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Accepting Financial Aid

Once you have applied for financial aid and successfully cleared all holds, a notification will be sent to your Panther Mail and MyFIU account to accept/decline your financial aid. This financial aid notification is sent out no sooner than June of each year for current students. Follow these steps to accept your financial aid:

  1. Login to MyFIU. See Access MyFIU for help.
  2. Select the 'Financial Aid' tile.
  3. Select a year from the 'Aid Year' column in the table.
  4. Review all eligibility requirements for each item you accept by clicking the linked item name. Grants and scholarships are automatically accepted for you, but loans require that you accept or decline.
    • Loan recipients should accept only the loan amount necessary to pay for educational expenses. See Receiving Loans for more information.
  5. To accept or decline an individual item, select the box under 'Accept' or 'Decline' column. To accept or decline the entire package, click on 'Accept All' or 'Decline All' buttons.
  6. Confirm selections by clicking 'Submit.'
  7. Some items may instruct you to complete additional documents. Check the requirements for your financial aid program.

Florida International University is committed to using the Principles & Standards of the College Cost Transparency Initiative in its student financial aid offer.


Financial Aid Process

The aid you accept at this point is considered pending aid. Pending aid may not be the actual amount you receive upon disbursement. The Financial Aid Office may make adjustments periodically as the start of the semester approaches or thereafter.

The most common reasons for an adjustment include changes to:

  • Enrollment which reduces the cost of attendance
  • Residency status
  • Housing arrangements
  • Satisfactory Academic Progress status
  • Additional aid from other sources after all other aid has been disbursed (including tuition waivers, assistantships and fellowships)
  • Inaccuracies in the information on which your financial aid is based

If your aid is adjusted, you will receive a “Revised Financial Aid Notice” through your Panther Mail. Be sure to check your email regularly.

In most cases, pending aid is calculated based on full-time enrollment. Consider the requirements for your financial aid program before you drop a class. See Types of Aid for enrollment requirements for your program.


Receiving Your Financial Aid

Your financial aid is sent to your student account by way of a disbursement, issued by the Financial Aid Office. Disbursement does NOT mean the money has been sent to you. Money being sent directly to you or your bank account is known as a student refund and happens after disbursement.

If you have completed all the steps to receiving financial aid in a timely manner, you can expect disbursement to occur in the following manner:

  • Loans are disbursed approximately 10 days before the start of the semester
  • Grants and scholarships are disbursed approximately 3 days after the add/drop date
  • Financial aid continues to be disbursed throughout the semester as individual students meet the disbursement requirements

Tuition and fees, housing charges, book advances and other allowable charges will be deducted from your scheduled financial aid. You are required to pay any outstanding balance not covered by your disbursement. See How to Pay for more information.

If excess aid remains on your account after your account has been paid and the payment deadline has passed, your student refund will be processed and issued. Learn more about Financial Aid Refunds.

To ensure you will get all excess financial aid as soon as possible, set up a direct deposit to receive your refund.

Questions About Disbursements

Occasionally, you will have questions related to your financial aid disbursements. Be sure to contact the right office when you're looking for answers.

Contact OneStop when you want to know:

  • Why your financial aid has been reduced/canceled
  • Why you must return funds already disbursed to you

Contact Student Financials when you want to know:

Last updated: October 31, 2023