Financial Aid Overview

You have submitted your FAFSA forms and documentation, and we’re processing our steps. 

We’ll send your financial aid award amounts to the Department of Education for approval, enabling us to move to the disbursement step.

Action items 

• Enroll in direct deposit, for the quickest refund of any excess financial aid balance.
• Visit FAQ: Your Financial Aid Refund for more information and resources.

What to watch for

Email

During the first 2 weeks of the term, watch for an email confirming that your financial aid documentation is in order. Specific timing for the email can vary as we process each student’s account.

Financial Aid Dashboard

Check your financial aid dashboard to see if there are any outstanding documents for your financial aid application

Did you know?

You can check your Strayer University student account at any time by asking our chatbot Irving for an update with questions like “do I have any outstanding financial documents?” 

Changes in your enrollment can affect the level of financial aid available to you, based on the loan limits set by the Department of Education

Participate in your classes and maintain your eligibility for financial aid.

If the Department of Education accepts your award amount, your disbursement will be processed once you have met the basic requirements:

• Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress standards
• For grants: undergrads must post attendance in at least 1 class, note that Pell grant awards are contingent on participation in each registered class
• For loans: undergrads must post attendance in at least 2 classes, graduate post attendance in a least 1 class

Action items 

• Check the Student Financial Services board in the Strayer community for regular financial aid reminders as each term begins.

What to watch for

Email

We will send you an email notifying you that your disbursement is ready, and when it will be posted to your Strayer University student account.

Financial Aid Dashboard

Disbursements start the 2nd week of every quarter, but it’s a rolling process and takes more than a day to complete for the whole student population.

Did you know?

You can track your disbursement status on the Account Dashboard, or by asking our chatbot Irving “when will my financial aid be ready?”.

The financial aid disbursement process defined by the Department of Education requires both electronic and manual steps for each student, which is why disbursement for the whole university can take multiple days.

Monitor your account status as the approved financial aid money is sent to Strayer and applied to your account.

Financial Aid funds are used to pay any outstanding charges to date, and your account status is reviewed. If there are no account issues and more financial aid funds than required to pay your account balance, the excess funds are flagged for refund to you.

Note that on our disbursement days, it can take the entire business day for our funding team to process and post funds to your student account. Your Account Dashboard may continuously update during the day, and may temporarily show you owe a balance even though your funding does show as paid. This is normal and will update throughout the day.

Action items 

• Sign up for direct deposit with Heartland ECSI, and they will send you emails about the refund process.
• If needed, pay the remaining balance or set up a payment plan.

What to watch for

Financial Aid Dashboard

The financial aid dashboard will reflect incoming financial aid funds and your updated account balance.

Text Message

We will send a text to let you know that your refund has been approved, and when to expect the refund direct deposit or paper check (depending on your preferences). Processing is typically done in 1-3 business days, but account reviews can take longer during peak periods.

If you don’t receive your disbursement in the first day or so, we will send you updates by text message with more details.

Did you know?

You can ask Irving for a status update with questions like “what is my account balance?” or “will I get a refund this quarter?”.

If you sign up for direct deposit any financial aid refund can be deposited directly to your bank account, and you’ll have it days earlier than waiting for a paper check.

Watch for email communications and confirm receipt of your refund.

Refunds are processed by Heartland ECSI, and emails for your refund will come from them, so you may need to check your email program’s spam or junk folder if you don’t see them. You should receive your refund in 2-3 business days if you’re using direct deposit, or 5-7 business days if you prefer a paper check.

Action items 

Expect your refund in: 

• 2 - 3 business days via direct deposit
• 5 - 7 business days via paper check

What to watch for

Text Message

If you are getting a refund, we will send you a text to let you know that your refund has been released to Heartland ECSI.

Heartland ECSI will send you an email with details on:

Your refund amount

Confirmation for delivery details (bank info or mailing address)

Refund issue date

Expected arrival timeline

Did you know?

You can use your refund for any education expense, but remember that financial aid loans will have to paid back later, and you may reach your maximum loan limit before graduating. Check your My Plan page within the FA portal on iCampus. Consider returning any refund to reduce your loan amount, or use it toward books or other education expenses. You can visit studentaid.gov to review your loan history.

When you ask Irving “where is my refund?”, our systems will check for any outstanding issues and let you know if there are additional steps needed to release the refund.