Student Financial Aid
The Office of Student Financial Aid provides education, guidance, and support to students and families throughout the financial aid process. We administer federal, state, and institutional aid programs to students at East Carolina University, the Brody School of Medicine, and the School of Dental Medicine.
ECU’s Federal School Code is 002923
Book an appointment to speak with a financial aid counselor.
Announcements
1 March 2024: Summer Financial Aid is live. For more information or to apply, visit our Summer Aid page here.
9 February: Delayed Offers with FAFSA delays
For new Pirates coming aboard for Fall 2024:
Congratulations & welcome aboard! We’re excited to share in your journey, and are offering an important update on the Financial Aid process.
Aid offers are delayed nationwide.
As you know, the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) is used to determine your financial aid based on financial need and eligibility. Your FAFSA information is typically transferred to schools when you complete the form. However, the U.S. Department of Education has delayed this process nationwide due to implementation of changes required by the FAFSA Simplification Act. Without your FAFSA information, universities across the nation, including East Carolina University, are currently unable to determine your aid offer.
What’s next?
We appreciate your patience as the U.S. Department of Education works through this delay. We anticipate receiving your information by mid-March. Our office is ready to process your information as soon as it is received and provide you with your financial aid award as quickly as possible — most likely in early April.
We’re here to help.
We understand that this delay may be a source of stress for you. Don’t worry! ECU is committed to student success — YOUR success. The Office of Student Financial Aid and Office of Undergraduate Admissions are here to help and ready to assist you on your journey to joining Pirate Nation. Continue to monitor your email regularly for further updates.
We look forward to welcoming you aboard this fall!
For returning members of Pirate Nation:
While the FAFSA delays are impacting our ability to receive the information, currently enrolled students should still expect award notifications by late May. Continue to monitor your ECU email regularly for updates, if any additional materials might be requested, so we can ensure your file is ready when we start generating those packages.
30 September: 2024-25 FAFSA Launch Delayed
Due to significant overhauls being implemented to the FAFSA process, the 2024-25 FAFSA will not be open until sometime in December 2023 instead of October 1st. For more information, view the announcement from the Department of Education here.
In the meantime, here’s a glimpse of what’s coming:
11 September: Course Program of Study (CPOS):
Course Program of Study (CPOS) is a U.S. Department of Education requirement that only considers courses counting toward a student’s program of study for financial aid eligibility. This federal requirement is not new but is monitored at ECU through a reporting process beginning with Spring 2024 registration.
Federal financial aid is only awarded for courses included in your program of study.
For more information, visit our CPOS page.
30 June: If you have questions about the recent Supreme Court decision on the Biden-Harris loan cancellation program just announced by President Biden, you will need to check with your lender to see if or how you might be affected.
If you do not know who your lender is, you can go to https://studentaid.gov/ and log in with your FSA ID to find out who your lender is and their contact information.
Current information and updates can be found here.
West Campus is Open! There is now a satellite office located in the Health Science Student Center serving the Medical, Dental & Allied Health students. See our Contact Us page for the location.