Fresno State Financial Aid and Scholarships

📢 New Office Hours Begin August 3!

Starting Monday, August 3, our Financial Aid and Scholarships Office will have updated hours.

🏢 Office Hours • Monday–Friday • 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.

📞 Phone Hours • Monday–Friday • 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Whether you have questions about your financial aid, need help with a To Do item, or want to connect with our team, we're here to help.

💙 See you soon, Bulldogs!

Our first fall 2026 financial aid disbursement date is August 18th.💰

Here’s what you need to know:

• Financial aid is awarded on the assumption that you will be enrolled full-time (for financial aid, that is 12+ units as an undergraduate) and if you are not, your financial aid may adjust before it disburses.

• Most financial aid will pay what you owe the university first, and if anything is leftover, Student Accounts will issue a refund

🚨If Student Accounts issues you a refund, it may take a few days before you get it in your bank account. **Speaking of bank accounts, if you have not set up your refund preferences so Student Accounts knows where to send a refund, you can do that now! See our post from June 29 for instructions on how to do that!**

🚨 If you have any financial aid To Do items on your Student Center, that will keep your financial aid from being awarded and/or disbursed… even if you have submitted them and are waiting for us to review. Don’t wait to submit documents – submit them now!

• If you are adjusting your class schedule, you may see your financial aid adjust to reflect your enrollment. Fall financial aid is finalized based on your enrollment as of Census, September 21, 2026.

• Middle Class Scholarships will not disburse until late September/early October.

Need help with your financial aid? We're here for you! 💙🐾

📞 Call us: (559) 278-2182
🏢 Visit us: North Lobby of the Joyal Administration Building

👋Our Customer Service team can answer your questions or help you schedule an appointment with a financial aid counselor.

Need to meet with a counselor sooner?
Join us for Walk-In Wednesdays! No appointment is needed—students are seen on a first-come, first-served basis.

📅 Walk-In Wednesdays before the August 21 Student Accounts Fee Payment Deadline: July 22, July 29, August 5, August 12, and August 19

July Hours
🕢 7:30–11:30 a.m.
🕐 1:00–3:00 p.m.

August Hours
🕣 8:30–11:30 a.m.
🕐 1:00–4:00 p.m.

📣 Check your Student Center! If you have a Financial Aid To Do item, don't wait to complete it.

Some of the most common Financial Aid To Dos for 2026-2027 include:
✔️ FAFSA Documentation Required
✔️ Verification - OY
✔️ SAP Fail Appeal
✔️ Unusual Circumstance Appeal
All of these financial aid To Do items will keep your financial aid from being awarded and/or disbursed.

⏳ Don't wait! Processing can take several weeks—especially this year due to system delays. Submitting your To Do items early helps keep your financial aid on track.

✅ Log in to your Student Center and make sure your Financial Aid To Do List is clear. Keep checking back regularly—new To Do items can be added at any time, and completing them promptly helps keep your financial aid on track.

Not sure if you'll owe anything out of pocket this fall? 🤔

You can easily estimate whether your financial aid will cover your charges. Swipe through the next few slides and we'll show you how!

💰VIEW FINANCIAL AID:
Student Center < My Finances (Financial Obligations and Financial Aid) < Click View Financial Aid hyperlink < Next screen select aid year “2027”
• Financial aid awards for the academic year are at the top, and then broken down by semester (fall and spring) below.
• Awarded on the assumption you will be full time. If you will not be FT, you will need to prorate.
• Look at accepted aid.
- Grants are accepted for you on your behalf
- Loans can be accepted later this month, so if you would like to accept, you will need to add that in your total accepted until you are able to accept it
**Once final awards have been made, you will no longer see “estimated” on the awards.**

💰VIEW YOUR CHARGES:
Student Center < My Finances (Financial Obligations and Financial Aid) < Click Yellow “To View Your Account Click Here”
• Outstanding balances are visible on the next screen
• For more in-depth information on how the charges break down, click “Activity” hyperlink
- From here you can sort by date and/or semester
- This will show charges, any payments made (including financial aid applied once disbursements start), and any refunds the student has received
More information on charges, visit Student Accounts’ page here 👉https://adminfinance.fresnostate.edu/accountingservices/students/tuitionfees.html

COMPARING YOUR FINANCIAL AID WITH YOUR CHARGES:
If you are enrolled full time, you can take your charges, and subtract the accepted aid for the fall semester.

$4127.50 Fall Tuition* & Fee Charges – $6923.00 Fall Accepted Aid = $2795.50 Refund to Student

🏘If you are staying in student housing, those charges are added closer to the start of classes, so you will want to add those charges in yourself.
📓Not full-time? You can estimate how your aid will prorate based on your enrollment. Find more information here 👉https://studentaffairs.fresnostate.edu/financialaid/policies/proration.html

🚨 Transfer Students — Quick Question!

Did you list Fresno State on your 2026–2027 FAFSA or CADAA? 🤔

This is one of the most common issues we see with new transfer students! Many students complete their financial aid application while they're still attending their previous college and forget to add Fresno State for the upcoming fall.

If Fresno State isn't listed on your application, we won't receive your financial aid information—which means we can't process your aid.

Take a minute to log in and double-check that Fresno State is included. It could save you time and help avoid additional delays! 🐾

📢 2026–2027 Financial Aid Update

We have good news! 🎉

After months of required federal system changes related to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OB3), we're hoping to resume financial aid processing the week of July 20 (pending final testing).

Here's what to expect:
✨ We'll be able to begin loading the thousands of FAFSA records we've received since April and Financial Aid To Do items will begin appearing in Student Center around July 22.
⚠️ If you receive a To Do item, submit it as soon as possible! Missing documents can delay your financial aid award and August disbursement.
📧 We're targeting to send official award letters by the end of July. Watch your Fresno State email!
💰 Once you receive your official award notification, you'll be able to accept any eligible student loans through Student Center.
🎓 Keep in mind that awards are initially based on full-time enrollment and may be adjusted if you're enrolled less than full time.

🚨IMPORTANT🚨 Because of these nationwide federal changes, we now have just 3 weeks to complete work that normally happens over several months before our first fall disbursement on August 18. Please make sure you submit any requested information ASAP to help us get your aid ready!

Thank you for your patience and support—we're working as quickly as we can to get financial aid ready for fall for our Bulldogs! 💙🐾

📢 Federal Student Aid updates are here.

The One Big Beautiful Bill (OB3) includes changes to federal student aid programs that may affect some current and future students and families.

These updates include changes to:
🎓 Pell Grant eligibility
📚 Graduate and Parent PLUS loans
💵 Graduate loan limits
📋 Loan eligibility for less-than-full-time enrollment
🚜 FAFSA asset exemptions

Not every change will affect every student, but it's important to stay informed and understand how these updates could impact your financial aid.

We will work hard to keep you updated on the changes, but you can also learn more at these great resources:
🎓Chancellor’s Office - Federal Student Aid Updates: One Big Beautiful Bill Act:
https://www.calstate.edu/apply/paying-for-college/financial-aid/Pages/federal-student-aid-updates.aspx

🎓Federal Student Aid OB3 Updates:
https://studentaid.gov/announcements-events/big-updates

We'll be closed Friday, July 3rd in observance of the Fourth of July holiday.
We hope everyone has a fun, safe, and relaxing holiday weekend! ❤️🤍💙

🚨 Heads up, Bulldogs! 🐾

Starting today, July 1, eligible students will begin seeing a Fall Fee Deferment on their student account.

✨ What does that mean?
It simply lets our Student Accounts team know that we're working on your financial aid package.

✅ No action is needed from you.
✅ It doesn't affect your enrollment.
✅ It's just there to help prevent payment issues before the August 21 fall fee deadline.

👀 Don't see a Fall Fee Deferment but plan to use financial aid to pay your balance?
You can request consideration through your Student Center between August 19–21.
For more information on what the Fee Deferment is and how to request one, visit our page here👉bit.ly/feedeferment

Questions? Reach out to the Financial Aid Office—we're here to help! ❤️💙