Disbursement
What does disbursement mean?
Disbursement means the payment of money. Disbursement is how your financial aid or scholarship award (money) is paid to you.
Enrollment before disbursement
Before you can receive your awarded funds at the beginning of each semester, you must be enrolled in enough units to be eligible. Learn about enrollment requirements and other conditions you must meet before you can receive your financial aid.
How are funds disbursed?
Funds are disbursed to students via Direct Deposit after basic tuition and fees, out-of-state tuition, and on-campus housing and meal plan payments are deducted.
Parent PLUS Loan funds are mailed to the parent borrower or, the parent borrower may authorize any remaining loan funds not needed to pay university charges to be deposited to the student's designated bank account. Learn more about Parent PLUS Loan disbursement.
How much will I receive?
Use the Calculate Your Disbursement worksheet to see either how much you will still owe or how much financial aid you will receive. Remember that your financial aid will first be used to pay outstanding university charges (tuition and fees and residence hall room and board if you are living in university housing). You will not receive any funds until your university charges are paid in full for the semester.
Receiving your funds
Learn when funds become available to you and how you will know.
Includes information on release of funds for Parent PLUS Loans, Study Abroad and CSU
Visitor Program.
Who disburses funds?
Student Account Services manages the disbursement of all financial aid and scholarship funds.
Be prepared
Remember to bring enough money with you at the beginning of each semester to pay your expenses until financial aid funds are available. Learn how much money to bring!
How to postpone some payments until you receive your funds
You must pay each semester's basic tuition and fees or enroll in the installment plan before you register for classes, unless you qualify to postpone (delay) payment until your financial aid is available. Find out how to qualify for postponement of these fees, as well as the university housing initial payment.
Track your university housing costs
It is your responsibility to keep track of the amount of financial aid disbursed and
applied toward your university housing costs, and to pay remaining costs when due.
Each electronic billing statement will have a summary of the housing payments due
during the semester.
Log in to Student Account Services and check your billing statements and your transaction history of charges and payments,
including payments made using your financial aid.
Where your award money goes
Your financial aid award is disbursed in this order:
- First to help pay your basic tuition and fees
- Then to help pay out-of-state tuition, if you are not a California resident
- Then to help pay on-campus housing and meal plan charges
- Remaining funds, if any, are deposited to your designated bank account via direct deposit