Understanding Financial Aid

For starters, when trying to understand your financial aid — check out the Office of Student Financial Aid Services website.

  1. Log in to MyAccess using your net ID and password.
  2. Click on Financial Aid. Select Award Information. Select the proper school year.
  3. Choose the Award Overview and the breakdown should be between Family Responsibility and Financial Aid Award By Term

Federal work-study (FWS) is a federally funded program that provides money to universities to pay students for on campus jobs and some approved off-campus community-service organizations. FWS enables a student to earn money to help pay for educational expenses and gain work experience. For example, at Georgetown, if you get hired at the Student Employment office (SEO) and you qualify for work-study, the FWS money will be used to pay you for your work. You will receive a normal paycheck like everyone else, the only difference is that a percentage of the funding for your job is from the government and a small portion from the office budget. You can check if you have work-study by going to My Access>Financial Aid>Award Information>Award Overview. Note, FWS can run out, but can potentially be increased if you qualify by talking to your financial aid counselor.

There are two types of federal loans you may receive: Unsubsidized and Subsidized. There are many differences, the key one being is that if you take out a subsidized loan you will not get charged interest while you are enrolled in school and a subsidized loan will accumulate interest (still at a lower rate than private loans though) once the loan is disbursed. Find more key differences in our credit and loans tab, the infographic below and here.

Scholarships and grants consist of money awarded to you that you do not need to pay back — free money! If they have to be directly paid to Georgetown, one of two things may happen. They can be applied to your bill and your new balance will be available. On the other hand, outside scholarships sent directly to the university might replace scholarship money you initially received from Georgetown. Nevertheless, the bottom line is to meet demonstrated financial need.

We have a Student Employment Office (SEO) that is dedicated to helping students navigate finding jobs, whether they are federal work-study or not, and on/off-campus through HoyaWorks.