Financial Aid Terms and Conditions are a student’s rights and responsibilities. It is very important that you read over these Terms and Conditions so that you have a better understanding of financial aid policies and your responsibilities as a Financial Aid recipient.

What happens when you get approved for financial aid?

Once you apply for financial aid, your application will be reviewed and you will be notified by email* of whether you qualify for any funding or not. Embry-Riddle Financial Aid Office staff can help you answer any questions you may have regarding the topics below. Simply call toll-free: 855-661-7968 or email dbfinaid@erau.edu.

* Email is an official means of communication for students at Embry-Riddle. All official university email will be sent to each student’s assigned university email address. Students are responsible for reading emails received from the university.

Determining Your Need: Financial aid eligibility is based on a family's demonstrated need, which is the difference between the cost of attendance and the expected family contribution (EFC).

Cost of Attendance - Family Contribution (EFC) = Financial Need.

See the Federal Student Aid Glossary for term definitions

Financial aid cannot exceed the student's Financial Need or the Cost of Attendance (COA) for the Term or enrollment period. So, in these cases, aid will be reduced or canceled.

For example:

  • If a student receives a scholarship and/or tuition assistance that causes the total aid to exceed the total COA, aid will be adjusted
  • If a student's enrollment changes
  • Students receiving grants, scholarships or other forms of aid not appearing on their award should notify the Financial Aid Office.

Generally, all Financial Aid paper  work, aside from Verification and Appeals,  may take up to 10-15 business days to be processed.

However, there are peak periods  when processing times could be longer. Please see below estimated processing  times:

  • Verification – 4-6 weeks from the date last required document is received
  • SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) Appeal - 20 business days
    • Decisions are made by SAP committee
    • At times SAP appeal processing times may be extended
  • Refunds – 5-10 business days after the add/drop period

As a transfer student, it is your responsibility to know your annual loan limits for Federal Direct Loans and have all pending disbursements cancelled at your previous school before transferring to ERAU. This ensures a more accurate award package.

Before accepting a Federal Direct Loan(s) at ERAU, you must inform the Office of Financial Aid of any disbursements you received at another school during the academic year. Due to the timing of loans, we may not be aware of the total loan amounts you may have received at your other school. Failure to notify our office of any loans you received at another school during the year can result in your existing loans being reduced and billed in order to keep within the annual loan limits. This would result in a balance owed (by you) to ERAU.

To avoid being over-awarded at ERAU, please follow these simple steps:

  • Cancel any pending financial aid disbursements at your previous school before transferring
  • Inform us of any Financial Aid received at another Institution in the same Academic Year

Note: Your previous school may also contact us directly by looking up our contact info on the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS).

Don’t over-borrow

Over-borrowing or going into EXCESS of your aggregate loan limits will prevent you from receiving any Federal Student Aid! In order to regain financial aid eligibility, you must make satisfactory arrangements with your loan holder and turn in the appropriate documentation to our office. Acceptable documentation may include but is not limited to:
-Payment confirmation from your loan servicer that you have paid the excess amount
-Loan Summary Sheet from Direct Loans confirming you have consolidated all loans that were in excess

To review your loan amounts and determine your loan holder (loan servicer), you must log into the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) by visiting https://nsldsfap.ed.gov/login.

Resolving a Loan Overage

If you have received loans in excess of the lifetime aggregates, you must choose from the two options listed below in order to resolve the overage:

  • Repayment of the excess loan amount by contacting the servicer of the loan indicated in NSLDS and following the servicer's instructions. Once the loan has been repaid, you must attach a copy of the repayment confirmation from the servicer to ERAU.
  • Request a reaffirmation of loan funds with the servicer of the loan indicated in NSLDS. Please contact the servicer and ask for a reaffirmation letter in the amount of your overage. Once you receive your reaffirmation letter, please email to us at dbfinaid@erau.edu. Be sure to include your Student ID# when submitting.

When you accept the offer of financial aid specified in your award notice, you agree to accept and fulfill all of the following responsibilities.

Enrollment Requirements

Undergraduate

  • Financial aid is based on enrollment of twelve (12) credit hours per semester for undergraduate students.

Graduate

  • Financial aid is based on enrollment of six (6) credit hours per semester for graduate students.
  • Institutional scholarship recipients must maintain an enrollment status of a minimum of nine (9) credit hours to receive their full scholarship. If enrolled 6 credit hours, the scholarship will be prorated. If enrolled half time (3 credit hours or less), they are not eligible for the scholarship.
  • If granted a graduate assistantship, students will not be eligible for an academic scholarship award concurrently.

 All Students

  • If enrolled in fewer than the required credit hours per semester, awards will be reduced or cancelled including Co-op, Study Abroad or other special programs.

Award Requirements

  • Each student must meet the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements. Review the Satisfactory Academic Progress requirements. 
  • The University applies your awards directly to charges on your University Student Account including tuition, fees, housing, and other charges.
  • Financial aid funds are to be used for educational expenses only.
  • Award notice reflects the gross amount of loans. The disbursement amount may be reduced due to loan fees.
  • Additional resources, such as ROTC, sponsorships, military tuition assistance and external scholarships, must be reported to the Financial Aid office. Please be aware that these resources may result in your financial aid being reduced or cancelled.
  • Failure to submit requested/required documents in a timely manner may result in cancellation of aid.

Institutional Scholarships

  • All scholarship recipients must maintain a 3.00 cumulative grade point average by the end of the spring semester to renew.
  • Many scholarships are funded by the generosity of various donors. We will ask for permission to share basic information with the donors.

State Programs

  • For state eligibility and renewal criteria contact your state Board of Education  

Yellow Ribbon

  • Embry-Riddle is honored to partner with the Department of Veteran Affairs in the Yellow Ribbon program.
  • If you participate in the Yellow Ribbon program, the university will provide a matching grant that will ensure that tuition and fees are fully funded. 
  • All of our grants and scholarships are focused on providing financial support for tuition and fees.
  • Since your total tuition and fees will be paid for by a combination of the university’s Yellow Ribbon contribution and the government’s contribution, we will not retain other Embry-Riddle grants or scholarships that would exceed our direct charges for tuition and fees. 
  • Learn more about the Yellow Ribbon program.

Flight Students

  • If flight courses are to be covered by financial aid funds, it is your responsibility to contact the Financial Aid Counselor.
  • If flight funds are used for any purpose other than on-campus flight courses, we will not be able to authorize more funding.
  • Flight courses taken off-campus are not funded through Embry-Riddle.

Before processing a drop, withdrawal or cancellation of a course or flight course, contact your Financial Aid Counselor to see if there will be any financial impact to your account, as awards may be reduced or cancelled.

Awards are based on information provided by the applicant. Awards are subject to revisions and/or cancellations in the event of changes in regulations, fund allocation, estimated family contribution or if an error has been made in the calculation of your eligibility or award.

Financial Aid Award Agreement 

Students and Applicants can view their financial aid award online:

  • Log on to ERNIE.
  • Click the "Student Services" tab at the top of the page.
  • Under Financial Aid select "Visit the Financial Aid" page
  • Visit the "Campus Solutions Student Center"
  • Click on "View Financial Aid" under "Finances" tab.
  • You may also view your *Shopping Sheet by clicking on the Shopping Sheet hyperlink

*The Shopping Sheet is a consumer tool that is designed to simplify information about costs and financial aid. It is not meant to replace your award offer but is a tool to help you in comparing with other institutions.

Financial aid awards are disbursed to your student account after the add/drop period of each eligible term. All financial aid awards must be used first to pay University charges. Any remaining funds will be refunded to cover other educational-related expenses.

Notice of Disbursement and Right to Cancel a Federal Loan: You will receive notification when your loan funds have been disbursed to your student account starting after the add/period of your eligible term.  Once your federal loan funds are disbursed to your student account and you decide you do not want to borrow from the federal loan program, you may cancel all or part of your disbursement by informing the Financial Aid Office no later than 14 days after the date the funds were posted in your student account.

  • If a disbursement has already credited to your account then you may only request to cancel that disbursement if a refund has not been generated. Please note that you can request to cancel future disbursements.
  • If a refund has been  generated you must repay the funds to the Department of Education.

See Refunds for information on how to view your loan disbursements dates and amounts in your student account.

Refunds

Financial Aid that exceeds tuition and fees will be refunded within 7 business days after it has posted to your student account. All refund requests or questions should be directed to your Campus or Advisor. To expedite the refund process it is recommended you sign up for direct deposit by enrolling in eRefundsElectronic Refund (eRefund) is the quickest and most preferred way to get your ERAU refund. Enroll now by logging onto your ERNIE account.

Students and Applicants can view the information online:

  • Log on to ERNIE.
  • Click the “Student Center” tab at the top of the page.
  • Under the "Finances" section:
  • Click on “My Student Account” hyperlink or
  • Click on "Statement of Account" for detailed transactions.

Book Information

Eligible Federal Aid recipients inquiring about books may contact their campus representative for requests and/or questions.

If a financial aid overpayment is made as a result of a student's error or failure to report requested information, the student is responsible for repaying the amount of the overpayment. The amount of the overpayment may be satisfied by reducing the student's federal award(s) in a subsequent enrollment period during the same award year as the overpayment was created.

If the overpayment amount cannot be satisfied by deducting the amount from a future disbursement, the student is responsible for making direct restitution. As required by federal regulations, the Embry-Riddle Financial Aid Office will report the overpayment to the Department of Education through the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). Indication of an outstanding overpayment will be recorded on future output documents generated by the Department of Education and may prevent the student from receiving certain types of financial aid funding in the future.

Students who withdraw from all of their classes are subject to a Return of Title IV Funds. Please review the Return of Title IV Funds Policy as it contains important information for students who withdraw from classes with in a term and receive Financial Aid. The Embry-Riddle Return of Title IV Funds Policy and Standards of Academic Progress, in accordance with federal regulations, will determine the amount of financial aid funds to be returned.

Students can review their award online and make the determination to accept, decline or reduce:

  • Log on to ERNIE.
  • Click the "Student Services" tab at the top of the page.
  • Under Financial Aid, select "Visit the Financial Aid" page
  • Visit the "Campus Solutions Service Center"
  • Select Student Center > Financial Aid > Aid Year > Awards > Accept/Decline

Students can review their award online and make the determination to accept, decline or reduce:

  • Log on to ERNIE.
  • Click the "Student Services" tab at the top of the page.
  • Under Financial Aid, select "Visit the Financial Aid" page
  • Visit the "Campus Solutions Service Center"
  • Select Student Center > Financial Aid > Aid Year > Awards > Accept/Decline

Note about Loans: If you want to reduce or decline a loan AFTER you have already received the funds, contact the Financial Aid Office right away. (Students must personally decline or reduce their awards; parents cannot do this on a student's behalf.)

Accepting financial aid entails certain rights and responsibilities. When you are awarded financial aid, it is assumed that you will read and understand the terms and conditions of your aid and your rights and responsibilities. We strongly encourage you to learn as much as you can about the aid you are accepting and to know in advance what is expected of you in terms of your enrollment and academic progress. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact us for assistance.

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