Financial aid that is either anticipated (expected) or already paid (disbursed) to your University account appears on your student billing account and is applied against your charges. Since you are responsible for ensuring that your University bill is paid on time each term (semester), you should monitor your student account, check your balance frequently, and become familiar with the way your financial aid appears on your account.
Checking the Status of Your Financial Aid: It is recommended that you log into the SOLAR on a regular basis to perform the following financial aid actions: view your current awards, accept/decline award offers, read personal SOLAR messages, and view your financial aid ‘To Do List’ items (actions required).
Admissions Requirement:
In order to be awarded any financial aid at Stony Brook, you must first be admitted into a degree-granting program at the University.
Valid FAFSA Results for Federal Student Aid:
If you are applying for federal student aid and have filed the FAFSA, we must also receive an electronic copy of your Student Aid Report (SAR) containing an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) from the Federal Processor. Please see Applying for Financial Aid for further application instructions.
Financial Aid Packaging Schedule for Fall/Spring:
Postdoctoral/Certificate Program: Endo, Ortho, Perio: Packaging begins in early June.
All DDS Students: Packaging in early July.
Viewing Financial Aid Awards:
All financial aid award offers can be viewed electronically by accessing Stony Brook's SOLAR. A 'To Do List' item with accept/decline instructions will also be listed on SOLAR when action is required.
Scholarships:
External Scholarships are private scholarships awarded to students by an off-campus agency, this is considered other financial resources. External Scholarships received by the University are posted as awards when it is received by the Bursar/Student Accounts Office. It is the student's responsibility to report scholarships not listed on the student's award package. This can be done through the "Report External Scholarships" link on SOLAR.
Required Documents:
You may be required to submit additional documents based on either the information we received from your FAFSA or the type of aid you have been offered.
Do NOT submit any documents unless we specifically ask for them.
If additional information is required, a 'To Do List' item with instructions and a link to the required form (if applicable) will be listed via Stony Brook's SOLAR. Forms can also be downloaded on our forms page.
Please be sure to respond promptly in order to avoid packaging and disbursement delays.
Your awards will not be finalized until all requested information has been received and processed.
- Complete Your FAFSA (Free Application for Student Aid).
Next Year’s FAFSA becomes available to students and their families on October 1 on fafsa.ed.gov.
Use SBU Federal School Code: 002838.
- Once we receive your FAFSA we will send you an email confirmation.
- If we need any additional information we will create a To Do List item, which you can view on your SOLAR homepage.
Most requested To Do List Items are up loadable directly to us via SOLAR – directions will be provided in the To Do List Item text.
Items uploaded via SOLAR are typically processed 10 business days sooner than those sent to us or delivered to us in person.
- Financial Aid Awarding and Notification Begins:
Post-Doctoral/Certificate Program: Endo, Ortho, Perio: Late June.
All DDS Students: Late July.
- A To Do List Item will be assigned and viewable in SOLAR informing you that your awards are ready to view/accept.
- Accepted financial aid will appear as anticipated aid against your University bill, with the exception of estimated awards and Federal Work Study.
- Financial aid will disburse directly into your student account. Financial aid disbursed in excess of University charges will result in a student refund.
Accepted financial aid awards that can be applied against your University account will appear as 'anticipated aid' on your University account until they have either disbursed, expired, or have been cancelled.
Questions and Answers:
Q: What is anticipated financial aid?
A: Anticipated financial aid is recognized as “expected” aid against University charges, thus temporarily reducing the amount that the student needs to pay.
Q: Is all financial aid considered anticipated financial aid?
A: No. Award estimates, stipends, Federal Work Study and student reported awards are not considered anticipated financial aid.
Q: What does the term “expired anticipated financial aid” mean?
A: Financial aid is only anticipated for a finite period of time. This finite period of time is specific for each financial aid award and is determined by the maximum reasonable amount of time it should take for this aid to disburse. Expired anticipated aid is no longer recognized as “expected” aid against University charges. This expiration of anticipated financial aid results in the student being responsible to pay his or her balance in full. To prevent this, it is important that you respond promptly to requests for information from the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Services.
Q: If my anticipated financial aid award has expired, does this mean my award has been cancelled?
A: No. Your award(s) will continue to appear when clicking on ' Financial Aid ' under the Campus Financial Services section of SOLAR .
Q: When will my expired anticipated financial aid be applied to my University account?
A: Once all requested information has been received and processed by Financial Aid and you still qualify for the award, it will then be disbursed and credited to your University account.
Q: Will my expired financial aid show up as anticipated financial aid again?
A: No. Generally, once your anticipated aid award has expired, it will NOT appear again as anticipated aid against your University account for that term.
Q: Will I incur late fees due to the expired anticipated financial aid?
A: Yes, you could if you have an outstanding account balance.
Q: If I pay my outstanding balance now, what happens when my financial aid award is disbursed?
A: Once your award is disbursed, any excess credit resulting after all obligations due the University and its related divisions will be refunded to you through direct deposit or check. See “Financial Aid Disbursements and Refunds” below for further details.
When payments of financial aid funds are applied to your University account, the award is said to have been 'disbursed' in Financial Aid.
Disbursement Schedule
Disbursements at Stony Brook begin after the start of each term. Not all awards disburse at the same time, as there are different disbursement dates for various types of awards.
To view the scheduled disbursement date of an accepted award not yet disbursed for the term, you can click on the “View Scheduled Disbursements” link under “View & Accept/Decline FinAid” on the SOLAR system.
There can be a number of reasons why an award has not yet disbursed:
- It's before the scheduled disbursement date.
- Outstanding financial aid "To Do List” items have not been completed (check "To Do List” items on SOLAR).
- Outstanding financial aid "To Do List” items have recently been completed and requires 5-7 business days for processing.
- For New York State grants/scholarships: Award has not yet been certified by the Registrar's Office (check your SOLAR messages).
- The award was recently accepted.
- You withdrew, are not enrolled, or are enrolled for less-than the minimum requirement.
- If it's an external award, the funds have not yet been received by the University.
Disbursement Refunds
Once the disbursement has been applied to your University account, any resulting excess credit is refunded to you within 14 days by the Bursar’s Office.
The Bursar’s Office offers direct deposit for student refunds. Electronic deposits are secure, fast and convenient and you can avoid waiting to receive your refund check. Refunds through direct deposit are processed on Monday, Wednesday and Friday of each week. Enrollment for direct deposit is done via the SOLAR system using your bank account number and bank routing number. Paper checks will be mailed to you and are printed bi-weekly. Please contact the Bursar’s Office for additional information regarding the direct deposit refund process.
You can view the status of your disbursed aid and any resulting refund by clicking on the "Account summary/What do I owe?" link under the Campus Financial Services section of SOLAR.
For additional questions regarding your University account balance or refunds, contact Bursar and Student Accounts.
Cancellation of Disbursed Federal Loans
You have the right to cancel all or a portion of your Federal Stafford, Grad Plus or Health Professions Student Loan, even after the loan funds have been disbursed and credited to your University account. If you wish to cancel or reduce an already disbursed loan for the current term, you must submit a written SIGNED request to Financial Aid prior to the end of the term.
Adjustments to Already Disbursed Aid
If changes are made to your financial aid package, it is sometimes necessary to bill you back for aid already disbursed and credited to your University account.
Withdrawal from Stony Brook University and the Impact of Disbursed Federal Aid
You may be billed for a portion or all of your federal financial aid if you withdraw from the University. It is therefore recommended that you contact the Office of Financial Aid prior to withdrawing from the term to review the impact on your Federal aid as a result of withdrawing.
Withdrawal from Stony Brook University and the Impact on State Aid
Dependent upon the time of withdrawal, your eligibility for New York State Aid may be impacted. If you withdraw after 100% liability your eligibility to receive New York State Aid for the next term of attendance will be impacted. It is therefore recommended that you contact the Office of Financial Aid prior to withdrawing from the term to review the impact on your State aid as a result of withdrawing.
Consolidating your federal education loans can simplify your payments, but it also can result in the loss of some benefits.
Learn about consolidation so you can weigh the pros and cons and decide whether a Direct Consolidation Loan is right for you. Visit https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/repay-loans.
