Payments Made to a Student's Account

Financial aid and third party payments are disbursed (payments made to student's account) throughout the academic year at different times and verification of attendance is required prior to the refund of any federal funds. Until attendance is verified for a student, no financial aid will be refunded.

Reasons why all your aid did not post to your account:

It is possible that only a portion of your aid will post to your account, leaving a balance. Some reasons for partial aid disbursements include:

  • A recent enrollment change may require an aid adjustment
  • Full payments will not disburse until you have started all registered classes

Financial Aid Payments

Pell Grants will be disbursed to eligible student accounts:

  • Payments will be made to students accounts 14 days after the first day of class, following the date of record

Loans funds will be disbursed to eligible student accounts:

  • 30 days after 1st day of class for first time borrowers (Effective Fall 2025). Summer all loans are disbursed 30 days from the first day of class.
  • Single term loans, requires the 2nd installment after mid-point of the student enrollment period
  • Loan disbursements will be delayed if your start of a 2nd half class is needed to meet the 6 credit minimum for borrowing loans

Please note: you must be enrolled for a minimum of six (6) credit hours to be eligible to receive loan funding and have attended all classes. The anticipated disbursement dates indicated on the notice of guarantee and disclosure statement received from the U.S. Department of Education is not the actual date of payment and is only projected based on the start date of the new semester.

Loans are scheduled for at least two disbursements, which vary by the loan period.

Anticipated Refund:

Account balance must be paid in full before a refund (unused funds that are issued to the student) will be issued. The quickest way to determine if a refund is available is by checking under the Student Finance Tab in your account within the “MyBackpack” app. If it displays a negative (-) number, this is your estimated refund amount.

The date of a student financial aid refund is dependent on course(s) start date(s), attendance verification, and financial aid completion after the beginning of each term.

Refunds will be issued according to the option you selected; deposited directly to your account, Bear Direct, or mailed.

Reminder: Book and supplies charges will be deducted from your refund or disbursements if financial aid was used for purchases.

Please Note: efund checks expire 90 days from the date issued. Any unclaimed Financial Aid refunds will be returned to the federal government.