Understanding Your Aid Offer & Next Steps You Need to Take

Next Steps to Receive Your Aid

Once you review your financial aid offer, there are additional steps you must take to receive your financial aid.

• Accept/Decline Your Financial Aid

  In order to receive any type of aid, it must be accepted through My4D. To view and accept or decline each type of aid offered to you:

  1. Sign into My4D.
  2. Click on the "Accept or Decline My Financial Aid Offer" link within the Financial Aid Information widget on your dashboard.
  3. Select the appropriate aid year from the drop-down menu.
     1. For students starting in the 2024 fall term, select the 2024-2025 Aid Year.
  4. Click on the Terms and Conditions tab, review, and click "Accept."
  5. Click on the Accept Award Offer tab.
       - Choose Accept or Decline in the drop-down menu next to each type of aid (most DU scholarships will already be accepted on your behalf).
       - If you wish to only accept a portion of a loan, type that amount in the "Accept Partial Amount" box. Remember that any amount you accept will be split evenly over your terms of enrollment — i.e., fall, winter, and spring quarters (or fall and spring semesters if you're a law student).

• Apply for an Additional Loan

  If you need to apply for an additional loan to help cover your costs, options include applying for a Graduate Plus loan or a private education loan. Both types of loans are credit-based and are not guaranteed financing.

  Learn More

  JD students: A Graduate PLUS loan is automatically offered to you as a part of your initial financial aid offer. You may accept, decline, or accept a partial amount of that loan. Remember that this is not guaranteed financing, and you'll need to pass a credit check with the U.S. Department of Education if you accept it. We recommend borrowing federal student loans instead of a private education loan from a bank or credit union, but if you decide to borrow a private loan, we'll need to decrease or cancel the Graduate PLUS loan offered to you.

   

• Complete Loan Requirements

  If you accepted a Direct Unsubsidized loan and are a first-time borrower, you must complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) and Entrance Counseling through https://studentaid.gov/ to secure that funding:

  • MPN for Unsubsidized Loans
  • Entrance Counseling

  
  If you are a JD student and accepted a Graduate PLUS loan, you'll need to complete a separate Master Promissory Note (MPN) through https://studentaid.gov/:

  • MPN for Direct PLUS Loans

• Sign Up for a Payment Plan

  DU offers our graduate students quarterly payment plans, as well as semester plans for law students. The application fee is $50 per quarter/semester plan.

  Visit the Office of Student Billing to learn more.

• Sign Up for Direct Deposit

  If your financial aid is more than the total of your charges, you'll receive a refund from the Office of Student Billing. To expedite your refund, we recommend setting up direct deposit through My4D. Instructions can be found on the Office of Student Billing.

• Accept or Waive DU's Health Insurance Plan and/or Health & Counseling Services

  Many students are automatically enrolled in the DU Student Health Insurance Program and in DU health and counseling services. If you are covered by another health insurance plan, you may waive participation in DU’s health insurance. A separate health and counseling fee is charged per quarter, which provides many free and discounted services at DU’s Health & Counseling Center.

  More information about this program, including instructions on how to waive participation in health insurance, is available on the Office of Student Billing website.

• Keep an Eye on Your Checklist in My4D

  Be sure to frequently review the Financial Aid Checklist widget on your My4D dashboard. Any item with the open circle icon next to it requires further action and may prevent you from receiving your financial aid in a timely manner.