Financial Aid Disbursement
Once you have reviewed and accepted your financial aid package, the Office of Financial Aid will disburse your funds. Disbursement is the process by which Emory pays out your scholarship, grant, and loan funds. Depending on the type of aid, you receive funds will either be applied to your student account, which is managed by Emory's Student Accounts and Billing Office, or paid directly to you.
Funds Applied To Your Student Account
Funds from the following sources will be applied to your student account:
- Federal Title IV financial aid, excluding earnings from the work-study program
- Institutional financial assistance (aid directly from Emory University)
- Outside Scholarships (aid from external scholarship donors)
- State assistance (such as the GA HOPE Scholarship, Zell Miller Scholarship or the GA Tuition Equalization Grant)
- Loan funds received electronically by Emory on your behalf
- Loan paper checks made co-payable to the student and Emory University
Federal Title IV Financial Aid Payments
Your student account will reflect university charges assessed to you, for example tuition, allowable fees, and room and board. Additionally, you may also be charged for such items as parking, health insurance, library fines, health service fees, etc.
From OPUS, you can choose to either give the university permission to use your Title IV funds to pay any charge billed to your student account or limit Title IV payments to only specific university charges, such as tuition, selected fees, and room and board. Once you initially set these permissions, you can change them at any time by notifying the Student Account and Billing Office.
Outside Scholarship Checks
You are required to forward any scholarship checks you receive directly to the Office of Financial Aid so that funds can be applied to your student account.
Funds Paid Directly To You
Financial aid funds other than those listed above will be paid to you rather than applied to your student account.
Federal Work Study Payments
Federal work-study funds are earned from federal work-study positions. These earnings are not paid to your student account; instead, they are paid directly to you via direct deposit from university payroll on a biweekly basis.
Financial Aid Refunds
If the total financial aid funds disbursed to your student account exceed the total charges on your account, the Student Accounts and Billing Office will process and issue a credit balance refund to you. We strongly encourage you to set up direct deposit in OPUS so that refunds are paid directly and quickly to your bank account rather than issued by paper check.
Anticipated Aid
Before the beginning of the disbursement process each term, you will be able to view the anticipated financial aid funds you will be paid in OPUS. To view this information, select the Student Account tile after you login.