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WesternU / Financial Aid / About / Overview of the Financial Aid Process

Overview of the Financial Aid Process

The information below is to provide you with a quick overview on how financial aid is processed at our office. If you have any questions or feedback, please contact our office at (909) 469-5353 or via email at finaid@westernu.edu.

We look forward to assisting you!

Applying for Aid – The Process

  • Step 1: Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
    • Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)
    • The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is open for submission annually each October 1st. The income used on the FAFSA will be from two years prior to the application year, referred to as “Prior-Prior Year” (PPY). Eligible students may use the IRS Data Retrieval Tool to import their tax information.
    • Create a Federal Student Aid (FSA) ID
    • This FSA ID is used to sign your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online.
    • If you have an existing FSA ID, you are not required to create another one.
    • Western University of Health Sciences (WesternU) school code is 024827
  • Step 2: Review Student Budget/Cost of Attendance
  • Step 3: Requirements
    • After you are admitted to WesternU, an email from our office will be sent to your WesternU email account. This email will instruct you to login to your Student YOU Portal to review the list of requirements that need to be completed prior to disbursement of loan funds.
  • Step 4: Financial Aid Offer of Award

    Financial Aid Offer of Award

    • An email from our office will be sent to your WesternU email account with instructions on where to accept/decline your financial aid offer.
    • Packaging and Offer of Award Policy
      • Students at WesternU are packaged and offered an award as independent graduate students. There are no Grants available to graduate students. Resources such as gift aid, scholarships, Military and the National Health Service Corps will be taken into consideration first when packaging and awarding students. All eligible students are then awarded in the unsubsidized loan and the balance in the Grad PLUS loan to meet the maximum of their budget.

    Students are awarded the maximum allowable in the Federal Direct Loan program’s as per their program and the Department of Education

  • Step 5: Disbursements

    Disbursements

    • Disbursement schedules are based on the student’s program of enrollment, terms (fall and spring or fall, spring, and summer terms).
    • The financial aid amount you’ve accepted will be disbursed to your Student Account, less tuition and fees. Loan funds will first be used to pay for your tuition and fees and then the remainder amount will be deposited to your checking account.
    • To view your disbursement schedule, please Login to your Student YOU Portal.
  • Step 6: Meet with a Financial Aid Counselor

    Meet with a Financial Aid Counselor

    • All incoming students will receive an email shortly after school has started with instructions to schedule their mandatory New Student Interview (NSI) as group meeting (via Teams).