs.
  • Log in using your FSA ID and complete the steps to read and sign the MPN

If you are borrowing a Graduate PLUS Loan, you’ll need to sign a new MPN each year you are borrowing if you have an adverse credit history.

2.) Complete Entrance Counseling

Entrance counseling is an interactive tutorial that shows you how to understand your loans, manage your spending, and make a plan to repay them. You’ll need about 30–60 minutes to complete the tutorial. It uses your actual loan amount, so the tutorial is personalized to your financial situation. 

To complete entrance counseling:

  • Go to studentaid.gov
  • Click “Complete Aid Process” from the main menu
  • Select “Complete Entrance Counseling”
  • Log in using your FSA ID and complete the tutorial 

Check Your Status

Once you've completed both steps, check your MPN and Entrance Counseling completion history by logging in to studentaid.gov using your FSA ID and click your name in the top right corner. Then click “My Documents” and select the “Filter By” options in the dropdown menu to make sure you’ve completed both the MPN and the entrance counseling for your federal student loans.

Verification

Every year, the Department of Education randomly selects a group of students to verify the information provided on the FAFSA. If you are selected for verification, you’ll receive an email with more instructions. Learn more about the verification process. Your financial aid will not be applied to your student account until you’ve completed this process.

Outside Scholarships

If you are expecting to receive scholarships from other organizations or companies (including privately sponsored outside scholarships, tuition exchange benefits, or your parent’s employer-sponsored tuition benefits), please contact us to let us know so we can update your aid offer to include the scholarship. Learn more about scholarships.

Disbursement

Awards are split into two disbursements, half in the fall semester and half in the spring semester.  Student loans accepted in the spring semester will also split in two disbursements, half in the beginning of the spring semester and the other half in the middle of the spring semester.