Frequently Asked Questions

Cost of Attendance is an estimate of the total amount it will cost you to go to school for an academic period. It includes tuition and fees that will be charged to your student account, books and supplies, and an estimate of very moderate living expenses based on figures for the Atlanta area. The standard academic year includes nine months of living expenses.

Students are encouraged to look for ways to cut their monthly expenses to make it possible to live within the budget set by the Emory’s Office of Financial Aid. While you may submit an appeal to increase your cost of attendance to include certain expenses the decision to approve or deny the appeal is guided by professional judgment and federal guidelines.

Items that may be considered on appeal with appropriate documentation include the one-time cost of a computer (not to exceed $2,500) for an academic program of study; childcare expenses if the student is a single parent or if a spouse is employed; the cost of dental insurance (student only); out-of-pocket medical, vision, and dental expenses incurred by the student during the period of enrollment; automobile insurance and repairs incurred during the period of enrollment for the student's car, and mileage for students who commute 400 or more miles per week and/or incur expenses related to rotation assignments. The cost of attendance cannot be increased to cover consumer debt (i.e., credit card or automobile payments). To request a copy of the Appeal for Budget Adjustment form, contact the Financial Aid office.

Undergraduate Students

The primary factor is financial need. Financial need is computed by ascertaining educational costs (tuition and fees, room and board, books and supplies, and a personal allowance) less family contribution (the measure of your family's financial resources available to help pay for school).

Graduate Students

Please refer to your individual school or program for information on need-based aid. There is no federal need-based aid available to graduate students.

When an Emory undergraduate student has a sibling enrolled full-time in a four-year college simultaneously, the Emory student’s family contribution will be reduced. Siblings enrolled in community college and/or graduate schools are not considered in this institutional calculation. If there no siblings enrolled the following year, the family contribution will increase.

At Emory, eligibility for financial aid is based on federal and institutional estimates of your family's ability to contribute to the cost of education on an annual basis. A typical financial aid package may include grants, loans, and work. Consistent with federal guidelines, students are asked to assume a larger proportion of their expenses as they move closer to graduation. Keep in mind that your financial aid package is likely to change each year for one or more of the following reasons:

• You miss the priority deadlines
• A change in family income
• A change in family assets
• A change in the number of children in college
• A change in enrollment
• A change in the cost of education
• Your loan amount may increase as you continue through school
• Availability of institutional funding

Students at Emory have certain rights and responsibilities. Read more about them

Students must be citizens or eligible noncitizens of the United States to be eligible to receive federal aid and/or need-based financial aid from Emory.

Underloading Policy

Emory College and Undergraduate Business students are infrequently approved to enroll in fewer than 12 hours and usually only in their final semester. To remain eligible for need-based aid, students must take 6 or more hours. Students taking less than 6 hours will not be eligible for need-based aid and their entire financial aid package will be canceled for the semester. If a student receiving need-based aid enrolls in 6 to 11 hours, tuition charges are prorated based on hours enrolled, and grant aid will be adjusted accordingly. Federal Direct and private loans are adjusted based on eligibility requirements.

Merit scholarships are adjusted on a case by case basis and adjustments are made to ensure the amount of the scholarship amount does not exceed the cost of tuition. For merit aid only, students may enroll in 1 or more hours.

If a student under-loads (less than 12 hours), financial aid will not be adjusted or disbursed until after the add/drop/swap period so that the Office of Financial Aid can make accurate adjustments to reflect the student’s finalized hours of enrollment.

The Online Pathway to University Students is Emory's web-based student information system through which students register for classes, check the status of their financial aid, view their student account, and update their addresses. A student must have an OPUS ID in order to access her or his information. Contact OPUS Help to get additional information relating to OPUS access.

Four of the most common errors are:

• Late filing of the FAFSA or PROFILE or submitting tax documents late
• Failing to read all instructions
• Incomplete applications
• Incorrect Social Security numbers

You can monitor the status of your aid application through OPUS. Your to-do list will indicate any outstanding items needed by our office. We cannot determine your final eligibility for financial aid until all required documents have been submitted.

Once you have been offered a financial aid package, you will be sent an email informing you that your financial aid package is ready to be viewed and accepted online via OPUS. Acceptance of Direct loans is required before the loans can be processed. When accepting a loan, be sure to accept the Federal Subsidized Direct Loan before accepting the Federal Unsubsidized Direct Loan and/or the Federal Grad PLUS Loan. Further instructions can be found under the link for your specific school or program.

You will be notified electronically through OPUS when your financial aid package is available for review. Make sure to update your email address information under Personal Information after logging into OPUS.

Yes, you should review your FAFSA Submission Summary and make corrections as necessary. If you need to make corrections to the FAFSA Submission Summary, you can make them online under “Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA” at FAFSA on the web.

If Emory is not listed, contact the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800.4FED.AID. Emory's school code is 001564, or you can make a correction online under “Make Corrections to a Processed FAFSA” at FAFSA on the web.

No, only the courtesy application is needed.

As soon as you begin to consider enrolling in an integrated dual-degree program, financial aid counseling and planning is strongly advised. Admission representatives from your school as well as Financial Aid staff members are available to help explain program costs, the financial aid process, funding options, and how to apply for financial aid. You are advised to check the “How To Apply” section of the Financial Aid website for filing requirements of both programs that are part of your dual-degree track. Required documents and application deadlines are sometimes different depending on which degrees you are pursuing. In addition, your aid package may vary depending on the aid-awarding policy and funding resources of the different schools you are enrolled in each term.

A FAFSA contributor is anyone required to provide information to complete the FAFSA. In addition to the student, this may include the student’s spouse (if married), the student’s biological or adoptive parent, and the parent’s spouse (step-parent). Each contributor will need a StudentAid.gov account, will need to consent to their tax information being shared with the FAFSA, and will need to sign the application.

More detailed information on filling out the FAFSA, how to identify a contributor and what is required of them, may be found here: https://studentaid.gov/apply-for-aid/fafsa/filling-out.

IDOC is a service provided by the College Board for Undergraduate Students. If you complete a Profile application, tax documents for the student, custodial parents, and noncustodial parent, if applicable, must be submitted to IDOC. In early February, the College Board will send an IDOC instruction email that includes your personalized IDOC ID number. All documents sent to the College Board must be accompanied by your personalized IDOC cover sheet.

The Subsidized Direct Loan is a federal loan with interest paid by the government while you are in school at least half-time. Beginning in the 2012–2013 aid year, this loan was reserved for undergraduates only and has been discontinued for graduate students.

The Unsubsidized Direct Loan is a federal loan that accrues interest while you are in school. You have the option of paying the interest or deferring it until after you begin repayment.

Repayment of subsidized and unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans begins six months from the date you graduate or cease to be enrolled at least half time. These six months are called a "grace period." The subsidized portion of your loan does not accrue interest during this time. There is no penalty for early repayment.

The Federal Direct Graduate PLUS loan may be an important funding source for students who need more loan funds than the Federal Direct Loan can provide. To qualify for a Direct Graduate PLUS loan, you must be a US citizen or eligible non-citizen, degree-seeking and enrolled at least half time. The Direct Graduate PLUS loan has a fixed interest rate of 9.08%. Federal Direct Graduate PLUS loans are charged a fee of 4.228% by the federal government. In addition, there is a 1.5% interest rebate that is added back to the loan amount. The loan does require credit approval as defined by federal regulation. However, the credit criteria for the Graduate PLUS loan is less stringent than for private educational loans. Repayment begins six months after the borrower ceases to be enrolled at least half time. This loan can be included in the Federal Consolidation Loan. More information and instructions can be found on the Graduate Loans page.

There are a number of lenders who offer a private education loan to help students meet the remainder of the cost of attendance not met with a Federal Stafford Loan. However, in order to qualify, you must be able to pass a credit and/or debt-to-income check. These loans do not go into repayment until six to nine months after you cease to be enrolled. Interest does accrue on private education loans from the date of disbursement until the loan is paid in full. More information about lenders who offer private/alternative loans and the terms of the loans are available on the pages below:

Undergraduate Loans

Graduate Loans

To receive a private educational loan, you must have a valid credit history as defined by the lender of the loan. Before applying for one of these loans, we recommend you order a credit history report, check it closely for accuracy, and resolve any erroneous information. The following agencies can provide you with a credit report: Equifax Credit Information Services 800.685.1111; Experian 888.397.3742; TransUnion Corporation 800.888.4213.

Since approval of some non-need-based student loans and most parent loans is based on credit history, you may want to order a credit report if you will need these loans to finance part of your cost of education. Check the report closely for accuracy and resolve any erroneous information prior to applying for educational loans. The following agencies can provide you with a credit report: Equifax Credit Information Services 800.685.1111; Experian 888.397.3742; TransUnion Corporation 800.888.4213.

Please visit the Student Accounts and Billing Office website for information on their billing schedule. You can call them at 404.727.6095 as well.

Please visit the Student Accounts and Billing Office website for information regarding payments.

Bank of America, SunTrust, and Wells Fargo banks are immediately adjacent to the Atlanta campus. Emory Alliance Credit Union and ATM machines are located on campus. A Truist ATM machine is located within walking distance of the Oxford College campus.

This amount will vary. If your financial aid package creates a credit balance on your account, you will receive a refund from Student Accounts and Billing Office. However, it may not be available to you in the first few weeks of school. Please anticipate needing some money for books, living expenses, and other incidentals.

Before aid can be credited to your account, you must have no outstanding Financial Aid To-Do items on OPUS and you must be enrolled. The law allows disbursement of funds to begin 10 days from the official start of the academic term as decided by the university's Board of Trustees. The actual start date of courses for each program may vary from the official university calendar.

The Student Accounts and Billing Office will mail a 1098T form (tuition payments) and 1098E form (student loan interest) to all students who have paid tuition or student loan interest. For further information regarding 1098T and 1098E processing, please visit their website. 

Please keep in mind our primary means of communicating with you will be email. Therefore, it’s also very important that we have your correct mailing address. Email and mailing addresses can be updated and reviewed on OPUS under your personal information.

Address: 200 Dowman Drive, 300 Boisfeuillet Jones Building, Atlanta, GA 30322.
Phone: 404.727.6039  |  Fax: 404.727.6709

Office Hours: Monday–Friday 8:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. 

Advisors are available to see students from 9:00 a.m.–Noon and from 1:00–4:00 p.m.
You can contact the financial aid advisor assigned to you at the above number or find your advisor's email address on our Contact Us page.