External Scholarship Processing

Students expecting an outside scholarship, but have yet to receive the check should submit the Outside Scholarship Notification Form. The form should be received by the Financial Aid Office as early as possible to prevent inaccuracies or late changes to the award package.

If a reported outside scholarship is not received by the end of the applicable term, the award will be removed. Students will be responsible for any potential remaining balance the reported outside scholarship covered.

Students/Organizations should include the following with each check:

• Student’s full name
• Student’s Loyola University Chicago identification number (ID)
• Scholarship donor’s name, and contact information
• Directions on how the funds are to be disbursed
  • Example: fall only, spring only, or for the full academic year. In the event no directions are provided, funds will be disbursed towards the current term.

• Any restrictions of the fund
  • Example: tuition only, tuition and fees only, or toward the total cost of attendance 

Students: Copy of a completed Outside Scholarship Notification form 

All outside scholarship checks for students attending Loyola University Chicago should be sent to:

Scholarship Coordinator
Financial Aid Office 
Loyola University Chicago
1032 W. Sheridan Rd.
Suite 190 Chicago, IL 60660

**All scholarship checks should be made payable to Loyola University Chicago. If a check is made co-payable to Loyola University Chicago and the student, the student will be required to sign/endorse the back of the check, which may delay the application of the funds to the student’s account.

Students: Scholarship checks made payable to you, must be signed by you and routed to Loyola University Chicago. Do not cash the check as there may be tax implications. 

The priority deadline for scholarship checks to be submitted to the Financial Aid Office are the following dates:

• August 1 for the Fall semester
• December 1 for the Spring semester
• May 1 for Summer sessions 

Outside scholarship check payments are completed on a rolling basis, as received by the school. The Processing time for the scholarship to populate to an award package is 7-10 business days. 

Funds will be disbursed as indicated by the scholarship provider, or as reported on the Outside Scholarship Notification form. In the event the Financial Aid Office does not receive direction from the provider or the student, the funds will disburse towards the current term.

Unless noted by the scholarship provider, the Office of the Bursar could potentially refund excess scholarship funds to the student.  

Unless otherwise stipulated, in most cases, outside scholarship checks received in an active term will be applied to that term.

Scholarship funds first pay a student’s outstanding Loyola University Chicago charges. After a student’s current charges are paid, any resulting credit balance is refunded to the student by the Office of the Bursar.

The receipt of a private scholarship may result in the reduction or prepayment of need-based financial assistance previously awarded to the student by Loyola University Chicago.

In accordance with federal regulations, our office is required to monitor whether a student’s total financial assistance remains within their financial need-based eligibility. Similar practices are followed with some institutional need-based grants. Whenever possible, self help awards (Federal Work Study and loans) are reduced before federal or institution gift assistance.

Once an award has disbursed to a student’s account for the current semester, the student’s enrollment status is not monitored.

If a student withdraws from school after the scholarship funds have paid out, the donor is responsible for collecting any scholarship funds from the student.

If a student withdraws from school before award pays out, any unpaid funds are returned back to the donor. Loyola University Chicago does not release any unused scholarship funds directly to the student; unless there is a written allowance from the scholarship provider.

Loyola University Chicago requires a current IRS W-9 from all scholarship providers before any funds are able to be returned.

Should a scholarship donor request information regarding the student’s other awards, estimated Cost of Attendance, or financial need, the student must submit a Disclosure Agreement via Loyola’s secure website for each donor’s request per semester. Without such documentation, no information can be released.

The Financial Aid Office does not bill donors for scholarship payments. If an invoice or bill is required for payment, the student may obtain an account statement from the Office of the Bursar. If bills for housing, books or other educational costs are required, the donor needs to ask the student to obtain appropriate documentation from all eligible creditors.

If an evaluation of academic performance is required for scholarship payments, students may request official transcripts here.  

The canceled scholarship check serves as the donor's receipt. If donors need further documentation of their donation for tax purposes, they must make special arrangements with the Scholarship Director directly.

If a donor requires verification of enrollment then the student must complete the Enrollment Verification Request form available through the Office of Registration and Records.

Please note that a Verification of Enrollment cannot be confirmed until approximately 30 days from the beginning of the semester when the student is responsible for all charges.

If you have question about these procedures please contact the Financial Aid Office.

Scholarship Coordinator
Loyola University Chicago
1032 W. Sheridan Rd.
Suite 190
Chicago, IL 60660
Phone: 773.508.7704
Email: lufinaid@luc.edu