Accepting Your Aid Offer

Check Your Email

  • Financial aid is offered once the review of your FAFSA and any additional required documents has been completed.
  • You are notified via email and asked to view your aid offer online under the Finances tab of your PAWS account.
  • Regularly check your university email for notifications from the Financial Aid Office.  If you have not been assigned an email, we will use the email address you used when you applied for admission to communicate with you.
  • Aid offers to new students are sent in mid-December.
  • Continuing students are notified of their financial aid offers starting in mid-April.

Important Enrollment Information:

  • Initial financial aid offers assume full-time enrollment for the fall and spring terms.
  • Full-time is twelve (12) credits for undergraduates; eight (8) credits for graduates; and three (3) credits for dissertators.
  • Notify us if you will be enrolled less than full-time so adjustments can be made that will allow your aid to disburse.
  • Once the add/drop period has concluded, we will make adjustments based upon actual enrollment for anyone who is still waiting for their aid to disburse.

Review Your Offer

You need to accept or decline the aid offered via your PAWS Self Service.  Review our Financial Aid PAWS Tutorial for help or watch this video walk through. Complete this requirement within 30 days of the aid being offered to you.

Adjust Your Offer

Your aid can be adjusted at any point during the year for a number of reasons including, but not limited to:

  • you receive other financial resources (tuition waivers and scholarships) after your initial offer is posted, or
  • you make corrections to your FAFSA or enrollment.

Let us know as soon as possible if this occurs so adjustments can be made.  If your aid is adjusted, you will receive an email notification.

Special Circumstances

If you/your family have special circumstances that you believe should be taken into consideration (e.g. you are no longer receiving an income source, a significant change in income is expected, etc.) you may contact our office or review and submit the Special Circumstance Form. We will review any information you send and let you know if additional documentation is required. If you’re attending beginning in Fall 2021 or later, you’ll use the Special Circumstance Form for 2021-22, found here.