The Office of Financial Aid at Washington and Lee University has compiled the following information to aid you in preparation for this fall. This booklet provides you with information that we hope will clarify important steps in the aid process and details regarding your student account. We look forward to assisting you throughout the 2025-26 academic year. Please read all the following information carefully and do not hesitate to contact me at 540-458-8032 or ebreeden@wlu �edu if you have questions.
Drake Breeden, Associate Director of Financial Aid - Law
FIRST-YEAR CHECKLIST
AND IMPORTANT DATES
o May 15-31: Review your 2025-26 Financial Aid Notification on the Financial Aid Portal.
o June 10: Priority deadline to “Accept” loan offers on-line and to complete any required federal loan documents (See “Guide to Law Student Loans”).
o June 30: Deadline for completing federal verification for those who were selected for verification.
o July 15: Deadline to submit the Signature Authorization form to the Office of Financial Aid. Enables continued access to online processes.
o July 15: Add Financial Aid access for parents or others in Friends and Family. See page 7 “Guest/Parent Access (FERPA)”.
o July 20: Review your billing account on-line to verify financial aid credits, pending/estimated aid, and to determine if you have a balance due.
o July 24: Final deadline to Accept on-line any loan offers. Pending loans at this point are marked “Decline”.
o August 1: Deadline to complete any required loan documents. All accepted loans with incomplete documents at this point are marked “Decline” by the Office of Financial Aid.
THE FINANCIAL AID PORTAL
Up until this point, you have been viewing financial aid information on the Applicant Portal. Your aid information has now been transferred to the Financial Aid Portal, and you can access this portal using the “Check Your Aid Status” link on the Financial Aid home page: my�wlu �edu/financial-aid. To make the most of your financial aid offers, we encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Financial Aid Portal.
Your 2025-26 Financial Aid Notification
This link will take you to your current aid offers. Access your 2025-26 Financial Aid Notification and mark all loans offers as Accept or Decline by the appropriate deadline listed in the Checklist. If you wish to accept a loan for a lesser amount, mark the loan as “Accept” and enter the updated amount in the box to the right of the loan offer. Do not forget to Submit the form. Law Scholarships are accepted by the Financial Aid Office. Some aid may require the receipt of additional documentation before showing as being accepted. Any submission you make may take up to 48 business hours to update on-line. Below is an example of the aid notification.
Federal Shopping Sheet
Clicking on the Federal Shopping Sheet takes you to the federal award template which can be used to compare awards from various schools. It is not the official W&L aid notification.
College Costs COLLEGE COST
2025-26 Cost of Attendance
Cost of Attendance is a list of the expected expenses you may incur during the academic year. These include tuition, fees, housing, food, books/supplies, miscellaneous and personal expenses and travel. Your financial aid offers are based on the full cost of attendance, i.e., if you applied for aid, then you have received aid offers that could include grant/ scholarship, loans and Work-Study. The total of this aid will equal your cost of attendance.
Direct vs. Indirect Costs
The billed or “direct cost” for W&L includes tuition, fees, and mandatory dining. Your Fall and Winter Semester bills are posted in July and November. There are other expenses you will incur during the year such as books, supplies and living expenses. These items are considered “indirect costs” and in most cases will not be part of your semester bill. You will see book charges on your bill if you purchase your books or supplies from the University Store and choose to charge the purchase home.
Buying your Books
You can purchase your textbooks and supplies from the W&L University Store when you arrive on campus, and they can be charged directly to your student account. If you have a credit on your account because of your grant/scholarship or loan, then this charge will reduce that credit. If you do not have a credit, you can still charge the supplies to your student account. This charge will show as an amount due on your next university bill.
Health Insurance
Health insurance is required for all students. A University health insurance plan can be purchased if you are unable to obtain coverage that meets W&L requirements. If you purchase the W&L health insurance plan you can receive loan to cover the additional cost. Once you have purchased the W&L plan the charge will appear on your student account. The Office of Financial Aid will email you in early fall semester to determine if you want loan to cover the cost of the insurance (if you submitted a FAFSA). If you authorize additional loan, the credit created by your loan will take place in late August/ early September.
A GUIDE TO LAW STUDENT LOANS
Federal Unsubsidized Stafford Loan
The Federal Unsubsidized Stafford loan accrues interest at the point of disbursement and is capped at $20,500/year.
Processing and disbursement of the Stafford loan requires submission of the documents below and acceptance of the loan on the FA Portal.
Master Promissory Note (MPN)
Entrance Counseling
Federal Direct PLUS Loan (Grad PLUS)
The Federal Grad PLUS loan accrues interest at the point of disbursement and the amount of the loan is limited by the cost of attendance and any other aid the student has received.
Required documents for processing and disbursing the federal Grad PLUS loan to the student account include:
Master Promissory Note
PLUS Loan Application
Entrance Counseling
Federal Loan Interest and Fees (24-25 Academic Year)
Unsubsidized Stafford Loan Interest: 8.08%
Origination Fee: 1.057%
Private Loans
G rad PLUS Loan Interest: 9.08% Origination Fee: 4.228%
Students who seek private loans from non-federal lenders should contact Drake Breeden in the Office of Financial Aid to process the loan. Once you have completed the private loan application, email ebreeden@wlu.edu for further details regarding the processing and disbursement for the loan.
Loans that are applied for and certified prior to the July 15 bill apply toward the account balance. After August 10, private loans that are not fully processed and disbursed will be canceled.
BILLING AND PAYMENTS
In early July, you will be contacted by the Business Office with details on how to access the on-line payment system. All W&L billing is completed on-line. Within the payment system, you will be able to create accounts for other users such as your parents. Around July 15, registered users will receive a notice that the Fall Term bill is available for review. Payment is due on August 10. Subsequent bills from the Business Office will be posted around the 15th of each month and should be reviewed for any new charges/credits. Winter Term charges will show on the November bill. Please contact the Business Office at (540)458-8730 or businessoffice@wlu �edu for billing or payment questions. The Office of Financial Aid does not process any student billing or payments.
Estimated/Pending Aid
Estimated/Pending aid is an aid award that will reduce your bill, but has not yet actually disbursed, and will be applied to the account at a later date. Federal regulations prevent us from crediting federal grants and loans to your account in July when the fall bills are generated. However, these awards will display on your student account as estimated/pending aid once all requirements are met. Pending aid typically disburses the first week of classes or the following week.
Meal Plan Billing
W&L bills your meal plan based on the number of weeks in a term. However, financial aid grants, scholarships and/or loans are credited evenly between terms. The aid you receive for the fall term is half of your total aid for the entire year, and you can expect your winter term aid to be equal or similar. However, the winter term bill in November will reflect a larger meal charge, because the winter/spring term has more weeks. Since financial aid amounts do not vary between terms, but the meal plan charge does vary, you should be prepared for an amount due or credit on the winter term bill that will vary from what was reflected on your fall term bill.
Credit Balance
A credit balance on your student account is created if credits from financial aid or other sources are greater than the charges on your student account. A credit balance appears as a negative amount due. Students can schedule a refund of their credit balance by contacting the Business Office when they arrive on campus in fall. Winter credit balance refunds can be scheduled in January. A credit balance can be used to pay for indirect expenses such as books, supplies, personal expenses and travel.
Holds and Late Fees
If you have an outstanding balance for an extended period, the Business Office may place a hold and/or assign a late fee to your account. Holds may prevent a student from registering for a class. A Business Office hold can only be removed by contacting the Business Office and paying the entire past-due balance. If you want to use a loan option to pay an outstanding balance you must accept the loan and complete all required documentation. An incomplete loan will not show as pending aid. You may wish to check your Items Requiring Your Attention to determine if any specific financial aid documents are incomplete. A student with an unpaid balance will continue to carry a hold and incur late fees until the balance is paid. It can take up to two weeks to process a loan, and during that period any Business Office hold will remain on the student account.
Please be aware the Office of Financial Aid does not place holds and cannot remove a hold that has been placed on a student account.
A tool from studentaid.gov that helps you estimate monthly student loan payments and consider repayment plans.
Loan Simulator
studentaid.gov/loan-simulator/
Federal Aid Resources
Additional information about loans, grants and the FAFSA.
Federal Aid
finaid.org/loans/
Budgeting and Managing Your Funds
Many students find it valuable to reconcile the grant funds, loans, work earnings and other income with the various expenses they will incur while attending W&L. The College Budget Worksheet (linked below) is a tool that will help you in the financial planning of your education for the nine –month academic year. A copy is also provided on the next page.
Am I required to take the full loan amount offered? No. You may decline the loans, take the loans in full oraccept them for less than the full amount.
Can I take a loan later in the year if I decline it originally? Yes. Loans originally declined may still be processed within the same academic year. To process a declined loan, contact Drake Breeden at ebreeden@wlu.edu
Is it possible to adjust loan amounts after disbursement?
Yes. If you have not borrowed your full loan eligibility, you can increase a loan to the full amount. Likewise, you can reduce the amount of a loan you borrowed.
How do I accept a loan that was previously declined? Contact Drake Breeden at ebreeden@wlu.edu and request that the loans be processed.
When will my loans disburse to my account? Loans in most cases are split between semesters. The fall disbursement of federal loans will occur during the first week of classes of the fall semester. The second disbursement occurs soon after the beginning of spring semester.
How do I use my loan funds for expenses that are not charged to my account (books, food, travel, rent)?
If your loan funds create a credit balance you have the option of leaving your funds on your account, or withdrawing the credit balance. In order to use your credit balance for off – campus expenses, you will need to transfer your money to your personal account or request a credit balance check from the Business Office. Contact the Business Office at businessoffice@wlu.edu for details. Credit balance funds are available 1-2 weeks after loan disbursement to the student account.
FINANCIAL AID STAFF
JAMES KASTER
Director of Financial Aid
W&L Need-Based Grants, International Grants
MEGAN HOBBS
Associate Director of Financial Aid
Johnson Scholarships, National Merit
DRAKE BREEDEN
Associate Director of Financial Aid - Law
Student and Parent Loans, Law School Student Aid
SHANICE HARDY
Associate Director of Financial Aid - Outreach
QuestBridge, Spring Term Abroad, Federal & State Grants
