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We assume that you accept all financial aid offered, including federal student loans. If you would like to either reduce or cancel a portion of your financial aid award, please submit your request through the SFS Service Portal.
Please note that federal loans may only be cancelled on a student’s behalf up to 14 days after disbursement.
All awarded institutional grants, scholarships, and Federal Direct Loans will disburse to your student account approximately one to two weeks after the term starts and will be applied directly to university charges. In order for your financial aid to disburse, you must have submitted any requested documentation required for the review of your financial aid eligibility and responded to any requests for additional information from our office.
Supplemental documents or forms may be required for select types of federal financial aid, including the Federal Direct Subsidized or Unsubsidized Loan, Federal Health Professions or Nursing Loan, or Federal Direct PLUS Loan.
If you have been offered a Federal Direct Subsidized and/or Unsubsidized Loan and will be accepting this loan, you are required to complete the following documents. Please note that incoming students should complete this information after June 1.
If your award includes a Nursing or Health Professions Loan, you must first accept these loans through the Student Hub. Heartland ECSI, Northeastern’s loan servicer, will then email you the required Promissory Note, Self-Certification form, Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, and Personal Data Sheet in late summer. These documents must be completed before the loan disburses.
If you, or your parent/guardian, have applied for a Federal Direct Parent or Graduate PLUS Loan, additional documents are required before the loan will disburse to your student account. These documents include a Master Promissory Note (MPN), Entrance Counseling, and Title IV Credit Authorization. Learn more about these required documents as well as the Federal Direct PLUS Loan.
The process of how financial aid disburses varies depending on the type of aid. Review the information below to learn more about how and when your aid will disburse.
Provided the required federal loan documents have been completed, your loans will disburse to your student account. If you have been awarded federal student loans but do not wish to receive those loans, you must notify our office via a loan cancellation/reduction request completed via the SFS service portal.
Please note that federal loans are typically awarded during a co-op semester as students are considered enrolled during that time. If you will not need this funding while on co-op, and would like to cancel that portion of your loan, it remains the student’s responsibility to request cancellation.
State grants require a certification process that typically begins one month into the term. State grant funds typically do not disburse to the student account until almost the end of term. Please note that most state grant programs do not provide funding for the summer term.
These private loan funds are created based on a loan agreement between the student and the lender. Most approvals are based on valid credit history. The date of disbursement is established by the individual loan holder. There is typically no penalty if the private loan funds do not disburse until after the bill due date, but it is important to have a plan in place by the billing due date. Please note that private loans will not anticipate on the student account or billing statement. Learn more about supplemental student and parent loans.
Funding from Federal Direct Graduate or Parent PLUS Loans will disburse to your account after the start of the term, or 7 to 10 days after funds are added to financial aid award, provided that all required documentation is completed. Please note that in accordance with federal regulations, funding from PLUS Loans are disbursed throughout each period of enrollment for the academic year and will disburse at the beginning of each term of enrollment.
While most of the financial aid offered will be reflected as an anticipated credit on the student account and billing statements, please note that Federal Work-Study will not anticipate as that funding has to be earned through securing and working an on-campus job. Work-study does not disburse to a student’s account, rather students who are offered and use work-study funding will be paid through regular paychecks.
Outside scholarships do not reflect as anticipated aid on a student’s account. If you are receiving outside funds, please submit the ‘Outside Scholarship Recipient Form’ on the SFS service portal.
If your financial aid and loan funds total an amount that is greater than billed costs after all university charges have been paid, you may be eligible to access the remaining credit balance in a student refund.