Financial Aid may be utilized by students who participate in OSU approved study abroad programs. To be considered, you must be formally accepted into an education abroad program through the Office of Global Opportunities and meet financial aid eligibility requirements before your aid assistance can be determined.
Your cost of attendance, in combination with the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and available aid funds will be used to determine your aid assistance for the term you plan to be abroad. In most cases, the only remaining aid eligibility is in the form of Direct Student loans, Parent PLUS loans, or Private/Alternative loans. Direct Student loans have yearly aggregate limits which cannot be exceeded. If you have been awarded your federal yearly loan maximums, you will be limited to Parent PLUS loans or Private/Alternative loans.
The Office of Financial Aid is not able to provide information on your financial aid eligibility until we have received your program cost estimates from the Office of Global Opportunities.
With the exception of Federal Work Study funds, most financial aid may be used for OSU affiliated study abroad programs. Generally, the only additional aid available to cover these added costs are from either a Parent PLUS loan (for dependent undergraduate students) or an Alternative/Private loan. Your study abroad advisor can provide you with program costs and payment details. Financial aid is disbursed using the standard term dates for the university. Aid funds are generally paid out a few days prior to the start of the term.
OSU develops a cost of attendance that will represent the average cost to attend OSU for an academic year. This is an estimate and is used for financial aid awarding purposes only. After your submission of the 2024-2025 Study Abroad Financial Aid Request form, your cost of attendance estimate may be adjusted to reflect the expected cost of your program.
Financial aid cannot be disbursed prior to the start of the regular OSU term for Study Abroad participants. Your financial aid has the same requirements and will be disbursed the same as it is when you are attending OSU. Financial aid does not post charges to student billing accounts. You may pay all of your program costs to OSU, all costs to an outside agency or foreign university, or tuition and fees to OSU and other costs, such as room and board, to a foreign university. Be sure to check with your study abroad coordinator to make sure you understand exactly what you will owe to whom, and when it is due. Most program providers offer a billing plan that takes into account your financial aid award and the date that aid will be released. Please note that you MUST finalize your Financial Aid before requesting that your aid is certified. Financial Aid will certify your CURRENT award package and the provider will request that you pay the difference, so be sure you have accepted all your financial aid prior to submitting any verification forms.
- Complete your FAFSA.
- Sign & submit all paperwork.
- Accept your financial aid by logging into your Financial Aid Self-Service Portal.
- Sign Master Promissory Notes for all loans & complete any required Entrance Counseling.
- Submit a 2024-2025 Study Abroad Financial Aid Request
- Submit a Release of Confidential Information for anyone that needs to have information about your aid.
- Sign up for direct deposit through your Beaver Hub account.
- Plan ahead for emergency funding.
- Pay any up front program costs.
- Pay off any outstanding balance on your OSU student account.
- Most importantly, if you have questions, or do not understand how the process works, ASK!