Understanding Your Award Letter
Once you have received an e-mail notification to view your Financial Aid Award Notice, log into your e-services account. Select Financial Aid from the menu on the left, choose the appropriate semester.
Page one is a summary of the anticipated financial aid awards based on your FAFSA information. Your awards will be broken down by term as well as an award total. If you have awards for one term BSU is anticipating that you will be attending only one semester. If your plans have changed, please contact the Financial Aid Office to revise your awards.
Financial aid budgets: The institutional budget on your award notice includes your approximate school costs as well as a standard allowance for other educational related expenses. An institutional budget is not intended to represent a student’s actual room, board, transportation or other personal expenses. The allowable portion for educational related expenses is the same for all students to assure that all are treated equally and fairly in the processing and awarding of federal and state financial aid. Expenses in excess of the standard institutional budget amounts will need to be financed with non-educational funds such as savings, earnings from off-campus employment, or a personal loan from a family member or private lender.
Sample Budget: (Undergraduate Estimates)
Tuition............................................................................. $3573
Fees....................................................................................$480
Books and supplies........................................................... $431
Room and board.............................................................. $3485
Miscellaneous personal expenses ................................. $1300
Total Budget = $9,269 X 2 Semesters = $18,538 annual institutional budget.
Grants and scholarships are gift aid and do not need to be repaid. Please see the comprehensive list of grant programs and their descriptions on our website. If your award notice contains grants please be aware that your exact credits determine your eligibility for certain programs.
Please contact our office if you plan to change your enrollment. If you withdraw from one or more of your classes within the first 30 days of the semester, your Pell Grant will be reduced to the new level of enrollment. If your award notice includes work study you can search for job openings on the student employment webpage. Departments will list a brief description of the job duties and contact information.
If you are receiving additional private scholarships, third-party agency payments, or waivers, please write them on the bottom of page two and return that page to our office. A revised award notice will be sent to you if the new awards have resulted in a change to your eligibility for Federal or State financial aid.