Semester Disbursement and Refunds
For the Spring 2026 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 Spring semester schedules are finalized before we can disburse aid. We anticipate this process will take place on or around February 18, 2026.
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/
Update on Federal Loan Changes Beginning in 2026
You can read up on changes coming to the federal loan programs here:
https://financialaid.tcnj.edu/update-on-federal-loan-changes-beginning-in-2026/
One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) Financial Aid Updates
Beginning July 1, 2026, the OBBBA introduces new changes to certain financial aid programs. You can read more about them here:
https://financialaid.tcnj.edu/one-big-beautiful-bill-act-financial-aid-updates/
Estimated Award Notifications – Newly Admitted 2026/2027 Students Only
The first run of estimated financial aid award notifications, for the 2026/2027 academic year, for NEWLY ADMITTED students, was sent on February 19, 2026. The notification email was sent to the email address on file with the TCNJ Admissions Office. Traditionally, this is the email address reported by the student on the Common Application.
Student’s whose admit status was not finalized by the February 19th date, whose FAFSA data had not arrived at TCNJ, were missing social security numbers in our system or who may have had an incomplete or rejected FAFSA, once these statuses are updated/corrected in our system, they will receive an estimated award. Below are the dates for our next estimated award runs:
March 19, 2026*
April 9, 2026*
April 23, 2026*
*These dates may be subject to change.
The Admissions Office would have notified students of their Merit Scholarship eligibility with their Admissions Acceptance notification. For questions about merit scholarship eligibility, please contact Admissions.
We encourage all students to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) as soon as possible in order to be considered for any need-based aid, which includes student loans. You can read more about the FAFSA on our General FAFSA Information website. https://financialaid.tcnj.edu/general-fafsa-information/
Below is a sample of the estimated award email that was sent to students via their Admissions portal:
Sample Estimated Award Email
2026/2027 Official Award Notifications
Official financial aid award notification emails for the 2026/2027 academic year are sent to the student’s TCNJ email address. The first run of official notifications are estimated to be sent on July 16, 2026. Traditionally, official award notifications 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 2026 Fall and 2027 Spring financial aid. Please make sure the 2026/2027 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 28, 2026, please reach out to that office with all your billing/payment questions.
https://studentaccounts.tcnj.edu/billing/billing-calendar/
