Disbursements – How you receive your financial aid
All students are given a billing account with LMU's Student Accounts Department. Once you become enrolled, your account will be charged tuition and fees as well as any charges for housing and meal plans.
How Financial Aid Funds Reach Your Student Account
Your financial aid will be credited to your account to pay toward your LMU charges. Once applied, you and/or your parent(s) can make payments to your student account to cover any remaining charges.
Crediting of financial aid to your student account is called disbursement. In general, LMU financial aid begins the process of disbursing aid to students’ accounts 10 days prior to the start of each semester and continues to disburse aid throughout the semester on a daily basis.
The majority of your financial aid award may come from grants, loans, as well as some types of scholarship funds. These items will be credited directly to your student account once you have completed any and all disbursement requirements.
There are some exceptions. Recipients of the Cal Grant B Access Award may request this award be refunded directly to them by completing the Cal Grant B Refund Request Form, rather than have the funds credit your student account. This award is designated for personal costs including: living expenses, transportation, supplies and books.
Also, student employment from work-study do not automatically credit to your student account. You will receive a bimonthly paycheck after you begin working. However, you may choose to apply your paycheck to your student account to assist with any outstanding balance or payment plans.
Notice of Disbursement and Right to Cancel a Federal Direct Student Loan or Federal Direct Parent PLUS Loan
As a student or parent borrower, you have the right to cancel the entire loan or any portion (a specific disbursement) of any Federal Direct or PLUS loans. Requests to cancel a specific loan disbursement may be submitted prior to the date of crediting to your account or within 14 days of notification. To request the cancellation of a loan disbursement, please complete a Revision Request Form. If a disbursement has already credited to your account, you may request to cancel that disbursement only if a refund has not been generated. Please note that you can request to cancel future disbursements.
If a refund has not been generated you must request to cancel the disbursements within 14 days of notification that the funds disbursed to your account.
If a refund has already been generated you must repay any loan funds you wish to return directly to the U.S. Department of Education by contacting your loan servicer. For loan servicer contact information, visit https://studentaid.gov/manage-loans/repayment/servicers.
The process to purchase books and supplies
If there is a credit balance on your student account after your financial aid has disbursed, you may request a refund to use to purchase books and supplies. You may also sign up for automatic refunds with Student Accounts so the credit balances will be automatically transferred to your own bank account. For more information visit LMU's refund policy.
The Student Account Center
To make a payment or enroll in a payment plan, please visit the Student Account Center. The Student Account Center is also accessible through the 'System Logins' drop-down menu in MyLMU, and is a secure, 24/7 online service that allows students/authorized users to:
- Pay tuition, fees, room, and board
- Make housing deposits by webcheck
- Make Flexi deposits by webcheck
- Set-up authorized users for secure third-party access
- Enroll in a payment plan
- Schedule future payments
- Sign-up to have refunds directly deposited into your bank account
- View your monthly statement
The Student Accounts Department is your resource to learn about:
- Budget Calculator/Payment Options/Billing - Calculate an estimated Budget based on Housing Choice & Meal Plan
- Refund Policy
- Cost of Tuition & Fees
If you have any questions about your student account, please contact the Student Accounts Department at 310-338-2711 or by email at studacct@lmu.edu.