Financial Aid
Updates on 2024-2025 FAFSA Applications and Estimated Offer Letters

Due to the significant delays in the Department of Education processing, we anticipate processing your FAFSA application in our system by the end of April. We are working diligently to process estimated award offers by the end of April to early May.


We anticipate another update from the Department of Education after May 1st. At that time, we will reprocess financial aid offers and notify you to review your updated offer in the HuskyNet Portal. Our office is dedicated to assisting our students and families with this year’s FAFSA delays.


If you have any questions, please contact our office. Thank you for your patience!

Receiving Aid

Students can review all of their scheduled aid disbursement dates within the Financial Aid section in HuskyNet. University policy requires that all aid must first be used to pay general registration and maintenance fees, housing and food, or other institutional expenses. Therefore, after financial aid is credited to the student’s account, direct costs such as tuition, fees, housing, and food will be deducted first. If any excess credit is available, a refund will be issued by the Student Accounts Office.

Institutional and Merit Aid Disbursement

  • Institutional and Merit Aid is disbursed about a week after the start of classes for each academic enrollment period.
  • This applies to all full-time enrolled students, both on-campus and online.
  • Full-time enrollment status for on-campus students means maintaining 12 credit hours per term for undergraduates and 9 credit hours per term for graduate students.
  • Online students must maintain at least half-time enrollment status, which is 6 credit hours per term for undergraduates and 5 credit hours per term for graduate students.

Federal and State Aid Disbursement

  • Federal Work-Study funds are paid directly to students in the form of a paycheck when they are employed in a student work-study position.
  • Pell Grants are disbursed based on the number of hours a student attends throughout the term.
  • State Aid will disburse if the student is in full-time status and attending classes accordingly.
  • Direct Student Loans are disbursed in two installments during the fall and spring terms for students enrolled at least half-time at the start of the term.
    • The first disbursement occurs about a week after the start of each term.
    • The second disbursement takes place in the middle of each term.
    • If a student begins half-time status during the second 8 weeks of the term, both disbursements will release after the start of the 2nd 8-week term.
  • Summer disbursements are released in a single installment after July 6th.
  • The Student Accounts Office processes refunds to student’s accounts for any excess Federal aid within 14 days of disbursement.

Important Notes

  • If a student fails to start classes or drops below full-time enrollment, their aid will not be disbursed to their student account.
  • Direct Student Loan borrowers who are enrolled at less than half-time will no longer be eligible for these loans, and the funds will be returned to the lender. This may result in the student owing funds to the university.
  • Students are encouraged to review their account information in their HuskyNet Portal for updates and details regarding their financial aid.

Using Financial Aid at the HCU Bookstore

When the appropriate authorization forms have been completed, financial aid students may purchase books and supplies at the HCU bookstore from the 1st day of class through the 12th day of class if a credit balance (refund) will exist on the account after paying for tuition, fees and room and board (if applicable). Bookstore charges will be reflected on the account for the cost of purchases.

Information included in this publication is subject to change. Contact the Office of Financial Aid with any questions you may have about this information.