The following information represents many of the common questions Student Financial Services receives from new and continuing undergraduate and graduate students, If unable to locate the information needed, please contact Student Financial Services by:
The FAQs are organized in the following categories:
Individual financial aid funds fall into three categories:
University costs for tuition, fees, room and board for the upcoming academic year are posted as soon as the Board of Trustees has approved them and are generally available by early March.
While tuition, fees, room and board are a large part of the cost of attending Seattle University, students also incur other costs, such as books, transportation and personal expenses, which are included when calculating eligibility for financial aid. Estimate your cost of attendance and need.
After reviewing the award letter:
The Conditions of Award explain a student's rights and responsibilities as a recipient of financial aid. No financial aid will be disbursed to a student's account until the student has logged on to SUOnline, gone to the Students Menu and selected "Conditions of Award" in the Financial Aid to read and agree to those conditions.
These kinds of changes may change the student's financial aid award and/or require additional information or documentation which will be communicated to the student via his or her SU email account.
About six weeks prior to the start of fall quarter, notifications are sent to registered students' SU email accounts that their student account invoices are available at SUOnline. Student account invoices for students who are pre-registered for fall quarter will not be available until after July 1. For other quarters, invoices are immediately available after a student pre-registers.
Student Financial Services uses the information submitted on the student's FAFSA, the cost of attendance and any academic scholarship awarded at the time of admission to determine a student's remaining eligibility for funds. Needy students may be awarded a combination of federal, state, and institutional financial aid that may come in the form of grants, work opportunities and loans.
Any scholarships or other funding that become known after an initial aid offer is made will be added to the student's award, along with any required adjustments to financial aid previously offered to accommodate the additional funding. While Seattle University's goal is to close the gap between what it costs to attend Seattle University and the family's ability to provide for these costs, the University is rarely able to fully meet student need.
If a family experiences a change in circumstances due to either a loss of income or unusual expenses to the family or the student, they should contact Student Financial Services to speak with a counselor about the specifics of those circumstances. Beyond any assistance this contact may generate, there are also several student loan programs for which students and parents of dependent undergraduate students can apply. Learn more about loans.
The student's file must be complete before financial aid will become available. Learn more about when financial aid will become available.
Short term loans are available when unusual circumstances arise which cause a student to need the refund from their student account sooner than it will be available. Learn more about short terms loans.
The balance on a student's account is always due and payable within 14 calendar days of the date of the student's registration or on the scheduled tuition due date for each quarter, whichever is later. Learn more about payment due dates.
SU provides a number of payment methods to accommodate a variety of needs for paying the balance on a student's account. Learn more about how to pay.
As part of our commitment to help students to find ways to pay for their education, we offer several payment plan options. Learn more about payment plans.
Students are responsible for paying the total amount due on their student accounts by the date tuition is due. This includes ensuring that all financial aid is applied to their student accounts by the first class day of each term. Failure to do this may result in late fees being added to the amount due and a hold being placed on registration for future quarters. Learn more about late payments.
Having quarterly financial aid that exceeds the charges on the student's account will result in a credit balance that will be returned to the student. We strongly recommend that students authorize direct deposit so any credit balance will be electronically deposited directly to their bank accounts. If direct deposit isn't established, credit balance checks will be sent to the mailing address of record as shown at SUOnline on the Student Menu by clicking "Change Address" in the User Account section. The student can also update his or her mailing address here, as needed.
If the student's quarterly financial aid exceeds the charges on his or her student account, the student may authorize the excess to be electronically deposited directly to a bank account by completing the "1139b3c3" and submitting it to Student Financial Services. It's important to allow 14 calendar days for processing. Once the process has been activated, all financial aid due to the student after the charges on his or her student account have been paid, will be directly deposited to the student-designated bank account.
Seattle University guarantees the amount of institutional gift aid incoming undergraduates receive as long as certain criteria are met. Learn more about the institutional gift aid guarantee.
To be eligible to continue to receive financial aid the student must:
If the family's financial situation has changed, the Student Financial Services Office will review the circumstances to determine if the student may qualify for additional financial aid. Learn more about changes in financial circumstances.
An outside or private scholarship is a scholarship that is not awarded by SU. This type of scholarship is awarded by an outside organization to the student to be applied to educational expenses billed by Seattle University. On the award letter this scholarship is referred to as a "Private Outside Scholarship." If the student receives an outside scholarship and it is not already included on their award letter, they must notify Student Financial Services as soon as possible so it can be included in calculating eligibility for financial aid and the award letter revised if necessary. Learn more about outside scholarships.
In a number of cases, the Department of Education's FAFSA processor selects a student's FAFSA for a process called "Verification." When this occurs, the information reported on the FAFSA needs to be verified against IRS tax information for the same year reported on the FAFSA. This is a federal requirement with which Seattle University must comply. The Student Financial Services Office contacts all students whose FAFSAs have been selected for verification with instructions about how to complete the FAFSA verification process.
Summer Quarter financial aid is very limited. Learn more about Summer Quarter aid.
Under the Family Education Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) no one ... not even a student's parents, not even if they are the ones paying the bill ... can have access to the student's educational records, including their financial aid information, unless the student has authorized that access. Seattle University provides students the ability to provide authorization for their parents and/or other third-parties to access their educational information on their behalf. Learn more about third-party access to information.
Each student at Seattle University is issued a Campus Card which in addition to functioning as picture ID also provides access to buildings on campus including the library and residence halls. It also has two monetary accounts: a debit (or miscellaneous) account and a food account. Learn more about the Campus Card.
Students who move should notify the Student Financial Services Office of their updated contact information. While Student Financial Services generally contacts students using their SU email address, at times we may need to reach them by phone or letter. Therefore, it's critical that students keep their contact information up to date by logging on to SUOnline and using "Change Address" in the "User Account" section of the menu.
Seattle University requires that all undergraduate students enrolled full-time have health insurance either by purchasing the insurance made available by SU or providing confirmation that the student has comparable insurance in force. International students are required to purchase health insurance. Graduate students may purchase health insurance if desired. Learn more about health insurance.
Dropping or withdrawing from classes can have significant negative consequences for financial aid recipients. Therefore, while there is good, general information on the Student Financial Services website, it is strongly recommended that students contact a Student Financial Aid Counselor before actually taking this step. Learn more about withdrawing from classes.
As undergraduates, students must be continuously enrolled to maintain eligibility for their academic scholarships and/or institutional gift aid guarantees. Beyond that, undergraduate and graduate students continue to be able to register for four consecutive quarters after their last quarter of registration.
On the fifth quarter of consecutive non-attendance, students are no longer allowed to register until they have submitted a readmission application to the Admissions Office and are readmitted.
There are many banks in the Seattle area. Contact information for several of those that are near the SU campus is listed below: