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Disbursement Policy

Financial aid is disbursed, or released, to Bursar student accounts to reduce applicable direct charges (tuition, fees, on campus housing charges, etc). If the released financial aid is greater than the charges on a Bursar student account, the student will receive a financial aid refund from the university. 

Financial aid disbursements at the University of Arizona occur Monday through Friday during each semester, starting on the first official disbursement day.  This official disbursement day is dependent on the start date of the student’s earliest starting course and will change depending on the semester and year, specific dates can be found below.

Federal regulations, set by the Department of Education, limit the release of federal student aid to current academic year charges. Therefore, students are not able to use federal student aid to pay Bursar student account charges for a previous academic year.

In addition, Federal Student Aid is also limited to being applied only to applicable tuition and fee charges. To authorize the University of Arizona to apply Federal Student Aid to other educational charges, including on-campus housing and meal plan charges, students must complete the Financial Aid Authorization in their UAccess Student Center. Students who do not complete the Financial Aid Authorization may receive a financial aid refund and still have a balance in their Bursar student account. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure payments are made on time to avoid late fees and holds. 

Before any funds are disbursed to a Bursar student account, the Office Scholarships and Financial Aid (OSFA) must confirm a student’s eligibility to receive the financial aid, including checking for:

Some Notices, Holds, or To Do List items can prevent financial aid from disbursing to a Bursar student account. We encourage students to check their UAccess Student Center often and especially prior to disbursement.

The University of Arizona’s academic year is made up of fall, winter, spring, summer, in that order. However, all academic year long financial aid is divided into two equal disbursements, half in the fall term and half in the spring term. Students may also be offered financial aid that only applies to one term (example, a spring admit will receive aid only for the spring term).

For students enrolling in winter session, your charges may be paid for with any remaining eligibility for fall financial aid, if you did not enroll full-time for the fall semester. Otherwise, the spring portion of your financial aid may be applied towards winter session charges when spring financial aid is released in January.

The summer semester is at the end of the academic year and aid for summer is also limited. Please see our summer financial aid website for information about how to apply for summer financial aid. Since the summer semester is the end of the academic year, summer charges cannot be paid with Federal Student Aid offered for the subsequent fall term, which begins the following academic year.

The quickest way to receive your refund is by setting-up Direct Deposit Web Refund (also known as ACH delivery or Web Refund. You can set-up Direct Deposit through your UAccess Student Center. You must have your Direct Deposit set up 10 days prior to the first day of classes to receive the earliest refund electronically. Additional help for setting up UAccess Direct Deposit is available at https://bursar.arizona.edu/refunds/options. For more information about financial aid payments go to https://bursar.arizona.edu/payment/financial-aid.

Not all students will receive a refund.  Your financial aid offer will could provide you with a means of obtaining funds up to the Cost of Attendance (COA).  If you choose not to participate in programs offered, you will then be responsible for satisfying your charges.

Fall 2026

  • Fall 2026 disbursements will begin to post to Bursar student accounts starting the week of August 17th.
  • In order to receive financial aid, students must meet all enrollment and disbursement conditions. Students who are not meeting all enrollment and disbursements conditions must be reviewed by OSFA before their aid can be released. In most cases, offered financial aid will need to be reduced or adjusted before it can be released.
  • Direct Deposit takes approximately 2-4 business days to show in your bank account.

Spring 2027

  • Spring 2027 disbursements will begin to release to Bursar student accounts during the later half of the week of January 4th.  
  • In order for financial aid to be released, students must meet all enrollment and disbursement conditions. Students who are not meeting all enrollment and disbursements conditions must be reviewed by OSFA before their aid can be released. In most cases, offered financial aid will need to be reduced or adjusted before it can be released.
  • Direct Deposit takes approximately 2-4 business days to show in your bank account.

After OSFA checks that disbursement conditions are met, grants, scholarships, waivers and stipends automatically post to Bursar student accounts.

Federal Direct Subsidized, Federal Direct Unsubsidized and Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loans

  1. Accept Federal Direct Subsidized, Federal Direct Unsubsidized and/or Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan on your UAccess Student Center.
  2. E-Sign the Federal Direct Subsidized, Federal Direct Unsubsidized and/or Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN). You will only need to sign the MPN once per each type of loan, unless you obtain an endorser for your Graduate PLUS loan.
  3. You will need to complete loan entrance counseling with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) if you are a first time Federal Direct borrower at the University of Arizona or a first time borrower at the graduate level (undergraduate students moving to graduate). ED loan entrance counseling can be found on studentaid.gov.
  4. Once disbursements for the semester begin, the accepted Federal Direct Subsidized, Federal Direct Unsubsidized and/or Federal Direct Graduate PLUS Loan, less loan fees, will be released to your Bursar student account within 2-3 business days of completing all steps listed above. The accepted amount, less loan fees, will initially be split in two equal halves – half at for the fall term and half for the spring term. Beginning with the 2026-2027 academic year, students enrolled less than full time (7 - 11 units as an undergraduate student or 6 - 8 units as a graduate or professional student) will see a reduction to the total amount of loan they can borrow for the academic year based on the schedule of reductions.
  5. Your loan funds will first pay for any outstanding charges in your Bursar student account. If there are any funds remaining, you will receive a refund. The refund takes 2-4 business days to be processed through Direct Deposit.

Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loans

  1. Your parent must accept the Federal Direct Parent PLUS loan via UAccess Guest Center. Your parents will find instructions to apply via the Guest Center.
  2. The same parent that accepts the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan must E-Sign the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Master Promissory Note (MPN). This parent will only need to sign the MPN once for the Parent PLUS Loan, unless your parent obtains an endorser. If a different parent accepts a Parent PLUS Loan, that parent must sign their own MPN.
  3. Once disbursements for the semester begin, the accepted amount of the Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan, less loan fees, should disburse to your student’s Bursar’s account. The accepted amount of the loan, less loan fees, will initially be split in two equal halves – half for the fall term and half for the spring term.
  4. The funds will first pay for any outstanding charges in your Bursar student account. If there are any funds remaining, you will receive a refund. The refund takes 2-4 business days to be processed through Direct Deposit.

Other Loans (Health Professions, Nursing, Loans for the Deaf and Blind, MANN, ASUA, ARMA, etc.)

  1. These loans are automatically accepted in your UAccess Student Center.
  2. E-Sign the Master Promissory Note (MPN) through ECSI. You must sign a new MPN for EACH year.
  3. The gross amount of the loan is always paid in two equal halves – half for the fall term and half for the spring term.
  4. The funds will first pay for any outstanding charges on your Bursar student account. If there are any funds remaining, you will receive a refund. The refund takes 2-4 business days to be processed through Direct Deposit.

Private Education Loans

  1. Refer to OSFA's Private Educational Loans webpage for information regarding the Private Education Loans Process.
  2. The funds will first pay for any outstanding charges in your Bursar student account. If there are any funds remaining, you will receive a refund. The refund takes 2-4 business days to be processed through Web Refund.