Receiving Aid

Financial Aid & Scholarships
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When do I get my Financial Aid?

Available aid is released beginning the first day of each term, as long as the following requirements are met at least one week before the term starts. Funds are disbursed in even quarterly or semester installments, applied first to your Eastern charges (tuition, fees, and on-campus room and board (see cost of attendance)). Any remaining balance is delivered to you by mail or to your bank account via direct deposit. Note: work study is disbursed separately.

Requirements:

  • You must be enrolled as a full-time student unless you have prior approval to receive aid as a part-time student. Full-time: 8 credits for master’s/doctoral candidates and 12 credits for all others, wait-listed classes DO NOT count toward your total enrolled credits.
  • You must have accepted your aid offer on EagleNET.
  • All required forms must be submitted, including loan entrance counseling and/or your promissory note for loan borrowers.
  • You must meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements outlined in the Financial Aid Policies.
  • All holds must be cleared.

Scholarship
Disbursement

For EWU scholarships, you must accept your scholarship and, for some, upload a donor thank you letter, before funds will be disbursed.

For private scholarships, your donor must send the funds to EWU before the funds can be disbursed to you.

Work-Study Earnings
Disbursement

Work-study funds are paid as earned. Paydays are on the 10th and 25th of each month. Your earnings are sent by check to your mailing address on EagleNET or deposited directly to your bank account.

Loan
Disbursement

For federal student and parent Loans, a Master Promissory Note (MPN) must be completed before money can be disbursed to you. Additionally, for first time federal loan borrowers, you must complete Loan Counseling Session before money can be disbursed to you.

Receiving Aid Policies

Your aid offer is based on information available at the time of the offer. Your offer is subject to change if any of the following occurs:

  • You obtain additional resources such as a scholarship, or another agency pays your tuition
  • You obtain a degree
  • You fail to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress 
  • You drop to less than full-time
  • You attend less than three quarters or two semesters in an academic year
  • Your cost changes due to a change in housing, residency and/or academic program.

Your aid offer is also subject to cancellation without prior notice if you:

  • Have defaulted on a Federal Subsidized/Unsubsidized, PLUS, or Perkins Loan at any institution;
  • Owe a repayment on a grant at any institution;
  • Have failed to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress as outlined in our policy.

Quarterly and annual financial aid is limited by state and federal regulations. All students are assigned an annual Cost of Attendance (COA) based on their state of residency and student level (undergraduate or graduate). Also, as part of the FAFSA process, each student is assigned an Student Aid Index (SAI), which is the amount the government expects you and your family to contribute to your annual educational costs. Financial aid is limited by these two variables, COA – SAI = financial need.

For any term, you may not exceed COA with any educationally-related financial support. This includes grants, loans, scholarships, work-study, tuition waivers, third party tuition assistance, etc. In addition, you may not exceed your “financial need” in any term with need-based aid. Need-based aid includes grants, scholarships, work-study, tuition waivers, and subsidized loans.

Many students accept all possible offered financial aid early in the financial aid cycle. If an additional scholarship or other aid is awarded later, existing financial aid sources may need to be reduced to allow room for the additional assistance.  Whenever possible, student or parent loans are adjusted first. In some situations, work-study and/or grant assistance may also need to be reduced and/or canceled to remain within regulatory compliance.

Undergraduate: A student who has not earned a baccalaureate degree. Grant funding is limited to first-degree undergraduate students.

  • Freshman: 0-44 quarter credits earned
  • Sophomore: 45-89 quarter credits earned
  • Junior: 90-134 quarter credits earned
  • Senior: 135+ quarter credits earned

Post-Baccalaureate: A student who has earned a baccalaureate degree and is working on an additional undergraduate degree. Post-baccalaureate students are not eligible for grant funding.

Teacher Certification: A student who has earned a baccalaureate degree and is working on teaching certification. Teacher certification students are not eligible for grant funding.

Provisional Graduate: A student who is working on undergraduate prerequisites for admittance to a graduate program. Financial aid eligibility is limited to one consecutive 12-month period. Provisional graduate students are not eligible for grant funding.

Graduate: A student with a baccalaureate degree admitted to a master’s/doctoral program. Graduate students are not eligible for grant funding.

Post-Graduate: A student who is working on a program beyond the graduate level. Post-graduate students are not eligible for grant funding.