Understanding Your Financial Aid Offer

For students who have received an official financial aid offer at Wake Tech, the following information should help you with the following:

  • Understanding your offer
  • Knowing the steps to take to have loans and other financial aid credited to your account
  • Understanding the possible impacts to your financial aid that may occur if there are changes in your financial circumstances

NOTE: Any of this information may change due to federal and/or state changes.

  1. View your financial aid offer
    Log in to your Self-service account to review your financial aid offer. After logging in, click on the three lines in the top left corner and choose "Financial Information" from the drop-down menu. Next, select "Financial Aid" and then "Offer Letter." You should then be able to view and/or print your award offer.
    Click "My Financial Aid Offer" to review your offer, accept or decline your student loans and complete the Master Promissory Note and entrance counseling, if applicable.
    If your offer changes later for some reason, you will be able to see the history of your offer letters for the year at any time.
    If you have been offered grants, these will show in your offer in an "Accepted" status – the assumption is that everyone will accept money that does not have to be paid back. There are dozens of named grants, so you may not recognize one award or another right away.
     
  2. Accept, decline or reduce your loans
    Review all the student loans being offered and determine the amount you would like to accept. You can accept the full amount or a portion of every loan offered to you, or you can decline any or all loans.
    After logging in to your Self-service account, click on the three lines in the top left corner and choose "Financial Information" from the drop-down menu. Select "Financial Aid" and then "My Financial Aid Offer."
    Choose the year you want to work with, and you can "Accept" or "Decline" offers accordingly. To accept the full amount of a loan or decline a loan, select the appropriate button and follow the prompts. To accept only part of a loan, click the "Accept" button, then change the full amount shown to the amount you would like to accept for the year (half for each semester).
    If you make a mistake or change your mind, most awards can be reinstated later. You will need to contact the Financial Aid Office to update any loan requests.
     
  3. Complete entrance counseling and Master Promissory Note
    If you have not had a Direct Loan before, you will need to complete entrance counseling and sign a Master Promissory Note before the disbursement of any loans.
     
  4. Report outside scholarships
    If you have received any scholarships from outside Wake Tech or other resources, such as military educational benefits or ROTC awards, you must report them to the Financial Aid Office.
    This may result in a change to your existing aid. In such cases, you will receive an email about your revised offer.
     
  5. Disbursement of aid
    Once you accept your financial aid, it should show in your account as "Anticipated Aid." Funds will potentially be disbursed once enrollment for each course has been confirmed.
    Federal loans will not be disbursed until the Financial Aid Office has confirmed you have completed the required Master Promissory Note and loan entrance counseling.
    Federal Work-Study aid never disburses. Rather, the amount you are offered represents the total amount you can earn in a Work-Study position over the course of the academic year.

Your official offer may change for the following reasons:

  • Receiving financial aid is dependent upon maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress. Federal Pell Grants, Federal Work-Study, student loans and Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants are based on eligibility determined by Congressional action, and funding levels are subject to change.
  • Any new information from federal, state, institutional and/or outside agencies may cause a change in your financial aid offer.

If any modifications are made to your financial aid offer after the release of the official offer, you will receive an email notification about the revisions.

After you receive your financial aid offer, you should do the following:

  • Register for classes.
    If you have already registered, make sure all classes are required in your program of study. 
  • Drop classes via Self-Service if you decide not to attend.
    Now that you have an official financial aid offer in place, you will not automatically be dropped, and any charges accrued will be your responsibility. 
  • If you expect to receive a student loan, make sure you are enrolled for at least 6 credit hours at the time of disbursement.
  • Review and either accept or decline the Financial Aid Terms and Conditions annually.
    If you reject the Terms and Conditions, you will not be able to use your financial aid.
  • Charge required books and supplies to your student account during the bookstore charge dates at the beginning of each semester or term.
  • Select your refund option to receive any funds remaining in your account after you have used financial aid to pay for your courses, fees and materials.
    Wake Tech uses BankMobile to process all financial aid refunds. Refund dates are posted online.