All About Your Aid Offer
This webpage can help students navigate some questions they may have after receiving their scholarship only or full financial aid offer. There are also next steps, important resources, other potential funding options, and more!
Scholarship only and financial aid offers usually begin around mid-December for first-time freshmen who are starting in the fall semester for each upcoming aid year. Students in any other student group (currently enrolled, continuing students, transfer, graduate, professional, etc.) usually receive their financial aid offers around mid-March. This relies on having everything submitted for a financial aid offer to occur.
- Overview
- Accessing the WVU Portal (for New Students)
- How to Accept Your Aid and Next Steps
- Can Parents or Others Contact the University To Ask Questions About My Account?
- Timeline
Cost and Deposit FAQs
- Understanding Your Estimated Cost of Attendance
- What Will I Owe?
- Do I Have to Pay for the Whole Year at Once?
- If I Change My Major, How Will It Affect My Balance Due?
- Are University Tuition, College Tuition, Housing (If Living On-campus), Food (If Using a Dining Plan), and Potential Student Health Insurance the Only Fees I Will See on My Student Charges?
- Why Is My Cost of Attendance Estimated and Not Actual?
- What Happens With the Academic And/or Housing Deposits I Paid?
Scholarship FAQs
- Scholarship Information (New Students)
- Can I Still Be Considered for Institutional Scholarships or Increases to My Scholarship?
- Scholarship Information (Continuing Students)
- Do I Need To Notify WVU of External Scholarships I Am Receiving (Such as Those From My High School)?
- How Do I Get My External Scholarships To Pay Toward My Balance?
- Renewal Requirements
Other Financial Aid FAQs
- Understanding Your Estimated Financial Aid
- What if My FAFSA Does Not Accurately Reflect My Financial Need or My Circumstances Have Changed?
- Are There Other Options To Help Pay My Balance Due or Fund Educational Expenses? (information on more scholarships, college prepaid or 529 plans, monthly payments, sponsors, student employment, etc.)
- Can My Financial Aid Offer Change?
- Do I Have To Be Enrolled Full-time for Financial Aid?
- Is Financial Aid Guaranteed Every Year?
- Video on Borrowing Responsibly
- Do I Have To Take the Full Amount of Loans Offered?
- Is My Financial Aid Taxable?
- Additional Information
Overview
For financial aid and scholarship only offers, your estimated cost of attendance and estimated aid eligibility are based on various factors. It is important to note that changing information - as well as choices you make - can impact your estimated cost and/or aid eligibility. See Can My Financial Aid Offer Change? for some of the factors that can cause changes.
Accessing the WVU Portal (for New Students)
You will need your WVU username and password to log in to your WVU Portal. Information to help you access the WVU Portal and your MIX email is provided by Undergraduate Admissions as part of your admission decision email and/or letter. If you have not "claimed your account" to set up your WVU Login, you must do so on the WVU Login self-service website. If you have already claimed your account but have forgotten your password, you can also reset your password on the same site.
Please note that WVU Login accounts are for students only. Parents and guardians may not claim accounts, create passwords and security questions, or set up authentication. Students should not share their WVU Login information with anyone. However, students can provide parents and guardians with proxy access so they can easily access their information. Students can find instructions on the WVU Parent and Guest Portal website.
How to Accept Your Aid and Next Steps
Now that you have your offer, what do you need to do? Here are steps you can take NOW to get ready!
- Make a decision on your offered financial aid: Log into your WVU Portal to review and accept or decline your offered aid. Accepting aid is not a commitment to attend WVU, but it is important to accept your offered aid as early as possible to help ensure your aid is ready to pay on time for the semester if you do attend. If you accept or decline aid and later change your mind, notify us! We are happy to help you make adjustments. For step-by-step instructions on accessing your aid offer, visit our Accept or Decline Aid webpage.
- Stay up-to-date on important deadlines and notifications:
- Most scholarship, financial aid, and billing updates are sent from the WVU Hub to your MIX email via your WVU Portal (not your personal email). It's important to monitor MIX for updates! Students can set it up on their mobile devices.
- Follow the WVU Hub on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
- Monitor the WVU Hub website for important updates and information.
- If you want to estimate what your balance due will be based on your estimated billable costs, visit our Planner webpage.
- Other Funding Options: Explore our Other Funding Options webpage for information on applying for external scholarships, the monthly payment plan, and other potential ways to help you fund educational expenses.
- Make sure your aid is ready! Use our Checklists to make sure your aid is ready to go before the first payment deadline each semester (usually beginning of August for fall and beginning of January for spring).
Can Parents or Others Contact the University To Ask Questions About My Account?
Specific account information cannot be released to parents, spouses, friends, other family members, or other third parties unless you give them access. For first-time students, this begins when you either move into on-campus housing or attend your first day of classes as a student on one of WVU's campuses - whichever comes first. This is due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA).
You can find instructions on how to grant access on the WVU Parent and Guest Portal website. In addition, please note that even with your permission your financial aid and FAFSA-related information cannot be released to third-party organizations unless they are a scholarship provider, tribal organization, or private lender.
Timeline
Visit our Timeline webpage to keep on track each year! The page is updated as new information becomes available.
Understanding Your Estimated Cost of Attendance
Your estimated cost of attendance for financial aid is NOT how much your charges will be. Estimated costs include common educational expenses you may have while pursuing your education. This includes both billable (direct) costs (those you will be charged by the institution for each semester you attend) and non billable (indirect) costs (other estimated expenses you may have that you will not usually see on your student account). Both elements are provided so students have a full picture of the estimated cost to pursue their education. The full, estimated cost of attendance can also impact a student's financial aid since aid cannot exceed cost of attendance.
Your estimated cost of attendance can be found on your award offer online. For more information, visit our Estimate Costs & Aid webpage.
What Will I Owe?
If you want to calculate what your estimated balance due to the University might be for the semester, simply take your estimated billable costs from your financial aid offer online and subtract the financial aid that you plan to accept from your aid offer. You should also subtract any other anticipated payments from other sources. If you have Federal Work-Study, do not include that as an anticipated payment. Students earn work-study funds as a paycheck while working part-time throughout the semester (based on the hours worked). As such, those funds do not disburse as payment towards their charges.
Please keep in mind that these are estimates and things can change. Also, please see Are University Tuition, College Tuition, Housing (If Living On-campus), Food (If Using a Dining Plan), and Potential Student Health Insurance the Only Fees I Will See on My Student Charges? for more information on other potential billable fees students may have.
If you will owe a balance for the semester, explore our Other Funding Options webpage for information on other ways to help fund educational expenses, such as applying for external scholarships, the monthly payment plan, and other potential ways to help you fund educational expenses.
Do I Have to Pay for the Whole Year at Once?
No! You are charged for each semester, not for the full year at once.
If I Change My Major, How Will It Affect My Balance Due?
Changing your major can affect your charges. First, your College Tuition will change. If you are a student under CLASS, you will go from not being assessed College Tuition to seeing both University Tuition and College Tuition assessed. College Tuition is tuition specifically for your college based on your program of study. So, if you change programs or colleges, that would impact College Tuition assessment. Second, if you have a scholarship that requires you to stay in a certain program of study or college, you could lose that scholarship
Are University Tuition, College Tuition, Housing (If Living On-campus), Food (If Using a Dining Plan), and Potential Student Health Insurance the Only Fees I Will See on My Student Charges?
Not necessarily. First-time freshmen may have additional charges assessed the first semester that would not be listed for subsequent semesters – such as a New Student Orientation Fee. All students could see other fees on their account, such as charges for Adventure WV trips, Materials and Instruments fees or Applied Music Lessons fees for some programs, student ID card replacement fees if they must replace their card, library fines, online learning student support fees, and more.
Please note that all domestic students on the Morgantown and Beckley campuses who are enrolled in 6 or more credit hours and international students enrolled in 1 or more credit hour(s) are required to carry health insurance. Students who do not have an approved student health insurance waiver on file for the academic year are automatically enrolled in the WVU-sponsored health insurance plan. This cost may not be reflected in the estimated billable costs on your financial aid offer. For more on the cost, submitting the waiver if you have health insurance that covers you in the state of West Virginia, and deadlines to submit, see the Student Insurance Office webpage.
Why Is My Cost of Attendance Estimated and Not Actual?
Each summer, actual institutional fees such as tuition are approved for the new academic year beginning in fall. This is months after financial aid offers normally begin. In addition, billable (direct) costs can be impacted by changes that you make on your account such as changes to your campus, major, residency, enrollment, or choices you make for on-campus housing and food. Non billable (indirect) costs are averages based on what students commonly spend and also can be impacted by choices you make — such as choosing to buy used versus new books or to rent books. For non billable costs, we recommend you develop your own budget based on your actual expenses.
What Happens With the Academic And/or Housing Deposits I Paid?
After charges are assessed on your account for your first semester, if you paid an academic/tuition or a housing deposit, the full deposit will reflect as payment toward your first-semester charges. This often means those deposits help pay toward the fall balance for first-time students starting in the fall meaning your spring balance due may appear to be more due to not having those additional payments from those deposits crediting towards the spring balance.
Scholarship Information (New Students)
This FAQ pertains to first-time freshmen and first-time transfer students starting in a fall or spring semester of the aid year. If you are offered scholarships, click on the name of the fund when reviewing your financial aid offer for more information about your specific scholarships.
Institutional scholarship eligibility for incoming freshmen and transfer students may change as new information becomes available, including documentation showing increases or decreases in test scores or GPA as well as changes to information previously self-reported on the Common Application. Some scholarships may be specific to campus, residency, and/or program of study and may be reduced or canceled should those factors change. See our Scholarships webpage for more information.
In many cases, funds for scholarships are made available through the generosity of individuals who have donated to the WVU Foundation to assist students with their education. Please provide a quick statement of thanks to the donor who made your scholarship possible. The process is fast and easy to do at thankyou.wvu.edu/scholarships.
Students are highly encouraged to continue to seek external scholarships and college/departmental scholarships throughout their college journey.
Can I Still Be Considered for Institutional Scholarships or Increases to My Scholarship?
This FAQ pertains to first-time freshmen and first-time transfer students starting in a fall or spring semester of the aid year. Incoming students may be considered for institutional scholarships or increases to scholarships – based on an updated GPA or increased ACT or SAT scores – if they meet the deadlines for admission and the deadlines for having updated GPA and scores reflected on their WVU student account (prior to attending their first semester at WVU). Different scholarships may have different deadlines.
See our Scholarships webpage to review potential options.
Scholarship Information (Continuing Students)
Continuing students receiving institutional scholarships/grants must meet renewal requirements to maintain their scholarship each year. There are also limitations on how many semesters a student can receive the scholarship. See our Renewal Requirements webpage for more information.
While you may see your institutional scholarship as part of your financial aid offer for fall, actual renewal is contingent upon meeting renewal requirements. Students are first reviewed toward the beginning of the spring semester to see if they are on-track to renew for the upcoming year, then again at the end of the spring semester after grades post, and finally at the end of the summer semester (if they took summer courses).
For students not meeting the overall GPA and earned hour requirements, scholarships will be canceled. Students may choose to take summer classes to attempt to improve their GPA or earn additional hours for their scholarship renewal. For institutional scholarships, students must meet the GPA and earned hour requirements by the end of the summer session to be renewed for the upcoming academic year.
Students are highly encouraged to continue to seek external scholarships and college/departmental scholarships throughout their college journey.
Do I Need To Notify WVU of External Scholarships I Am Receiving (Such as Those From My High School)?
Yes, you must notify the WVU Hub of any scholarships from external sources. You can submit an online request to provide the letter or notification from the scholarship provider (if applicable), include the amount of the scholarship, and how much of the scholarship applies to each semester. Without this information, any scholarship of $500 or more is split equally between the fall and spring. To ensure your aid offer is accurate, please notify the WVU Hub as soon as possible.
How Do I Get My External Scholarships To Pay Toward My Balance?
First, you must have the funds sent to WVU. If a check is made payable to both you and WVU, you should sign it first before sending it. Please include your name and WVU student ID number on the check. Mailing information can be found on the bottom of the WVU Hub website. If the scholarship check is received before charges are assessed for that semester it will be placed on deposit until charges are available. If the scholarship check is received after charges are assessed it will be directly applied as payment toward your charges for that semester.
Renewal Requirements
Make sure you know your renewal requirements! In order to renew institutional scholarships/grants for subsequent academic years, students are required to maintain specific overall grade point averages (GPA) and earn a minimum number of credit hours per academic year. If pursuing a bachelor's degree, most institutional scholarships and grants are renewable for a maximum of eight undergraduate semesters, or completion of the bachelor’s degree - whichever comes first. For students pursuing an associate degree, scholarships are renewable for a maximum of four undergraduate semesters, or completion of the associate degree - whichever comes first.
Please be aware that in order to renew the scholarships/grants for subsequent academic years, students are required to have a minimum overall grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.75 and earn at least 30 credit hours during the academic year (fall, spring, and summer). Students whose first enrollment is the spring semester – or who have deferred their scholarship for one semester - may be reviewed against a 15 earned credit hour requirement for that academic year. Starting with the next academic year, they will return to the normal requirement of 30 earned credit hours per academic year. Requirements are measured at the end of the spring semester. Students who are not meeting requirements at the end of spring can choose to take summer classes to improve their GPA and/or earn additional hours to attempt to meet the requirements to have their scholarship/grant reinstated.
It is important to keep your renewal requirements in mind when you are scheduling each semester or change your courses. If you withdraw from a course with a 'W' or receive another grade that does not count as an earned credit hour (such as 'F' or 'I'), those credits will not count toward your earned hours requirements. Repeating courses during the same academic year can also impact your earned hours for renewal, because repeated courses can only count once toward renewal requirements for that academic year. Credit hours earned prior to your first semester - such as dual enrollment or Advanced Placement (AP) courses from high school or summer courses prior to your first fall semester - do not count toward your earned hours but do count toward your overall GPA requirement.
You can find details for institutional scholarship renewal on our Renewal Requirements webpage.
Understanding Your Estimated Financial Aid
- For more information on your offered financial aid, click on the name of the fund when reviewing your financial aid offer online. This provides more specific information for each aid type. You can also visit our Types of Aid webpage. Acceptance of your financial aid funds indicates that you understand and agree to any terms your awards may carry.
- Please note that financial aid is based on current information. Should your information change or notification of additional financial aid be received, your financial aid may be adjusted. See Can My Financial Aid Offer Change? for some factors that can impact estimated cost and aid.
- Financial aid estimates are also usually based on anticipated full-time enrollment. Should you not enroll full-time, your aid may be reduced accordingly to reflect your eligibility based on your actual enrollment. See Do I Have To Be Enrolled Full-time for Financial Aid? for more information.
- Your financial aid cannot exceed your estimated cost of attendance.
What if My FAFSA Does Not Accurately Reflect My Financial Need or My Circumstances Have Changed?
Sometimes the information students provide on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) no longer accurately reflects their or their family's financial situation. There are certain circumstances where financial aid professionals at the University can review and update the student's FAFSA.
For more information, visit our Family Contribution Appeal webpage.
Other Funding Options
In addition to scholarships, grants, and/or loans offered by the institution, state, or federal government, there are additional ways that students can potentially reduce or fund educational expenses.
Ohio Reciprocity Reduced Tuition
Garrett College Reduced Tuition
Parent Employed at WVU or WVU Medicine
Private or Department Scholarships
You can also visit our Other Funding Options webpage for information on the options listed above.
Can My Financial Aid Offer Change?
Yes. As more information becomes available or changes, your estimated cost of attendance and financial aid eligibility could change.
Factors that can impact cost and/or aid eligibility may include, but are not limited to:
- Your dependency status (as determined by data you reported on your FAFSA)
- Financial need (as determined by data you reported on your FAFSA)
- Changes to data you reported on your FAFSA
- If you are receiving external/private scholarships, grants, employer tuition benefits, third-party sponsorships, or other funds to assist with educational costs
- Changes to your residency status (charged tuition/fees as a resident of West Virginia or non-resident of the state or if you qualify for a reduced tuition program). Residency is determined by the information you provided on your admissions application. Visit our Residency webpage for more information on tuition and fees based on residency for each campus - including reduced tuition options if applicable.
- Changing to the degree you are pursuing (associate, bachelor, etc.)
- Changes to your academic level (undergraduate, graduate, professional, freshman, sophomore, etc.). Your academic level for your aid offer coincides with the number of credits you have earned at the time your aid offer is created. Your level will not include credits for courses you are enrolled in or have not completed at the time of the aid offer.
- Changing the campus you are admitted to (Morgantown, Beckley, Keyser, Martinsburg, Charleston)
- Changing your program of study (Engineering, Biology, Accounting, etc.) and/or college (Business and Economics, Arts and Sciences, etc.)
- Changes to your enrollment. Cost and financial aid are estimated based on anticipated full-time enrollment in courses eligible for federal aid (with the exception of a few graduate programs that traditionally have half-time enrollment). Should you not enroll full-time, your cost and/or aid may be adjusted to reflect your eligibility based on your actual enrollment.
- Choices you make for housing and living expenses. Your estimated housing and food costs are based on what you reported your housing plans would be on your FAFSA (such as living at home/with parents, on-campus, or off-campus). Even if you are living off-campus, you will see housing and food costs as well as estimated personal and transportation costs in your estimated cost of attendance because these are educational expenses you may have. Living expenses can be impacted by choices you make such as where you choose to live on or off-campus or the dining plan you choose.
- Choices you make for books and supplies such as choosing to buy used versus new books or to rent books (when available)
- If data previously reported on the Common Application (for institutional scholarships/grants) was inaccurate
- Changes to your overall grade point average (GPA)
- Changes to ACT and/or SAT scores (for scholarship eligibility for first-time students)
- Legislative changes from the state or federal governments that impact aid programs
- For continuing students (i.e. those who have taken or are taking courses at WVU as an admitted student), you must also be maintaining satisfactory academic progress for financial aid eligibility at the end of each spring semester in order to keep most types of financial aid for the upcoming aid year
Monitor your Financial Aid Information through your WVU Portal for up-to-date information on your estimated cost aid aid.
Do I Have To Be Enrolled Full-time for Financial Aid?
It depends. Different aid types have different enrollment requirements that must be met before aid can disburse as payment for the semester. There are regulations that determine if the courses students take can count toward their enrollment standards for Title IV federal aid and WV state aid eligibility and disbursement. Courses must be required for a student's degree completion - for the program in which they are actively admitted and degree-seeking - in order for those courses to count toward their enrollment requirements for Title IV federal aid and WV state aid. For more information about these enrollment requirements, visit our Enrollment Standards and CPoS webpage.
For most students (except for a few select graduate programs), the estimated cost of attendance is based on anticipated full-time enrollment in degree-pursuant coursework (at least twelve credit hours for undergraduates or nine credit hours for graduates). Should you not enroll full-time, your cost of attendance and aid may be reduced accordingly to reflect your cost and aid eligibility for your actual enrollment.
Is Financial Aid Guaranteed Every Year?
No, it is not. There are a variety of criteria that can impact eligibility each year. This can include minimum overall grade point averages, earned hours, completion of attempted courses, submission of the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) by the March 1 priority deadline each year, continued financial need, and limitations on the amount of semesters or total amounts a student can receive over time. Visit our Maintain Your Aid webpage and Renewal Requirements webpage (for institutional scholarships/grants for more information.
The priority submission deadline for submitting the FAFSA is usually March 1. The 2024-2025 priority deadline has been removed due to the delayed FAFSA launch.
Video on Borrowing Responsibly
It is your choice if you want to borrow loans to help fund educational expenses. However, we encourage students to only borrow what they need to cover educational expenses. See the Federal Student Aid video on responsible borrowing below to learn about your responsibilities as a borrower and what you should consider when taking out loans for college.
Do I Have To Take the Full Amount of Loans Offered?
No, you are not required to take the full amount. You may accept all, none, or a portion of the offer.
However, we encourage students to only borrow what they need to cover necessary educational and living expenses. Use budgeting apps or worksheets to help determine what you may need to borrow. You can also use repayment calculators to estimate your future monthly loan payment based on the loans you borrow. This can help you remain prepared for and cognizant of loan repayment.
Is My Financial Aid Taxable?
Any gift aid (scholarship, grants, etc.) received in excess of tuition, fees, and required books and supplies is taxable. Questions should be directed to an accountant or the Internal Revenue Service. Students are provided this information with their Form 1098-T (accessible online and mailed to their permanent address on file). More information can be found on the WVU Tax Services 1098-T webpage.
Additional Information
- Comparing Financial Aid Offers: If you are comparing financial aid offers from multiple schools, take your time reviewing each one. Determine your estimated cost for each institution and subtract your grants, scholarships, and waivers to determine your out-of-pocket for each to compare apples to apples. You can use a cost comparison tool - like this one from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau - to carefully determine your cost for each institution.
- Donors: Donors and sponsors of financial aid and scholarship programs may, at their discretion, obtain demographic information and recipients. If you do not want this information released, notify us.
- Disbursement: Financial aid will disburse as payment toward your balance due approximately one week prior to the start of each semester (fall/spring) as long as the financial aid is accepted, you are enrolled in enough hours for the aid to disburse, and you do not have any unsatisfied requirements for the aid.