Apply for Financial Aid

Who Gets Federal Student Aid?

Most U.S. citizens or eligible non-citizens are eligible for financial aid for college or career school. It's important to understand the criteria of the programs, how to stay eligible, and how to get your eligibility back if you lose it.

Eligibility Requirements

The general eligibility requirements include that you have financial need, are a U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen, and are enrolled in an eligible degree program at Embry-Riddle. There are more eligibility requirements you must meet to qualify for federal student aid.

For a quick glance at the basic eligibility criteria for federal student aid, view a text-only version of Eligibility for Federal Student Aid.

Additional eligibility requirements can apply in certain situations, including for non-U.S. citizens, students with criminal convictions and students with intellectual disabilities.

What if I had an extenuating circumstance that may impact my financial aid eligibility?

This is called a Professional Judgment, where the Financial Aid Office recognizes that households can experience changes in income or other finances that are not reflected in their information from two years prior. These are special circumstances that can be considered that may impact the student's financial aid eligibility. In these rare cases, a financial aid counselor may exercise professional judgment to adjust the student's Cost of Attendance or the data that determines the student's Expected Family Contribution. For more information, please visit our Professional Judgment page.

Get Prepared

Gather the documents you’ll need.

Complete the FAFSA® Form

Use the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form to apply for financial aid.

New to the FAFSA^® Process?

Completing the FAFSA form is free. Fill it out now.

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Returning User?

Correct your info, add a school or view your FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS).

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FAFSA Topics

• Creating an FSA ID
• Gathering the Documents Needed to Apply
• Getting Help
• Starting Your FAFSA® Form and Providing Your Basic Personal Information
• Listing Colleges and/or Career Schools
  • ERAU’s Federal School Code: 001479
• Determining Your Dependency Status
• Reporting Parents’ Information
• Providing Financial Information
  • What to Do If Your Parents’ (or Your) Marital Status Has Changed Since Taxes Were Filed
  • Automatically Transferring Your Tax Information - The Financial Aid Direct Data Exchange, replacing the IRS Data Retrieval Tool starting with the 2024-2025 FAFSA form, will transfer contributors' federal tax information from the IRS directly into your FAFSA form.
• Signing and Submitting the FAFSA® Form
• Taking the Next Steps

For more information on Federal Student Aid, please review How Financial Aid Works.

Filling out the FAFSA® is free. Beware of websites and services who charge you for filling out the application. If you suspect a website is charging people, or if you need assistance, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center at 800-433-3243.

Applying for Financial Aid

What tax information do I need to complete my FAFSA on or after October 1?

Watch the video "After the FAFSA: What Happens Next?" on YouTube.

The FAFSA Submission Summary is a summary of the FAFSA data you submitted. You (the student) will get your FAFSA Submission Summary after your FAFSA form is processed. Look over your FAFSA Submission Summary carefully, make sure you didn’t make a mistake on your FAFSA form, and make corrections to your FAFSA data if necessary. Find out more about the FAFSA Submission Summary, its purpose, how the method you use to file your FAFSA form determines when you’ll get the FAFSA Submission Summary, and what you should do with the FAFSA Submission Summary.

What if I made a mistake on my FAFSA application? How do I correct it?

If you made a mistake on what you reported on the FAFSA, you will need to make a correction. If your FAFSA has been rejected due to incomplete or incorrect information entered on the application, you will need to make a correction.

How do I make changes to my FAFSA^® form?

You can make changes in one of the following ways:

• Make changes by logging in to your StudentAid.gov account. If you’re a dependent student and you change information about your parent(s), one of your parents must sign your FAFSA form electronically using their own StudentAid.gov account.
• If you received a paper FAFSA Submission Summary by mail, you can make your changes, sign it, and send it to the address listed on your FAFSA Submission Summary.
• Contact the Financial Aid Office at wwfinaid@erau.edu for help in making the changes.

Note: Federal tax information transferred directly from the IRS cannot be changed on your online FAFSA form. If you filed an IRS Form 1040-X amended return, contact your college’s or career school’s financial aid office to discuss whether it would be appropriate for the school to adjust the information on your FAFSA form.

Applying for Scholarships at Embry-Riddle Worldwide

Embry-Riddle Worldwide students are eligible to apply for state scholarships, state grants, university institutional grants/scholarships and external scholarships. Scholarships and/or grants are based on specific criteria. Scholarships and/or grants can come from the federal government, your state government, the university, and a private or nonprofit organization.

State programs offer their own range of scholarships and grants that you may qualify for through residency and meeting outlined criteria from your state.

Worldwide scholarship opportunities are funds designed to reward students who have shown successful academic achievement.

University institutional scholarship opportunities are funds generously donated to the university to help students pay for their education.

External scholarship opportunities are offered to students by organizations independent from Embry-Riddle.

Generally, all financial aid paperwork, aside from verification and appeals, may take up to 10-15 business days to be processed.

However, there are peak periods when processing times could be longer. Please see below estimated processing times:

• Verification - 4-6 weeks from the date last required document is received
• SAP (Satisfactory Academic Progress) Appeal - 20 business days
• Refunds - 5-10 business days after the add/drop period

All student notifications will be sent to the students' assigned university e-mail address. Students are responsible for reading e-mails received from the university, as this e-mail is the official means of communication for students at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University – Worldwide.

Students enrolled in a degree-seeking program (associate, bachelor's, master's and doctoral) are assigned a financial aid track. Financial aid tracks are comprised of four, nine-week terms for most undergraduate and master's degree students. The track will reflect the eligible terms for students to enroll in and receive their disbursements of financial aid for the current academic year. For more information about financial aid tracks and financial aid, please visit Financial Aid Terms and Conditions.

Undergraduate Students

Undergraduate students enrolled in courses are assigned the following track:

• Track 1 - Online Track Only: July Term - September Term - November Term - February Term - (April Term if remaining aid is available or start term)
• Track 2 - Blended Track: August Term - October Term - January Term - March Term - (May Term if remaining aid is available or start term)

Master's Students

Master's students enrolled in courses are assigned the following track:

• Track 2: August Term - October Term - January Term - March Term - (May Term if remaining aid is available or Start Term)

Please Note: June and December terms are not eligible for federal financial aid.