Semester Disbursement and Refunds
For the Fall 2025 semester, financial aid, which includes student loans, cannot be disbursed to a student’s account until the college can confirm enrollment for the semester. This is a Federal/State financial aid requirement. The reason behind this requirement is that certain aid eligibility is based on the number of courses/units a student is registered for during the semester. Therefore, we must wait until after the Add/Drop period for course adjustments has ended and the Fall semester schedules are finalized before we can disburse aid. We anticipate this process will take place on or around September 17, 2025.
After the aid has been disbursed to the student’s account and the term bill has been paid, the Office of Student Accounts will process any credits on the account as a refund. Traditionally, it takes 14 days for the College to process a refund. For questions on the refund process or about direct deposit information, please visit the Student Accounts website: https://studentaccounts.tcnj.edu/
2025/2026 Official Award Notifications
Official financial aid award notification emails for the 2025/2026 academic year are sent to the student’s TCNJ email address. The first run of official notifications started on July 14, 2025. Traditionally, official award runs are done every other week as new FAFSA records come into our system or our office is informed of new awards, such as private scholarships or loans, from students or third parties. Only complete FAFSA records will receive a notification. Students will be able to log into their PAWS account when they receive the email and view their 2025 Fall and 2026 Spring financial aid. Please make sure the 2025/2026 FAFSA is completed, the TCNJ school code (002642) is listed on the form and that there are no outstanding items on your To Do list in PAWS.
Fall bills will be sent by the Student Accounts Office on July 29, 2025, please reach out to that office with all your billing/payment questions.
https://studentaccounts.tcnj.edu/billing/billing-calendar/
2025/2026 General FAFSA Information
The FAFSA, available on December 1, 2024, has undergone changes and updates. You can read more about the changes here: General FAFSA Information
Incomplete Files/Missing Documents
We highly recommend students monitor their “To Do” list in PAWS on a weekly basis for any missing documentation. When submitting documents to the office, please make sure that they are legible, accurate, and signed (if required) and that all requested pages are submitted. Incomplete documentation will result in delays in processing your aid. Any/all requested documents will have instructions for submission.
TCNJ Authorized Users (Auxiliary Access)
Our office can only speak to students about financial aid matters unless the student grants the parent/guardian authorized user status.
