Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid

Northern Arizona UniversityOffice of Scholarships and Financial Aid

Financial.Aid@nau.eduToll Free: 1-855-628-6333

NAU
Financial Aid
How It Works

How financial aid works

Step 1: Be admitted to Northern Arizona University

Be certain you are admitted to the university as a degree-seeking student.
Undergraduates should visit the Undergraduate Admissions and Orientation site.
Graduates should visit the Graduate College site. (Note: you do not have to be admitted to fill out the FAFSA.)

Step 2: Get a PIN from pin.ed.gov

Obtain a PIN at www.pin.ed.gov, if you have not already received one from the federal processor. This will allow you to access, complete, and electronically sign your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or Renewal FAFSA, to view the status and results of your processed FAFSA, to make corrections to your Student Aid Report (SAR), to complete Entrance and Exit Counseling. You should never give your PIN to anyone. Be sure to keep your PIN in a safe place. Parents and students must have their own PIN.

Step 3: Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Complete the FAFSA and submit it online at fafsa.gov using information from the requested income tax returns (preferably by February 14). If you want to get your FAFSA from the university, you must be admitted.

Step 4: Get access to LOUIE

Obtain access to LOUIE (the university’s Lumberjack Online University Information Environment) so that you can check your financial aid, award, and disbursement statuses online. You will also use LOUIE to check your current schedule of classes and grade reports, to find class availability when preparing to register, and to add or drop classes.

Step 5: Get and use your university e-mail account

Obtain and use your university e-mail account. This is the official delivery method to receive important notifications from the Office of Student Financial Aid and other university offices. If you have questions regarding your university e-mail account, please contact the Academic Computing Help Desk. If you have a main e-mail account— Yahoo, AOL, etc.—that you would rather use, you should always forward your university e-mails to that account so you do not miss any important messages from our office.

Step 6: Register for classes

Register for all of the hours you indicated on the FAFSA, which assumes you are full-time student until you indicate otherwise. You can view how many hours for which you are funded:

log on to your LOUIE account
select Financial Aid And
scroll down to Term Summary for Aid Year
your funded hours will be under FA Load

Undergraduate students

6 hours = part time
12 hours = full time

Graduate students

5 hours = part time
9 hours = full time

Contact our office to have your class load and financial aid adjusted accordingly to avoid delays in getting your financial aid funds. Remember that the summer and winter sessions do not have an automatic Tuition Payment Plan; if you do not have enough financial aid to cover your summer tuition, your classes will be dropped.

Step 7: Check your LOUIE to-do list

Once your file is complete it may go through a verification process. If it does, you will be required to submit further documentation before your financial aid can be awarded. Check your to-do List on LOUIE to make sure your file is complete and verified to avoid delays in getting your financial aid funds and service fee charges.

Step 8: Complete loan counseling

Complete Loan Entrance Counseling if you are a first-time loan borrower to Northern Arizona University at studentloans.gov. Your aid will not dispense without this.

Step 9: Sign a promissory note for your student loan

If you have never signed an Electronic Master Promissory Note (EMPN) before and you wish to accept a student loan, you must use your PIN to sign one. Your aid will not dispense without this.

Step 10: Sign up for direct deposit for possible financial aid refunds

To sign up for direct deposit, you will need your savings or checking account number and the routing number for your United States bank or credit union. If you do not have a direct deposit account, your financial aid refund will be mailed in the form of a check to your ‘Refund’ address (in LOUIE). Checks are not available for in-person pick up. Sign up for Direct Deposit on LOUIE:

go to the LOUIE Student Center
click on Finances
click on Direct Deposit

Step 11: Check LOUIE for your awards

If you have been awarded any type of financial aid, check your LOUIE account to ensure your aid will cover your tuition and fees.

Step 12: If necessary, pay fees not covered by your awarded financial aid

Be prepared to pay your fees by the due date listed on your bill. If your awarded financial aid will not cover all of your fees, you MUST pay the difference by the due date. Visit the Student and Departmental Account Services for tuition due dates and payment methods to avoid service fee charges.*

Step 13: Keep your information updated in LOUIE

Keep your ‘Refund’ and ‘Preferred’ addresses current via LOUIE.