Disbursement Process

When Will I Receive My Financial Aid?

Financial aid is disbursed to your student account no earlier than 10 days prior to the start of each term. Current term aid is disbursed continuously throughout the semester a few times per week. Aid is credited to the student's account. Based upon notification of other awards or changes in enrollment, financial aid and student account balances can change at any time (even after the semester ends). 

Students can check their current student account balance, including any aid disbursements, through  myUIconnect. After logging in, select the "University Bursar" tab, then select the "UI-Pay" icon.

UIS does not have a book voucher program. Students who intend to use financial aid funds to purchase books and supplies must do so after receiving a refund or use out of pocket funds.

Students must complete the below tasks prior to disbursement of aid:

1. Received a Financial Aid Offer Notification and accepted financial aid through myUIconnect. By accepting financial aid, students accept all terms and conditions associated with each award. It is a student’s responsibility to review and understand the terms and conditions of their financial aid.
2. Satisfied all requests for outstanding requirements from the Office of Financial Aid (OFA) for additional information in a timely manner.
3. Maintained Satisfactory Academic Progress Standards.
4. Enrolled (not wait-listed) and established academic activity or attendance for the term. Enrollment requirements vary by aid program. For federal loan purposes, student must be enrolled at least half-time; 6 hours for undergraduates or 5 hours for graduate students (fall and spring semesters). Most scholarships require full-time enrollment before disbursement. See Financial Aid Terms and Conditions for more information. Note: Aid awarded for a specific term will only be disbursed to you during that same term.
5. Completed/signed all applicable documents:
   • All first-time Direct Loan borrowers must complete the Direct Loan Master Promissory Note (MPN) at StudentAid.gov to receive loan funds. New borrowers at UIS must also complete Entrance Loan Counseling.
   • TEACH Grant recipients must annually complete a TEACH Grant Initial and Subsequent Counseling and an Agreement to Serve (ATS) each year before disbursement.

Special Note to Students Enrolled Less than Full-Time: Your financial aid is packaged based on full-time enrollment. If you are not enrolled full-time at the time of disbursement or at the end of the add/drop period, your aid will be adjusted accordingly and you will receive a revised award notice reflecting your level of enrollment. Federal Direct Loans, Federal Pell Grants, and IL MAP Grants are funds that will pro-rate based upon student enrollment. Other aid programs may only disburse at full-time status. 

Adjustments to aid, including student loans, after disbursement may result in owing funds back to the University. Please closely monitor billing notices, financial aid updates and your student account balance.

Cancelling the Direct Loan

• To cancel any or all of your loan(s), you must contact our office.
  • Prior to disbursement, loans can be cancelled at any time.
  • After disbursement, loans can be cancelled within 14 days after posting to your student account: or
  • Within 120 days of disbursement, you may return all or part of your loan to the lender.

How Will I Receive My Financial Aid?

Grants, scholarships, and loans are first applied directly to your university student account to pay charges for tuition, fees, university-operated housing, and other university charges. Financial aid offered for a specific term can only pay for charges for that same term.

Federal Work-Study

Federal Work Study (FWS) amounts are earned as wages by working in positions on-campus. Wages are paid bi-weekly through the UIS payroll system. UIS maintains listings of eligible jobs and posts them on the UIS CareerConnect portal. Students are responsible for applying for positions and successfully securing on-campus positions in order to be eligible to earn FWS wages.  

UIS Donor-funded Scholarships

Donor-funded scholarships awarded by UIS are not applied to student accounts until after the end of the add/drop period. This allows the OFA to determine final eligibility for the scholarship in terms of verifying donor-specified criteria such as enrollment status, academic major and other related factors. Students must review and accept the scholarship via myUIconnect as well as submit a Thank You note to the Office of Advancement to be eligible for the disbursement.

Private Scholarships

• If your scholarship check is sent to the University, it will be directly applied to your student account, typically as one-half in the Fall Term and one-half in the Spring Term, unless otherwise specified by the scholarship sponsor.
• If your scholarship check is sent directly to you, but it is made out to the University, you should take it or send it to the OFA.
• If your scholarship check is sent directly to you, and it is made co-payable to you and the University, endorse the check and submit it to the OFA.
• If your check is made payable to you only, it is your responsibility to report this resource to OFA and to apply any funds necessary to your University student account.

Private Education Loans

Students may apply for private education loans through various banks and lenders. These loans must be certified by the OFA and meet applicable private lender criteria for disbursement. Once certification occurs, private loans may take an additional 7-10 business days before disbursement can occur. Private loan funds are disbursed to the student account and applied towards institutional charges first before any refund to the student may be processed. 

Release of Funds to You (Refund)

Students whose financial aid exceeds the charges on their university student account will receive these funds (referred to as a "refund") to pay other educationally related expenses. Students can expect excess funds (refunds) to be processed no later than 14 days after the credit balance is created, but often sooner. University Bursar is responsible for processing refunds to students. You may choose to have these excess funds deposited directly into your personal bank account. If you do not choose this option, you will receive a paper check in the mail.