How to Apply for Financial Aid

There are several different ways to apply for financial aid depending on what type of student you are. Below are the steps that outline the process:

Prospective Students

If you are thinking of applying to Drexel or have applied for admission and are also interested in applying for financial aid, please review our Prospective Students Financial Information.

Continuing Students

Continuing students should take the following steps to apply for financial aid for subsequent years of their enrollment.

• Review Financial Aid Distribution to understand how financial aid is disbursed in all years of a program.
• U.S. citizens and permanent residents should complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) for each year of their program. View information about completing a renewal FAFSA and deadlines.
• There may be additional requirements or steps that students must complete before their financial aid can be determined for an upcoming year. Students should check the Billing+Financial Aid tab in DrexelOne to determine if they have additional requirements to complete.
• Review the terms and conditions to ensure that all requirements for financial aid eligibility are met.
• The Office of Financial Aid will review students' eligibility for merit scholarships automatically; if a student is determined to be not meeting the requirement for a scholarship or award, the student will be notified. 
• Private scholarships typically require separate applications that are submitted directly to the organization offering the award. Tools for finding private scholarships can be found on the Private Organization Scholarships page.

Accept or Decline Federal Work-Study Funding and/or Loans

The process for receiving Federal Work-Study (FWS) and/or federal loan funding requires that students electronically accept or decline the award(s) offered to them.

To complete this process:

• Log in via DrexelOne.
• Select the Billing+Financial Aid tab.
• In the Financial Aid Requirements section, expand the "Accept Your Federal Aid" item.
• Select the link in the message. 
• Follow the listed information on the new page to accept or decline your aid.

Options for Accepting/Declining your FWS and/or Federal Loan Award(s)

Before you accept or decline your award(s), you should ensure that you understand the requirements for the Federal Work-Study funding and/or federal loan award(s) offered to you.

Please note that you are only required to accept or decline Federal Work-Study and loan awards. All other awards are automatically accepted.

Options for Accepting/Declining Your FWS and/or Federal Loan Award(s):

• Note that you can only accept or decline the amount for the full year even though the term amount is displayed.
• Navigate to the drop-down menu under the "Take Action" header for each FWS and/or loan award.
• Select either "Accept" or "Decline" from the drop-down menu for each award.
• Once you have selected for each award, navigate to, and select, the "Submit" button below the award listing.
• You will receive a message at the top of the screen once your decision has been submitted.

Please note: You will not be able to change your response online after submission. Please contact Drexel Central if you have any questions.