FINANCIAL AID &
GLOBAL EXPERIENCES

• To use Federal Financial Aid such as Federal Pell Grants, Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans, or a Parent Plus loan, you must be enrolled at least half time (6 or more credits for an undergraduate, 4.5 or more credits for a graduate)
• The Study Abroad program must also include credits of enrollment leading towards your degree. This means that you cannot have graduated or completed the requirements for your major program.
• Students must also meet the University’s standards for Satisfactory Academic Progress to remain financial aid eligible.
• If you are enrolled less than half the time, you may apply for a Private loan. Individual lenders may approve loans based on less than half time status. We recommend reviewing potential lenders on Fast Choice, an online service that allows students to compare and research private lenders. The University of Pittsburgh does not endorse or recommend any specific private lender.
• Loans – Financial Aid | University of Pittsburgh
• https://choice.fastproducts.org/FastChoice/home/337900

• Financial Aid consists of scholarships, grants, loans, and work study. Only work study cannot be used while studying abroad. Scholarships, grants, and loans can potentially be used provided that you meet the eligibility requirements for each particular award that you receive.

• Financial Aid will be disbursed through PittPay just like a standard, on-campus semester. In order for financial aid to disburse, you must be enrolled in credits and meeting the requirements for each individual award you wish to use.
• For Panther Programs, you will be billed for all charges on PittPay. Your financial aid will disburse and pay towards those charges. If your financial aid exceeds what you owe the University, the overpayment will be refunded to you via PittPay eRefunds.
• For Pitt Recognized Programs, you will be billed for all charges by your third-party program provider. Once you are enrolled for credits, you will be billed on PittPay for a Global Experience fee. Your financial aid will disburse and pay off this fee first. Any additional aid that exceeds what you owe Pitt will be refunded to you via PittPay eRefunds. You should use this refund to pay your program provider.

We encourage all students to enroll a bank account number through PittPay eRefunds so that your refund can be deposited directly into your bank account. If you do not register a bank account on PittPay, a check will be mailed to your address of record. Especially while traveling around the world, a mailed check will significantly delay your ability to access your refund

• To use your university awarded merit scholarship, you must be enrolled full time (12 or more credits for an undergraduate), meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress, and have term of usage remaining. You may receive a scholarship for a maximum of 8 terms and the Study Abroad usage will count towards the 8 terms.
• Other scholarships may be usable on study abroad but could vary by the department that awarded you the scholarship. We recommend contacting the area that notified you of the award to verify your eligibility for specific scholarships.
• Scholarships awarded by the Global Experience Office for the purpose of study abroad can be used during your program.

If you participate in a Global Experience program and are the recipient of a tuition-based scholarship, it is a University policy that Pennsylvania residents can receive a scholarship amount up to the equivalent of PA tuition charges for the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences (A&S); and out-of-state scholarship recipients, an amount up to in-state PA A&S tuition plus 50%. If your scholarship also includes room and board, your award will be limited to an amount up to the fees for a standard double on-campus room and an average meal plan, as used in the financial aid awarding guidelines

• Yes, if there are charges on PittPay and you meet the requirements for the scholarship.
• Checks from outside scholarship agencies should be dropped off in person or mailed to the Student Payment Center for the quickest applying of the funds to your account. Scholarships from a Source Outside the University | Student Payment Center (pitt.edu)

• Financial Aid cannot disburse to a student’s PittPay account until we are within 10 days before the start of the semester. The federal government prohibits accessing financial aid earlier than 10 days prior to the start of each term. The start of a semester is determined by the Pitt academic calendar, not the start date of your Global Experience.
• In order for your financial aid to disburse once we reach that 10 day window, you must be enrolled in your program credits and meet the requirements for each type of financial aid award.
• Refunds will begin to process after financial aid has disbursed. Once a refund is generated, it can still take 3-5 business days for the refund to reach your bank account if you are enrolled in PittPay eRefunds.

If your program provider has a due date that is before your will receive your financial aid refund, contact your program provider and request their version of a due date deferral form. Most providers have a form that you can complete that states that you will be receiving financial aid, but you won’t receive it until a date later than the due date. There is typically a student section and a financial aid administrator section to be completed. The provider may provide a due date extension for some or all of the amount owed until you receive your refund.

If you are eligible for the Fall and/or Spring terms you do not have to complete any forms. If you are eligible during the Summer term, you would complete a Summer Aid Request via docusign from the Financial Aid website – Financial Aid Forms – Financial Aid | University of Pittsburgh

• The half and full-time requirements, as well as enrolling in credits leading toward a degree still apply, however, the types of available aid would vary. The financial aid year includes Fall, Spring, and Summer terms. You are eligible for 100% of your aid during that aid year. If you received 100% of your Federal loans (50% for Fall and 50% for Spring) you would not have any Federal loans available for the Summer term. If you have remaining federal loan eligibility and you would like to have it offered to you during the summer term, you should complete a Summer Aid Request form – Financial Aid Forms – Financial Aid | University of Pittsburgh. Remember that the federal student loan annual limits are $5500 for first year students, $6500 for second year, $7500 for third or fourth year. These amounts are combined total of your subsidized and unsubsidized federal loans.
• You may qualify for a Summer Pell Grant and Pell Plus Grant. The amount would be determined after the Summer Aid request form is completed and you are enrolled in credits for the summer term. To receive Pell during summer, you must have been Pell eligible during the fall and spring terms. Students that were enrolled full-time during the fall and spring, must enroll at least half-time in the summer to receive summer Pell.
• Based on the credits of enrollment, a parent may apply for a Parent Plus loan, or you could pursue a private loan. Parent Plus Loans are considered federal financial aid, so half time enrollment is required.
• The full-time requirement would still pertain to the use of university awarded merit scholarships, as well as meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress. Using a merit scholarship in the summer does count towards a student’s 8 term maximum of scholarship usage. You may need to request your merit scholarship be added to your account in the summer term after you are enrolled full time by emailing the Financial Aid Office.

• We recommend using PittFund$Me to search and apply for all scholarship opportunities, including those for Global Experience programs.

• Yes if all eligibility criteria are met. The eligible Pitt-employed parent needs to verify the charges/costs and usage through Pitt’s Human Resource Benefits office.

• The timing of Financial Aid for global experiences will be based on the Pitt academic calendar and the semesters that you are enrolled in and receiving credits for. It is possible that the aid you are receiving may disburse to PittPay prior to your Study Abroad program starting. The aid can still be used for the program costs.

• The financial aid will pay the charges listed on PittPay and any global experience fees first (if it has not been paid out of pocket prior to the aid being disbursed). Pitt Recognized programs only post the global experiences fee. After the financial aid is disbursed, if you receive a refund, you may use it to pay any additional expenses associated with your global experience. Remember that the timing of when you receive your refund will be no sooner than 10 days prior to the start of the semester. It is likely you will be booking your travel and housing arrangements prior to receiving your refund, so be prepared to pay for these expenses in another way, and then receive your refund later.

• Office of Veterans Services
University of Pittsburgh
Wesley W. Posvar Hall (Rm 1444)
230 South Bouquet St.
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
veterans@pitt.edu

International students may be eligible to apply for private loans or scholarships on PittFund$Me that are open to all students. However, international students that are not eligible to complete the FAFSA cannot be considered for federal financial aid.

A Direct Enrollment Program is a Global Experience where the student is enrolled for credit at another institution and not enrolled for credit at the University of Pittsburgh. Direct Enrollment Programs are uncommon and not associated with the University of Pittsburgh. University of Pittsburgh institutional financial aid, scholarships, state aid, and federal financial aid cannot be used during the term(s) in which you participate in a Direct Enrollment Program. To be eligible for any form of financial aid through Pitt, you must be enrolled in credits towards a degree seeking program.