Fall Term 2006 Financial Aid Disbursement (Receiving Your Aid)  

Please also see Disbursement Checklist below.

The first disbursement for Fall term is scheduled so that financial aid checks will be mailed to students or aid funds will be deposited to bank accounts (for those with direct deposit) on Friday, September 1, 2006.

Financial aid funds are directly applied to tuition, fees, and residence hall charges appearing on your student account; any funds in excess of these charges are refunded (disbursed) to you in one of two ways:

1. Checks are mailed to your current (local) address listed on Wolverine Access (https://wolverineaccess.umich.edu). If you do not have a current address listed, the check will go to your permanent address. Be sure your address is updated (using Wolverine Access) by August 28, 2006.
   -OR-
2. Funds are directly deposited to your bank account if you have direct deposit. Click on Direct Deposit from the Student Business page of Wolverine Access to sign up for direct deposit. Allow 10 business days for direct deposit to take effect. To view the amount of your direct deposit, go to Wolverine Access > View Checks.

If all the steps below have been completed, your disbursement will occur on one of the following dates:

Thereafter, students who register by Wednesday of a given week, will receive their funds the following Monday.

O Credit Hours:

You must be enrolled (not wait-listed or "backpacked") for a credit hour load that is at least half-time (6 hours for undergraduate students and 4 hours for graduate students).

O Award Notice:

You must have received a Fall/Winter 2006-2007 financial aid award notification and provided to the Office of Financial Aid all documents requested. To decline or reduce your aid awards, select Accept/Decline Financial Aid from the Student Business page of Wolverine Access (https://wolverineaccess.umich.edu).

O Loan Promissory Notes:

See article above for what you need to do to receive your federal loan funds.

O Academic Holds:

All academic holds must be resolved in order for you to receive your aid funds.

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How Will I Receive My Private Scholarship Funds?

If your private scholarship check is sent to the university, it will be directly applied to your student account, one-half in the Fall term, and one half in the Winter term, unless otherwise specified by the scholarship sponsor.  Payments are usually processed within two weeks of the start of each term, upon full-time registration.  If the payment creates a credit balance on your account, the credit will be refunded to you by check or direct deposit.

If your scholarship check is sent directly to you, but it is made out to the university, you should take it to the Cashier s Office for processing.

If your scholarship check is sent directly to you, and it is made co-payable to you and the university, endorse the check and submit it to the Cashier s Office for processing.

If your scholarship check is sent to you and is made payable to you, it is your responsibility to report this resource to OFA and to apply any funds necessary to your university account.

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 The Federal Academic Competitive Grant and National SMART Grant

As part of the Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2006, Congress established two new grant programs for Pell Grant eligible students.  The grants were created to encourage the offering and study of science, mathematics, and language subjects, which are deemed critical to national security and competitiveness.  These two new federal grant programs will be available to students starting this year (2006-2007).  Like all grants, these programs provide financially needy students with gift funds, which do not have to be repaid.  The chart below outlines the eligibility and terms of each program.

ELIGIBILITY	TERMS
Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG)
Need-based. Awarded only to Federal Pell Grant eligible applicants. Entering freshmen who have completed a "rigorous secondary school program", as designated by the state in which the student resided when completing the program. Sophomores with a cumulative 3.0 GPA during freshman year.	$750 for freshmen. $1,300 for sophomores. Must be enrolled full-time. The amount of ACG, in combination with Federal Pell Grant and other financial aid cannot exceed demonstrated financial need.
National SMART (Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent) Grant
Need-based. Awarded only to Federal Pell Grant eligible applicants. Juniors and seniors. 3.0 GPA.	$4,000 each year. Must be enrolled full-time. Major in physical, life or computer science; engineering; mathematics; technology; or a critical foreign language. The amount of SMART grant in combination with Federal Pell Grant and other financial aid cannot exceed demonstrated financial need.
The University of Michigan Office of Financial Aid will automatically select and notify eligible students of the award each year. For 2006-2007 students who are eligible for ACG and/or SMART grants will be notified in late August.

Did you know that there are two financial planning calculators available on Wolverine Access? These calculators allow you to view an estimate of your university bill and show you how much alternative loan or PLUS Loan you are able to borrow.

Bill Estimator:  Once at the site, answer a few questions, then select "Calculate Estimated Bill" to see what your bill will be for Fall term. Beginning in the middle to late September, you will be able to view an estimate of your Winter term bill. The bill estimator is not available for Spring/Summer bills.

Alternative/PLUS Loan Eligibility: Select "Calculate Alternative/PLUS Loan Eligibility" to see how much you would be able to borrow through an alternative loan (such as CitiAssist or MI-Loan) or through the Federal Direct PLUS Loan for the Fall and Winter terms. This calculator is not available to calculate Spring/Summer term eligibility.