Financial Aid, Scholarships & Veteran Benefits

CCJO & Tuition Free Degree

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Financial Aid Checklist for CCJO Students

We encourage students to complete this process AS SOON AS POSSIBLE each year to ensure your financial aid package arrives on time. It's important that students submit the FAFSA as soon as they can. Some types of aid, including the Oregon Opportunity Grant, are limited and are awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

Apply for Financial Aid Instructions 

1.  Fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Assistance (FAFSA). 

• Be sure to complete the correct aid year. Each school year at PSU begins Fall term in September.

NOTE: Portland State University’s School Code: 003216

2. Once you submit your FAFSA, you will receive a confirmation email within 2-3 business days stating that your FAFSA has been sent to PSU. 

• Note: Your FAFSA information will be sent to PSU ONLY if you entered the correct school code for PSU:  003216.

• Please allow about 5-7 business days for PSU to receive your FAFSA Application.

3. Once you have been admitted to PSU, you will need to set up your PSU Odin Computer Account to ensure you are able to access the https://my.pdx.edu portal, Google Apps (PSU email, etc), Canvas (online class access) and more.

• • To set up your Odin account or to reset your password, please go to https://oam.pdx.edu 

  • After you set up your Odin account, you can access your PSU email and other systems through https://my.pdx.edu. 

    • All students are required to set up and regularly monitor their PSU email account. You MUST regularly check your PSU email! Occasionally check the Spam folder too. Important messages regarding financial services, registration, degree requirements, graduation, etc., will only be sent to your PSU email account. If you miss information sent there, significant problems will result!

4. Be sure to keep an eye on your Finances account at https://my.pdx.edu as your FAFSA is being processed. Under Financial Aid Dashboard:

• Check/Review/Accept/Decline your financial aid award offer

• Check your financial aid status and view outstanding documents requested

• Complete and submit electronic forms

• Print copies of required forms

• Receive notifications about your financial aid application

Regularly check the "Notifications" page. Here you will see if there are any other documents requested of you from the Financial Aid Office that need to be completed in order to start the packaging process. 

The Financial Aid Office will not reach out to you directly if you are missing any documents! Therefore, it is the responsibility of the student to be checking the proper sections to see if the Financial Aid Office is requesting any additional documentation from you. 

*Financial Aid will not start the packaging process until all requested documents have been received and satisfied!

• Once all documents have been received and approved, it typically takes about 3-4 weeks to see your Award Letter. 

5. Once your Award Letter has been posted, you will be notified through your PSU email account. 

6. To accept or decline your award, log into your Finances account at https://my.pdx.edu. Under Financial Aid Dashboard, select “Offer." Be sure to choose the correct award year.

You will then have the ability to either accept or decline what you have been offered. *Please be aware you have the ability to decline or accept a partial amount offered. We recommend only accepting the amount needed.

If you have accepted Stafford Loans and are a first-time PSU Stafford Loan borrower, you will need to go to: studentloans.gov to complete the Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling.

Students with undocumented parents: File the FAFSA electronically following these instructions. 

*Students who have fulfilled all financial aid requirements will receive their disbursement ten days before the beginning of each term.

If it is within 10 days of the start of the term and you have not received your financial aid disbursement, contact Financial Aid.

Manage Your Financial Aid Instructions - Follow these instructions to revise your aid and maintain your eligibility.

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Direct Deposit Instructions

Once you receive your financial aid and it is applied to your tuition and fees, some students may have excess funds left over.  In order for you to receive these excess funds, you are required to to set up direct deposit in advance.

*Please be sure to do this right away or you will experience delays in receiving your funds.

1. Log on to your account at https://my.pdx.edu

2. Under the Finances, select “ Direct Deposit Set-up.”

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Helpful Financial Aid Documents

Revision Request Form: https://www.pdx.edu/student-finance/forms#financial-aid-forms 

The reasons you may need to complete a Revision Request Form include the following:

1) You change your enrollment status.

• Financial Aid automatically will assume a student plans to be a full-time student (meaning registering for 12 or more credits per term). 

• Check your Award Letter to see what enrollment level Financial Aid is expecting. If you plan to attend half-time (6-8 credits per term) or if you plan to attend at 3/4-time (9-11 credits per term), you MUST complete a revision request form to inform the Financial Aid Office of the change and to avoid a delay to your disbursement.

• If you later decide to change back to full-time, then you must submit the Revision Request again.

Most students need to register for at least 6 credits per term (half-time) in order to qualify for financial aid. Certain scholarships may require full-time enrollment (12 credits).

2) You switched from another PSU program into CCJ Online. 

• Depending on a student's individual program, it may be recommended or possibly required that a student take Summer courses.

• If you need or want to take Summer courses, you will need to switch your disbursements from 3 times a year to 4 times per year to have enough funding to attend year-round with CCJ Online.

• Non-CCJO students at PSU have their financial aid disbursed 3 times per year in Fall, Winter and Spring.

3) You may also use Revision Request Forms for:

• An Increase in Stafford Loans Due to Grade Level Change

• Accepting previously declined loans

• Declining previously accepted loans

NOTE: *If your Financial Aid is not disbursed 10 days prior to the start of term, you may need to complete a Revision Request Form or adjust your enrollment.*

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PSU Payment Plan

You have the option to set up a payment plan if you have any outstanding balance after financial aid has been applied. 

The benefits of setting up a payment plan are the following:

• Term balance is split into three equal payments.

• No interest or account maintenance fees.

• Automatic payment setup for an e-check or card.

For instructions on setting up a payment plan please access the link: https://www.pdx.edu/student-financial/the-psu-payment-plan

*Please be aware you must set up your payment plan prior to the due date of your balance for each term.*

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Financial Aid Contact Information

If you have questions about your financial aid or need help on any of the steps in the process, please feel free to Contact Financial Aid directly at the contact information below:

Schedule an appointment with a Financial Aid Counselor: https://portlandstatefinaid.youcanbook.me/

Phone: 503-725-3461; Toll-free: (800) 547-8887

Fax: 503-725-5965

E-mail: askfa@pdx.edu Response time could be up to two weeks.

For questions concerning your PSU bill or collections information, please contact Student Financial Services at 503-725-3440 or studentfinancialservices@pdx.edu.

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Scholarships

Be sure to apply for scholarships through PSU’s Scholarship Universe. Access 500+ PSU scholarships and 15,000+ vetted and legitimate external scholarships. There are hundreds of thousands of dollars available for PSU students from all backgrounds and areas of study. Even if a student qualifies for no other aid, they may still be eligible for many scholarships. Don’t miss out on this opportunity!

https://www.pdx.edu/student-finance/scholarships

See also:

State of Oregon Scholarship Application

State of Washington Scholarship Application

For questions regarding the scholarship awarding process at PSU, outside scholarship need analysis forms and sending outside scholarships to PSU for application to students' accounts, please Contact Financial Aid.

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Veterans Affairs (VA) Benefits

Many veterans, active duty service members and dependents enroll in CCJ Online programs using their military-affiliated education benefits. Find out more on the PSU VA Certification website.

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