How to apply – US financial aid
To apply for financial aid, please complete the following steps:
- Create or update your Federal Student Aid's FSA ID.
- Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for the relevant loan period and academic year (Monash University's federal school code is G10914).
- Complete the Direct Loan Entrance Counselling (first time borrowers at each grade level must complete this).
- Sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN) for the relevant loan period (if you're a graduate student and wish to borrow PLUS loan, you must also sign a Graduate PLUS MPN).
- Download and complete the Monash financial aid application (pdf, 0.08 mb).
- Email the completed form to foreign.finaid@monash.edu.
FAFSA generates an electronic Student Aid Report (SAR), which has your financial aid history and your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) amount. We'll use this information to determine your Cost of Attendance (COA) and how much you’re eligible to receive.
If you applied for a federal student loan last year, you may be able to complete a renewal FAFSA between October and December each year. If you completed a renewal, you also need to complete steps 4–6 to reapply for financial aid.
What’s next
Upon confirming your Federal Direct Loan (DL) eligibility, we'll email you a financial aid offer containing the following information:
- Loan amount for which you're eligible
- COA calculation
- Disbursement date(s)
Once you've specified the amount that you wish to borrow, we'll certify the loans with the US Department of Education. The loan funds can only be disbursed after course commencement and in multiple disbursements of equal amounts. We usually time each disbursement to the school teaching periods (e.g. semester or terms) so you shouldn't expect to receive the funds prior to starting your course.
While we wait for the disbursements, you may enrol and attend classes. You'll receive a tuition fees statement advising you of the fees and charges based on your enrolment, as well as any payments you've made (e.g. deposit, OSHC). Should you have outstanding tuition fees, we'll include a note on our system to indicate that we're waiting for DL funds. This will ensure that you're not penalised for "overdue" fees.
Disbursements
Closer to the disbursement date, we’ll notify you via email the loan amount to be disbursed and your rights regarding the loan. You must confirm via reply email whether you wish to proceed with or cancel the disbursement. If you choose to proceed, we’ll release your disbursement as scheduled.
As soon as your loan disbursement is transmitted to Monash, we'll allocate it to your tuition first. If the loan amount is sufficient to cover tuition, the balance will be refunded to you for living expenses (we’ll request your bank information via email when required). If the amount is insufficient, you'll be required to pay the outstanding amount by a specified due date.
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