Your financial aid offer will outline different financial aid options available to help finance your education. As a part of the College Cost Transparency Initiative, OSU is committed to creating accessible cost information on your aid offer. Your aid offer will include an estimated sticker price for the university, the various types of aid available, an estimated net price, and information on renewing your financial aid for future academic years. The aid offered to you is based on your Student Aid Index (SAI), your Cost of Attendance (COA), and the availability of funding.
Aid Offer Video Walk Through
How to Print Your Aid Offer Letter
Aid Offer Components
Student Aid Index (SAI)
When you submit your FAFSA application each year, a federal formula is used to calculate your Student Aid Index (SAI) number. This number is not an actual dollar amount that you are expected to pay. It is the number we must use to determine eligibility for need-based aid such as the Pell Grant and the subsidized Ford Direct loan.
Unfortunately, having a zero SAI does not mean your financial aid offer will be able to cover your full cost of attendance. Aid is limited by federal aid maximums and the availability of other funds.
Once the SAI is calculated for the aid year, it may only be revised based on limited exceptional circumstances such as loss of employment or medical expenses. If your resources are not accurately reflected by this year’s SAI, you may contact our office regarding the Special Conditions Appeal process.
Cost of Attendance (COA)
This is an estimate of the total cost to attend OSU. This estimate includes tuition and fees, books and supplies as well as living costs such as housing, food, personal, and miscellaneous expenses. Award amounts offered reflect a three-term, full-time cost of attendance. These are estimated costs only and are subject to change based on factors such as the dining plan chosen, actual credits taken, etc. The actual charges you can expect to see billed to the student account by OSU will only be tuition and fees and room and board (if applicable) on a per term basis. If a student is living off-campus their student billing account will not be charged for housing and dining expenses.
Financial Need
Financial need is determined by subtracting the SAI from the COA. The remainder is considered gross need. If no financial need remains, the student eligibility will consist of non-need-based aid such as a Direct Unsubsidized Loan and/or Direct PLUS Loan.
The Aid on Your Aid Offer
We organize the aid on your offer by type. Any grants and scholarships and all of your "free money" is listed first. We then list the "self help" aid you are eligible for beginning with work-study and then student loans. However, we do not include Parent PLUS Loans or Grad PLUS Loans because they require a separate application and credit check that can be completed each year at StudentAid.gov. All the aid listed on your aid offer is set at the maximum amount you are eligible to receive.
The financial aid offer is based on the expectation of full-time enrollment and is divided up over the standard academic year: fall, winter, and spring terms. Summer term is optional and is considered the first term of each academic year. If you plan on being enrolled less than full-time or will be attending fewer than 3 terms, update your expected enrollment in your Financial Aid Self-Service Portal. Please see our What Happens if I am Less than Full-Time and Summer Aid pages for more information.
Accept, Reject, Revise
You can accept, decline, or modify most parts of your financial aid award. Some types of aid, like the Pell Grant, do not require your acceptance.