For more information visit: emergency.wvu.edu
The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) of 2008 requires disclosure of policies
that can affect students in colleges and universities. The following information
is disclosed to you as a student at West Virginia University or one of its divisional
campuses in compliance with federal law.
Select a topic from the list below for more specific information:
For federal financial aid consideration ( Title IV funds), students must submit a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on the Federal Student Aid website each year they are admitted/enrolled and want federal aid consideration. Please visit our Applying for Aid and Completing the FAFSA webpages for more information.
Students may be selected by the Department of Education for a process called "verification." More information regarding verification including requirements, deadlines, and how to submit documents can be found on our Verification webpage.
There are various types of aid students may be eligible to receive based on financial need and/or academic merit. See our Types of Aid webpage for more information.
Eligibility for aid, depending on the aid program, may also be impacted by many other factors. For more information, please visit our All About Aid Offers webpage.
Information is available on the Federal Student Aid website for the entrance and exit counseling required for federal loan borrowers of subsidized, unsubsidized, and Graduate PLUS loans. Entrance counseling is required before loans can disburse, and exit counseling is required when a student is no longer enrolled at least half-time (due to graduation, not returning, or reducing enrollment).
Federal TEACH Grant recipients must completed entrance counseling (or subsequent counseling if the grant has been received before) each aid year they receive the grant before it can disburse (in addition to the Agreement to Serve or Repay requirement). Entrance and subsequent counseling is available at the Federal Student Aid website. These students must also complete exit counseling when they graduate or leave the program of study for which they received the grant. TEACH exit counseling is available at the Federal Student Aid website.
Students who have borrowed Perkins or institutional loans must complete exit counseling when the student is no longer enrolled at least half-time (due to graduation, not returning, or reducing enrollment). Exit counseling for these loans is provided by a third-party, Heartland ECSI. Students will be emailed instructions to their student MIX email (via the WVU Portal) from Heartland ECSI when exit counseling must be completed.
The Terms and Conditions of federal student loans are listed on the Master Promissory Note which must be completed and signed by the student before their federal loans can disburse. The Master Promissory Note (or Loan Agreement) also describes the Rights and Responsibilities of the borrower.
Listed below are links to the Rights and Responsibilities for different types of federal student loans:
Students can use the Repayment Estimator on the Federal Student Aid website for more accurate repayment estimates based on their circumstances.
See below for the average federal loan indebtedness for students who graduated from a West Virginia University campus in May 2025.
| Student Type | Average Indebtedness of Federal Loan Borrowers at Graduation
(includes only students who borrowed federal loans) |
Percentage of Students Who Graduated with No Federal Loan Debt |
|---|---|---|
| Associate Degree (Resident Student) | $10,662 | 75% |
| Associate Degree (Non-Resident Student) | $13,439 | 65% |
| Bachelor's Degree (Resident Student) | $19,035 | 52% |
| Bachelor's Degree (Non-Resident Student) | $20,368 | 38% |
| Graduate Degree (Resident Student) | $42,756 | 47% |
| Graduate Degree (Non-Resident Student) | $48,835 | 66% |
| Professional Degree (Resident Student) | $115,936 | 30% |
| Professional Degree (Non-Resident Student) | $153,124 | 42% |
You may download our May 2025 Graduate Indebtedness spreadsheet to see the average federal student loan indebtedness of graduates from each academic department. Please note that you may see a warning when opening this file due to the protection settings.
Please refer to the Student Loan Data Statistics webpage on the Education Data Initiative website for national student loan information. If the student would like to learn more about repayment and estimate their monthly payment, a Loan Simulator is available on the Federal Student Aid website. A video on responsible borrowing is available on YouTube with tips on how to keep student loan debt manageable.
Borrowers should first attempt to resolve complaints about their federal direct loans by contacting the school, company, agency, or office directly involved. If the borrower has made a reasonable effort to resolve the problem through normal processes and has not been successful, they should contact the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman.
All students (whether Pell Grant eligible or not) whose financial aid and payments are more than their institutional charges at the start of the semester are eligible for a financial aid refund. Visit our Refunds webpage for additional information and to learn how to sign up for direct deposit.
The University has a tuition refund policy that stipulates the amount of tuition and fees that will be refunded to a student who withdraws from all classes during a term. This policy is published by the WVU Hub and can be viewed on our Withdrawal and Billing Changes webpage.
Students may purchase textbooks using the WVU bookstore. For more information about using financial aid to purchase books through the WVU bookstore, refer to our Course Materials Program webpage.
Attention Federal Pell Grant recipients: Financial aid is disbursed approximately 10 days prior to the first day of classes for each term. Therefore, if your Pell Grant and any other disbursed aid exceed your institutional charges, you should (if eligible) receive any reimbursements to purchase books and supplies by the required seventh day of the term.
Students withdrawing from classes must follow the withdrawal policies posted on the Office of the University Registrar's website.
The federal government mandates that students withdrawing from all classes may keep only the financial aid they have "earned" up to the time of withdrawal. Funds paid to the student's account in excess of the earned amount must be returned by the student. The repayment policy is available on our Withdrawal and Aid Changes webpage.
Students may be able to receive financial aid for study abroad trips. More information can be found on our Study Abroad Scholarships webpage.
Student Financial Services has established a code of conduct for financial aid professionals as required by law. Student Financial Services discloses that currently no financial aid professional on staff is serving on a lender advisory board.