Please review the below tables to determine when you will receive your financial aid offer based on your cohort and program. Current and incoming students can view their financial aid offer in UAccess Student Center. 

Wondering what you should do to prepare for the fall semester? Follow these steps to get started:

• Apply for admission by stated deadlines to be considered for some of the largest scholarship opportunities you may receive in your career! To ensure your application links with your financial aid record, be sure to include your social security number.
• To apply for federal student aid and institutional need-based financial aid, file your 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form. The FAFSA is a free application that gives you access to lots of types of financial aid to help pay for college. In order to sign your FAFSA form, make sure you and your parent(s), if you are a dependent student, create your studentaid.gov account ahead of time.
• Financial aid offers are sent approximately 2-3 weeks after you have been admitted and submitted your 2025-2026 FAFSA. After you receive your financial aid offer, visit our Understanding Your Financial Aid Offer page to learn more about the types of financial aid you might have been offered.
• Once admitted, create UA NetID+ to start applying for scholarships on Scholarship Universe, our unique scholarship matching database for Wildcats like you! Start applying for additional scholarships now and attend our Perfecting Your Scholarship Search Workshop to learn how to maximize your search.

You can learn more about how to be considered for merit scholarships and the terms and conditions for maintaining your scholarship on our merit scholarships page. Connect with your Admissions recruiter for any questions about your award. 

As always, our AskAid team is here to help. Get in touch with us by phone, email, or come by in person to the Administration building.

Financial aid typically releases 4-10 days before the start of each semester. There are a variety of reasons that your financial aid may be delayed: 

• Check your Financial Aid Status in your UAccess Student Center to see what may be preventing the release of your aid.
• Incomplete To Do List Items - These items delay financial aid from releasing and need your attention as soon as possible.
• Holds - Similar to incomplete To Do List items, a hold can also prevent the release of your financial aid.
• Enrollment - Some aid requires you to be enrolled in a certain number of units. 

If you have already acted on your pending To Do List items or Holds and are waiting on documentation to be processed by our office, you may also see a delay in the release of financial aid. Processing timelines for the start of the semester are typically three to four weeks. Please know we are working diligently to complete these pending items so financial aid can be released as soon as possible.  

Fall disbursements will begin to post to students' Bursar accounts the week of August 18th, for students with courses starting August 25th.

For more information on what to expect, watch our Paying for College orientation session.

Disbursements will begin to post to students' Bursar accounts 4-10 days prior to the start of your earliest fall class provided you are meeting eligibility requirements to receive financial aid.

Visit your UAccess Student Center to check your Financial Aid Status to see what may be preventing the release of your aid.

A Financial Aid Notice will be automatically placed on accounts if your accepted fall financial aid will cover your Bursar student account balance owed. This notice will prevent the Late Payment Charge and the Unpaid Tuition Charge. If the balance owed is more than the accepted pending aid, we recommend paying the remaining balance by the tuition payment deadline to avoid late fees. Visit the Bursar deadline page for more information on due dates and corresponding late fee charges.

In order for financial aid to be released, you must meet all enrollment and disbursement conditions. For additional information, visit our General Disbursement Policy page.

We understand financial fit and affordability are important considerations in your college decision. We encourage students and families to evaluate the affordability of Arizona based on their estimated costs and the financial aid available to them as outlined on the financial aid offer. In addition, we also recommend that students and families consider areas where their costs may be flexible:

• housing choice (on-campus dorms vs. off-campus housing)
• meal plan choice
• books and supplies
• travel expenses
• any other personal expenses

Your student experience is unique, and as such, so are your costs. Reducing costs in these categories can help make your overall college costs more manageable.

All students should submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) form to be automatically considered for federal and institutional need-based aid opportunities (like grants). 

We also invite students to explore Scholarship Universe for additional scholarship opportunities. This online website allows admitted Arizona students to search and apply for scholarships that are tailored to the student's qualifications and interests. You can access Scholarship Universe using your NetID. Please keep in mind, however, that these awards tend to be in the range of $500-$1,000 and are typically not enough to cover substantial balances.  

If your or your family's financial situation has changed since filing the FAFSA due to special circumstances or if there are certain expenses not reflected on the FAFSA, you may request to submit a FAFSA Data Appeal. The following financial situations are examples of special circumstances that can be considered: 

• Loss of employment
• Reduction in earnings
• Paid medical costs not covered by insurance
• Death of a parent
• Tax Liens
• K-12 Private Education Tuition 

Visit our Special or Unusual Circumstances Appeals webpage for more information and to determine whether an appeal is right for you. If you would like to move forward with the appeal, contact our office with your qualifying circumstances. Please note approval of the appeal is not a guarantee of receiving additional need-based aid.  

Finally, in addition to federal financial aid, students may pursue borrowing options through third party lenders. Private lenders offer varying terms and options for students and we encourage you to research several lenders to discern which loan and lender may be the best fit for you. These loans do generally require varying levels of credit-worthiness, or a credit worthy co-signer. We offer an entire webpage dedicated to private educational loans that includes an overview of private loans, including questions to consider when researching lenders and a list of lenders that have a history of approving loans for Arizona students.  

We also host a variety of financial aid workshops where students and families can receive in-depth information regarding the FAFSA, the cost of attendance, and financial aid options. We hope that these resources will help you to make the best decisions for you and your family.

Find payment plan options, due dates, billing details, tuition cost estimates and more through the Bursar's Office website.

Check for items that may prevent aid from releasing to your Bursar student account. Log into UAccess Student Center to check your Notice/Hold sections & To Do List section. If you have any financial aid items listed, read the message carefully and take any action being requested. Normal processing time for items turned into our office is 2-3 weeks for review. During the beginning of each semester, this timeframe may increase due to the volume our office receives.

Did you transfer your federal aid from another school, are you working on a SAP Appeal, or do you have other To Do List items you need help with? If so, this may prevent your accepted financial aid from releasing to your Bursar student account. Visit our FAQs or contact us to get the help you need in completing your To Do List item. You can also view recordings of past workshops, such as the Federal FAFSA Verification Workshop, on our events page.

To view the status of your financial aid in your Student Center:

• Login at uaccess.arizona.edu.
• Click the Financial Aid header on the top of the Student Center home page and select Financial Aid Summary from the list.
• Scroll down to the middle of the page and click the Financial Aid Status section. This page will show you a breakdown of the financial aid offered and whether it has been released/disbursed to your student account or not. 

Due to the high volume of items at the beginning of each semester, you can expect to hear from us approximately 2-4 weeks from the date you submit a complete file for: Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeals, Federal Verification, General Aid Appeals, Over award to do list item processing, Cost Of Attendance (COA) Appeals, Consortium Agreements, or Additional Loan Requests.

Are you wondering if you are on track to renew your scholarship? Visit the Terms and Conditions page for your incoming term here at the university. There, you will be able to view examples of how many units you need to complete in addition to the cumulative GPA requirement.

Visit our FAQs for all things Scholarships like Renewals, the one-time grace period, Reinstatements, and Appeals.

Expecting a refund (you have more pending aid than your account balance)? Set Up Web Refund (direct deposit) in your UAccess Student Center. This is the quickest way to receive your refund. Students who have not enrolled in Web Refund through UAccess will receive a check sent to their mailing address listed in UAccess. Please contact the Bursar’s Office for more information about the status of your refund.

Students may also access FAFSA help by contacting Federal Student Aid or Arizona Resident students may connect with AskBenji, which offers assistance via in-person events, virtual meetings, text message, and phone. 

If you were offered loans and/or federal work study, you need to accept your aid in order to receive it. Here's how:

You can accept your loans or Federal Work Study in your UAccess Student Center.  Loans for Fall 2025 and Spring 2026 will open in mid-July.

Find the steps for accepting student and parent loans on our loans webpage. Parents (via the Guest Center) will also be able to accept the Parent PLUS loan to help with expenses for the semester once it is viewable in UAccess. 

Have you already accepted your aid, but it still has not been released to your Bursar student account? Check out our FAQs to find common scenarios that may be holding up your aid. 

You do not need to accept any gift aid such as grants and scholarships, as they are automatically accepted for you.

Do you have other questions? That’s okay too! Check out our FAQs and policy pages to find answers to topics such as Qualified Tuition Reduction (QTR), Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Appeal help, loans, verification, and more.