Loan Disbursement and Budgeting Refunds
Law students enrolled during the Summer need to be attentive to when loans will disburse and whether they will need to save a portion of their Summer refund to help pay for Fall and Spring living expenses. Here is some information to help you anticipate and manage your financial aid disbursements over the course of the whole academic year.
Semester or Session |
Loan Disbursement / Estimated Refund Timeline |
|---|---|
| Summer Session I |
If you specifically informed the Financial Aid Office that you would be enrolled in Summer Session I by submitting our online form about enrollment assumptions, your Summer loans will be scheduled to disburse on/after May 20, 2024. Refunds from financial aid will be available no earlier than the first day of classes in the session: May 28, 2024. * This timeline is subject to change due to substantial delays in FAFSA processing for the 2024-25 academic year. |
| Summer Session II | If you did not communicate your Summer enrollment plans to our office, or if you are only taking classes during Summer Session II, your Summer loans will be scheduled to disburse on/after June 24, 2024. Refunds from financial aid will be available no earlier than the first day of classes in the session: July 2, 2024. |
| Fall |
First-Year JD and MSL Students: Fall loans will be scheduled to disburse on/after August 5, 2024. Refunds from financial aid will be available no earlier than the first day of Legal Methods, Intro to Environmental Legal Studies, or Intro to U.S. Legal Studies: August 12, 2024. |
| Spring | All Law Students: Spring loans will be scheduled to disburse on/after January 2, 2025. Refunds from financial aid will be available no earlier than the week that classes begin. |
Please note that the timeline above shows the earliest possible dates for loan disbursement and for the release of any resulting refund. If your enrollment begins after the first week of the semester, you can expect your refund no earlier than the week of your first class.
Calculating Potential Account Refunds
We strongly suggest that you download and complete the budget worksheet below, especially if your financial aid offer covers the Summer semester. This worksheet is a tool to help you estimate your per-semester financial aid refund or account balance due.
To complete the worksheet you will need to refer to:
- Your financial aid offer in Self-Service. (Log into WebAdvisor, select the link for Financial Aid Self-Service, and navigate to My Awards.)
- Tuition cost information on the Student Accounts website.
After completing the worksheet and deciding how much to borrow, follow the prompts in Financial Aid Self-Service > My Awards to accept or decline your loans. Additional processing steps will appear in your Loan Requirements checklist. Graduate PLUS Loan borrowers must submit a new PLUS Loan Application every year to authorize a credit check; please be aware that this step will not be marked as complete in your checklist until the loan has been originated.
If you will receive refunds from financial aid in 2024-25, budget carefully over the entire academic year!
Refund amounts can vary by semester and your Summer refund may be larger than your Fall and/or Spring refunds. Therefore, you may need to set aside a portion of your Summer refund to address Fall/Spring expenses.