Student Financial Services FAQs

• Your first step is to apply for financial aid. You can also explore outside scholarship options.

• Be sure to accept your financial aid award online through the myHilltop task, View/Accept Financial Aid Award.
• Check the myHilltop portal task, Resolve Outstanding Financial Aid Requirements to ensure you have completed all financial aid requirements. 

• If you do not have enough aid to cover all costs associated with attending St. Edward's University we recommend speaking directly with a Student Financial Services Counselor. We are here to help! Review our financing options. 

• Please contact your Student Financial Services Advisor directly via email and request we reoffer the loan. A revised award notification email will be sent once the loan has been reoffered.

• We recommend completing the Parent Plus loan application online after June 1. You can learn more and apply through Federal Student Aid.  

• We recognize that the FAFSA may not always accurately reflect your financial situation. Considerations for specific situations are limited, but we may be able to give additional consideration for situations listed on our Types of Aid page.

• Not only must you apply for financial aid, but you also must meet specific requirements that may vary based on the source and type of aid received. The Policy requirements include eligibility requirements like terms and conditions, students’ rights and responsibilities, enrollment status, satisfactory academic progress, appeals, maximum gift aid, consequences of withdrawing, refunds, study abroad, and summer aid. All can affect eligibility for aid.

• Students are assigned an advisor by the first letter of their last name. A list of all advisors is on our Meet Your Financial Services Counselor page, located on your financial aid award letter, and in the myHilltop portal.  Student Financial Services counselors are happy to answer your questions. 

• Review our Veterans Affairs website, including our policies and procedures handbook. Please contact the Military & Veterans Affairs Coordinator, Dustin Noll.  Dustin would be glad to answer questions regarding GI Bill® education benefits and how they work at St. Edward's University. 

• The Billing Center is where you will go for anything related to student accounts, billing, and payment. In it, you can view account activity, set up a payment plan, pay a balance, specify a refund account, and several other tasks. The Billing Center is found on myHilltop.

• Students have access to the Billing Center by signing into myHilltop and using the “View/Pay My Bill” task. Students can also enable access by setting up others as Authorized Users. Authorized Users will log in using the “Billing Center: Parent & Guest Login” task. Authorized Users will sign in using their email address.

The university’s comprehensive fee is a consolidation of individual course and campus-required fee. This single fee replaces the prior fees for technology support, printing, labs, facilities, tutoring, student activities and other course fees. It does not replace individual on-demand and non-required service fees (i.e., private music lessons, transcript services, health insurance, and parking). All students at St. Edward's University pay the Comprehensive Fee.

All students must purchase a meal plan. Learn more Hilltop Card. 

If you have Outstanding Financial Aid Requirements  all of your financial aid might not be showing towards your bill. Please check in myHilltop under "Resolve Outstanding Financial Aid Requirements" to complete anything that is missing. Once submitted, please allow a few days for our office to review the documents and to make any necessary updates to your FAFSA or student account. 

Undergraduate students are required to enroll full time. Exceptions: graduating seniors in a final semester of a program and students with approved modified status through the Office of Student Disability Services. Graduate Student are required to enroll at least half-time. Enrollment and Degree Verification, including Academic load details provided by the Registrar office.

Please check in myHilltop under "submit proof of insurance" to select "waive" and input your current insurance info. The deadline to submit proof of insurance is September 7th. If you have already waived your insurance, but it still appears on the bill, please note that it takes the Health Center 5-7 business days to remove the charge. You can contact the Health Center at 512-448-8686 or insure@stedwards.edu to check your status. **Students in one of the online graduate programs should not have been charged this fee and do not need to submit proof of Insurance.

Your bill needs to be settled by the following dates for each term:

• Fall Term: August 1
• Spring Term: December 1
• Summer Term: May 1

By settled, we meant that it is paid in full, that you have signed up for a monthly payment plan, or that financial aid will cover the balance and all paperwork is turned in.

• Payment plans are available in the Billing Center. Balances can be split in up to four monthly payments, and can be paid on either the first or fifteenth of each month. Payment plans carry a $50 setup fee.

We accept the following forms of payment:

• Electronic check or ACH in the Billing Center
• Credit and debit cards in the Billing Center (2.85% processing fee for credit & debit)
• Bank wires in the Billing Center ($20 processing fee for bank wires)
• Paper checks in our office or by mail
• Money orders and cashier’s checks in our office or by mail
• Cash in our office

The E-Refund Authorization is for students to set up a bank account or add their own personal bank account information in the Billing Center, so that it can be used for refunds on financial aid. Parents choosing to receive a refund for a parent loan can also set up a refund account once they are set as an Authorized User. The E-Refund Authorization can be done on the myHilltop portal by searching the “Set Up/Updated My E-Refund Authorization” task.

• Students can set up a bank account in the Billing Center to be used for refunds on financial aid. Parents choosing to receive a refund for a parent loan can also set up a refund account once they are set as an Authorized User. Refunds are only issued electronically.

• St. Edward’s charges a flat rate for undergraduate students taking between 12 and 18 hours, so adding and dropping classes within that range has no impact on tuition charges.  Students taking fewer than 12 hours will be charged an hourly rate. Taking over 18 hours will charge the flat rate, plus the hourly rate for every hour over 18. When dropping below 12 hours, students are subject to the university’s refund schedule. Dropping courses after the end of the 100% refund period will mean that tuition will still be due. Dropping can also affect financial aid, so we recommend talking to a financial advisor for any student dropping below 12 hours.

• Tuition insurance allows for a refund of tuition beyond the refund schedule when the student has to withdraw due to medical reasons. This includes both physical and mental health. Tuition insurance is customizable to the your actual out of pocket costs, so you control the level of coverage.

Emergency aid granted to students due to COVID is not taxable, a link to official resources on emergency aid can be found here.