Financial Aid Guide

No later than one month before classes start, accept or decline all or part of your financial aid offer by following the directions below:

A. Claim Your Account

If you haven’t already, claim your North Dakota University System (NDUS) Account:

1. Go to the NDUS Self Service Portal
2. Click Claim My Account
3. Enter your Student ID/EMPLID and 8-digit birthdate in the fields provided and click Continue
4. Click I Agree, then click Continue to proceed
5. Click Continue to set your account password
6. Input a new password, after it has been accepted, click Change Password
7. A dialog box indicating you have successfully changed your password appears, click Continue to proceed to the next steps
8. Set up your password recovery options, then you have finished and can log out
   • You can now use the Setup Google Authentication or Setup Alternate E-mail options, or both, to set up password recovery options in case you forget your password

You must choose a password between 12 and 16 characters. Your password will not expire.

If you have technical questions related to claiming your NDUS account, contact the IT Service Center at 701-231-8685.

B. Log In to Campus Connection

Campus Connection is the system that you’ll use to accept, reduce, or decline your financial aid offer; register for classes or view and pay your bill. After you’ve claimed your NDUS account and you have obtained your username and password:

1. Log in to Campus Connection
2. Enter your User ID (firstname.lastname) and password, then click Log In.

Once you’re logged in, your Student Homepage will be your default screen. Your Student Homepage is where you’ll view your financial aid, university bill, enrollment, academic and personal information.

C. Review Holds and "To Do" List

In Campus Connection, you can review items needing attention by clicking on the Tasks and Communication tile. Here, you will be able to see if you have holds on your account or if there are any items you need to complete on your To Do List. Holds and incomplete items on your To Do List can delay financial aid processing and prevent class registration.

IMPORTANT: If your FAFSA has been selected for verification, it will show as an item in your Campus Connection To Do List. Your financial aid will not be processed until you’ve submitted all requested documents and verification is complete.

D. Review Your Financial Aid Offer

1. Click Financial Aid on your Student Homepage in Campus Connection.
2. Select the appropriate aid year to view your offer. Click 2027 if you plan to attend NDSU during the Fall 2026, Spring 2027, and/or Summer 2027 semesters.
3. Review the breakdown of your estimated cost of attendance by clicking on Financial Aid Summary.
4. Click Cost of Attendance to see a breakdown of your tuition and fees, housing and meals, books and supplies, transportation costs, and miscellaneous living expenses.
5. Verify your tuition rate. Tuition rates are based on your state of residence. From the Student Homepage, click Financial Account. In the left menu, select Account Summary. Select NDSU and current term. Check the "Base Tuition" line item under Tuition and Fees. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that they are billed the correct tuition rate each term. See Residency and Tuition Reciprocity for more information.

Keep in mind these are estimated costs and not what you owe directly to NDSU. The miscellaneous living expenses include estimated costs for essential living expenses such as laundry detergent and toiletries. If possible, we encourage you to pursue student employment opportunities rather than seek additional student loans to pay for these types of costs.

IMPORTANT: Charges are only made available through Campus Connection under the Financial Account tile. The student’s bill will not be mailed to the student or parent.

E. Accept/Decline/Reduce Aid Offered

1. On your Campus Connection home page, click Financial Aid
2. Click Accept/Decline on the left side bar
3. Click Edit above "Award Description/Category"
4. Indicate whether you want financial aid to pay for all charges by selecting Yes or No under "Funds Authorization"
5. Make your award decision: Accept or Decline
   • You may reduce the amount by clicking the box in the "Reduce" column; enter the amount you want to accept
6. Click Submit and Yes to save.

F. Report Outside Scholarships/Awards

1. Log into Campus Connection
2. From the Student Homepage, click Financial Aid
3. Select the appropriate aid year by clicking Change
4. Click Outside Aid on the left side menu bar
5. Click + and enter the following:
   • Award: Select from the drop-down menu or select "Other"
   • Category: Select "Scholarship"
   • Award Description: Who is the donor? (e.g., Dollars for Scholars)
   • Amount: Enter the amount of the scholarship
6. Click Submit, then Yes to confirm.

This information will be added to your Financial Aid award as a Student Reported Scholarship placeholder. Once the scholarship(s) are received, the placeholder will be reduced or canceled.

IMPORTANT: If you are unsure if you want to accept or decline your financial aid offer, we recommend first completing the Budget Calculator Worksheet in Step 3 to determine your estimated costs.

If you accepted a Federal Direct Loan (subsidized and/or unsubsidized), there are additional steps you must complete online before your loan can be processed.

1. Go to studentaid.gov.
2. Log in with your Federal Student Aid Username and Password (FSA ID), the same login used to complete your FAFSA.
3. Follow the directions to complete the following requirements:
   • Loan Entrance Counseling, a one-time requirement that educates students about their rights and responsibilities as a student loan borrower.
   • Master Promissory Note, also referred to as the MPN, serves as a written agreement for the student to repay all loan funds borrowed.
   • Annual Student Loan Acknowledgment, it is recommended but not required to complete this form. You are acknowledging that you understand your responsibility to repay your loan, how much you owe and how much you can borrow.

IMPORTANT: Keep track of how much you owe and who your federal loan servicer(s) are by logging on to studentaid.gov using your FSA ID and password.

The Budget Calculator Worksheet can be used to estimate your cost to attend NDSU. Please note the cost information is based on current 2025-26 figures and is only an estimate of your 2026-27 educational expenses. Actual figures will not be available until approximately late June 2026.

Enter your educational expenses, financial aid offered and any other resources such as scholarships, college savings plans and personal savings. Your payment due is the balance that remains after your anticipated financial aid has been applied to your bill.

Your actual charges will be posted to your Campus Connection Financial Account the first week in August for the fall semester and the first week in December for the spring semester.

In addition to the financial aid programs listed on your aid offer, we recommend the following options and resources to assist you in paying for your bill at NDSU:

• External scholarships awarded to you by organizations other than NDSU
• Qualified tuition plans, such as the 529 college savings or prepaid tuition plan
• Personal savings, including money received from your high school graduation and earnings from working during the summer
• Parental assistance, in the form of self-payment or willingness to borrow a Federal Direct PLUS Loan for Parents
• NDSU Monthly Payment Plan
• Private student loans, interest-bearing loans that typically require a credit-worthy borrower (student) and a creditworthy co-signer (usually a parent or family member)
  
  To choose a private student loan program and lender:
  1. Go to Private Student Loans
  2. Click the Enter FastChoice Application Tool link
  3. Click Undergraduate Student – Private Loan Options and click Next
  4. Read the disclosure and click Next

NOTE: Lender information is provided as a courtesy. It should not be interpreted as a requirement to use any of the lenders listed on FASTChoice. NDSU will process loans from any participating lender.

If you wish to have your financial aid refund (including excess funds from a private student loan) deposited directly into your bank account, you may self-enroll by clicking Direct Deposit Online Enrollment.

The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 (FERPA) prohibits NDSU from releasing any of your information, including your financial aid, to anyone other than you, the student, unless you have given us written permission to do so.

If you wish to have your information released to your parent(s) or other specified individuals, you may submit the FERPA Consent to Release Form under the "Registration and Records" tab on the NDSU eForms page in Campus Connection.

Yes. If you want financial aid, you are required to accept your offer. You may accept or decline all or part of your financial aid offer by following the directions in Step 1 above.

Annual Limits

NOTE: Independent undergraduate students can borrow an additional $4,000 at the freshman and sophomore level and $5,000 at junior and senior level.

Aggregate Limits

• Undergraduate dependent students: $31,000 with up to $23,000 of that amount being subsidized
• Undergraduate independent students: $57,500 with up to $23,000 of that amount being subsidized

Yes. A snapshot of your enrollment, called census, is taken at 11:59 p.m. on September 3, 2026 for the fall semester, and on January 22, 2027 for the spring semester. Your financial aid offer will be based on your enrollment as of this date.

Your attempted credits, or Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) status, will be based on your enrollment as of 11:59 p.m. on September 2, 2026 for the fall semester, and January 21, 2027 for the spring semester.

Yes. NDSU reserves the right to adjust your offer on the basis of additional information that may become available, including but not limited to: verification of information reported on your FAFSA, notification of tuition waivers, scholarships, grants or other third-party payments, and changes in enrollment status (e.g., changing from full-time to part-time status).

Yes. You must meet certain academic requirements to be eligible for federal financial assistance. These requirements are called standards of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP for short). They include:

• Earning a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.00
• Successfully completing two-thirds (67%) of your attempted credits cumulatively. Credits dropped or failed after the NDSU census date are counted as attempted but not completed
• Be sure you read the complete SAP policy every year.

All outside scholarship checks should be mailed to:

NDSU One Stop
Dept. 3110, P.O. Box 6050
Fargo, ND 58108-6050

Encourage your scholarship donors to mail your check early to ensure that it will be applied to your NDSU charges in a timely manner. Include your name and student ID number.

Yes. Your financial aid may be delayed or canceled because of one or more of the following reasons:

• You did not accept or decline your financial aid offer through Campus Connection.
• You did not complete your Master Promissory Note (MPN) at studentaid.gov.
• You did not complete Loan Entrance Counseling at studentaid.gov.
• Your FAFSA was selected for Verification, and you have not submitted all requested documents.
• All required first-year application documents have not been submitted to the Office of Admission, such as an official final high school transcript, ACT or SAT scores, college transcript(s), etc.
• You have not electronically signed the Financial Obligation Agreement.
• You do not meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP).