New Student Checklist

Welcome incoming freshmen and transfer students! We want to help ease your transition to our college and to make sure that you have completed all of the necessary steps in order to receive your financial aid on time. In order to accomplish this goal we have come up with a checklist for new students! Please make sure you have completed everything on this checklist by the time you receive your first bill. 

• Make sure you have filled out this year’s FAFSA at fafsa.ed.gov and have included our school code (001813) on it. If you would like to learn more about “How to Fill out the FAFSA” please click here.
• Check your e-mail on a regular basis. E-mail is our primary way of communicating with students. So make a habit of checking it on a regular basis to ensure that you don’t delay your aid by missing a crucial message. If you need help setting up your IU e-mail account please visit University Information Technology Services' Knowledge Base here.
• Check on your financial aid package. Get familiar with your aid package and your Cost of Attendance Cost of Attendance (COA). To learn how to view your financial aid package online through OneStart please watch this tutorial. If you have any questions about your aid package please contact our office.
• Check your To-Do List through OneStart.iu.edu. Anything that ends up on your To-Do List must be completed in order for you to receive financial aid. So it is very important that you check your To-Do List on a regular basis and turn in all requested documents in a timely fashion since most forms take at least 10 business days to process. To learn “How to View Your To-Do List” please click here.
• Complete the online "Transit" Financial Literacy module. Students can access Transit through the Student Self-Service section in OneStart. In order to connect to Transit, you must have your IU email account already set-up. For more information about how to access and complete Transit please visit University Information Technology Services' Knowledge Base here.
• Complete the IUPUI Financial Success Planning Action Tool. If you need help setting up a budget or determining if you should borrow loans we recommend utilizing our Financial Success Planning (FSP): Action Tool. Completing this tool should help you and your family have "the money talk," which is a discussion we believe all families should have prior starting classes. The FSP Action Tool and other financial wellness resources which can be found on our website here.
• Grant 3rd Party User Access through OneStart.iu.edu if you would like another individual to be able to check on your financial aid and your bill. Choosing to grant this access is completely at the student's discretion and the student can revoke this access at any time by notifying the Office of the Bursar in writing. To learn about "Assigning 3rd Party User Access in OneStart" please click here.
• Sign your Title IV Authorization through OneStart.iu.edu. Signing the Title IV Authorization allows your Title IV financial aid (ex: Federal Pell Grants, Federal Stafford Loans, etc.) to go towards charges other than tuition & fees such as parking permits and meal plans. So it is highly recommended that you complete this authorization. For a step-by-step guide to completing your Title IV Authorization online please click here.
• Sign up for Direct Deposit through OneStart.iu.edu. If the amount of your financial aid is greater than the amount of your Bursar bill you will be sent a refund for the difference. The default refund method is a paper check which is sent to the mailing address we have on file for you. Printing & mailing a paper check takes time. So paper check refunds take about a week and half to get to you. Refunds sent via direct deposit, on the other hand, only take 2-3 business days to get to you since the funds are deposited directly into your bank account. Therefore we highly recommend that students set up Direct Deposit to ensure that they receive their refund as quickly as possible. To learn how to set-up Direct Deposit online please Click here.
• Seek student employment. At IUPUI we have an entire office dedicated to helping students identify rewarding student employment opportunities. The IUPUI Office of Student Employment provides resources and empowers students to find meaningufl, academically, relevant, part-timework experiences that nenhance both academic and personal success.
• Accept, Reduce, or Decline any federal student loans or Federal Work Study funding that you have been offered. Grants and scholarships are automatically accepted on your behalf since its money that you don’t have to earn or pay back. All other awars (such as Federal Stafford Loans and Federal Work Study) must be manually accepted, reduced, or declined by the student. We recommend doing so as soon as you receive your bill to ensure that funds arrive by the Office of the Bursar’s billing due date. If no action is taken your loans will not disburse and will not be applied to your bill. To learn how to accept or reduce awards please click here. To learn how to decline awards please click here.
• Complete Entrance Counseling for your loan(s) on StudentLoans.gov if you have accepted part or all of a Federal Direct Stafford Loan. Entrance counseling teaches you about the terms of the loan. It is very important that you complete this step if want to take out a loan because your loans will not disburse and will not be applied to your bill if this step is not competed.
• Sign the Master Promissory Note (MPN) for your loan(s) on StudentLoans.gov if you have accepted part or all of a Federal Direct Stafford Loan. The MPN is your promise to eventually repay your loan(s). Like entrance counseling, it is very important that you complete this step if want to take out a loan because your loans will not disburse and will not be applied to your bill if this step not competed.

We hope you find this checklist helpful! If you have any questions about any of these checklist times please don’t hesitate to ask us!

(Last Updated on June 13, 2014.)