Financial Aid Definitions

Award Offer
A list of types and amounts of aid that WSU and Federal Student Financial Aid are offering. You are not required to accept all aid offered.
Cost of Attendance (COA)
This figure includes the total price of tuition, fees, room, board, books, supplies, transportation and personal expenses for the time period of attendance indicated on your WSU Financial Aid Application. It is also known as the student budget. Award offers and other resources (scholarships) can never exceed the COA.
Deferment
Delaying enrollment or leaving the university for a period of time. Find out what to do to return to Weber.
Expected Family Contribution (EFC)
A measure of your family's financial standing based on income, assets, family size, etc., determined from your FAFSA information. The EFC represents the amount of money the federal government believes your family is able to contribute toward college. The amount you end up actually paying could differ from the EFC, depending on what other resources you receive.
Federal Financial Aid
Aid eligibility that comes from FAFSA processing. At WSU, this includes: PELL, SEOG, LEAP, UCOPE, TIERG, Federal Work Study, Perkins loans, Stafford loans and PLUS loans.
Financial Need
Equal to your Cost of Attendance (COA) minus your Expected Family Contribution (EFC). See the Terms and Conditions of Federal Financial Aid for additional information.
Residual Check
Available funds are applied to student balances several times each week. Once tuition/fees are paid, leftover financial aid funds will be paid to you. WSU will create a check for this amount and send it to you through the mail. As another option, you can now enroll in eRefunds to have residual funds directly deposited into a designated checking account.
Satisfactory Academic Progress
In order to continue receiving financial aid as an undergraduate/graduate student, you must make satisfactory academic progress by meeting certain academic standards in Pace of Completion, GPA and Maximum time frame.  Failure to meet these standards could result in the denial of your financial aid or being placed on warning or probation by the WSU Financial Aid and Scholarship Office.