No. Accepting your aid just reserves it for your use.

To accept your financial aid awards, please log into PAWS account and follow the instructions below: 

• Select the Financial Aid tab
• Select Award
• Select Award for Aid Year
• Select the current Aid Year and submit
• Select the Terms and Conditions tab (students are required to review the terms and conditions of their financial aid before proceeding)
• Read and accept the terms and conditions of your aid awards
• Select the Accept Award Offer tab to accept or decline your awards by selecting on each drop-down box.
• Submit Decision (bottom of the page)

There are a number of reasons a student’s aid may not be posted in full.  If you are a returning student, you may not see a full financial aid package on your account until your spring grades have posted.  New students may lack a financial aid package for a number of reasons, including outstanding financial aid requirements, missing FAFSA application, or an incomplete admissions application.

All applicants are considered for Florida Tech’s Panther Fund Academic Scholarship at the time they are admitted; there is not a separate application required for consideration.

Students only receive a refund if their financial aid is greater than their billed charges.  For example, if your billed charges are $21,623 and your aid is $22,000, you will receive a refund of $377, because your aid is greater than your billed charges.  If your aid is $21,000, you will have a balance due of $623, because your aid is less than your billed charges.

For more information on financial aid refunds, visit the Account Refunds page.

Refunds are released to main campus and extended studies students immediately after the last day to register, add a class, or drop a class with full tuition refund.  This date varies each term, based on the term start date.  View the academic calendar for the current term’s last day to register, add a class, or drop a class with full tuition refund. 

For more information on financial aid refunds, visit the Account Refunds page.

Students with excess financial aid on their student account (excluding work-study), may move the funds to their Panther card to purchase books and supplies at the Campus Bookstore. Students may go to the Student Accounting/Cashier window in the Harris Commons building to fill out the transfer request.

Verification is the process of ensuring that the information on a FAFSA is accurate. The Department of Education selects a portion of FAFSA applications for verification each year.  Some students are selected multiple times and some are never selected.  Schools are required to collect the necessary documents to complete verification before they can disburse a student’s financial aid.  Necessary documents can include, but are not limited to: tax information, signed statements, signed verification worksheets and other income information.

Students must complete verification if they wish to use their Federal Financial aid, need-based aid, and certain Florida State grants.  Students who do not wish to use loans and are not receiving need-based aid can elect not to complete the verification process by contacting our office.

Students should complete verification prior to the end of the term in which they are currently enrolled to ensure that they will qualify for Federal Financial Aid. Florida Tech will complete verification for students who are no longer enrolled or who have chosen to sit out a term or semester and disburse all aid to which the student is entitled by eligibility rules; however, once unenrolled, students may no longer be eligible for all of the federal aid included in their original aid estimate, based on late disbursement rules.  

Financial Aid may request tax information to complete the verification process, resolve FAFSA errors, confirm a retirement account rollover, or resolve other income-related issues on the FAFSA.  If you are unsure about the reason for the request, please contact us.

Florida Tech merit scholarships, Panther grants and endowment scholarships are not available for Summer classes; however, some students may qualify for Federal loans, Bright Futures and/or PELL grants during the Summer term. Students must be registered for at least 6 credit hours to be eligible for federal student aid and Bright Futures; however graduate students taking a 3 credit hour "full load" course may be eligible for Federal student loans and should contact the Financial Aid Office for more information.

There are instances in which dropping a course could result in an outstanding balance on your account.  Always contact us prior to dropping a course to find out if it will impact your aid.

If you are withdrawing from the university completely (dropping all course), it could impact your financial aid.  There are two policies in effect that may impact a student who withdraws:

University Refund Policy

Federal Return of Title IV Funds Policy

We highly recommend students contact our office for help understanding how the withdrawal will affect them and whether or not they will be left with an outstanding balance on their account.

The Department of Education created the Unusual Enrollment History review prevent fraud and abuse in the Title IV student aid programs.  Students who have received a Federal Pell Grant and/or Federal Direct Student Loans at multiple institutions during the past three or four academic years may be selected for the review process. While some students may have legitimate reasons for their enrollment at multiple institutions, the Financial Aid Office is still required to review your file and may need to request additional documentation to determine your eligibility for Financial Aid.

The Work Study program is a Federal program that partially sponsors a student’s employment on campus.  Students who qualify are awarded work study and may apply for a job on campus.  Once they are hired, they will work and receive a bi-weekly paycheck.  The total earnings for the aid year may not exceed the amount they were awarded in their financial aid offer.  For information on how Work Study is awarded, see How Financial Aid is Awarded.