Apply Your Financial Aid & Scholarships

After you get your financial aid notification letter, there are a few more steps you have to take before your loans are applied to your student account:

• Sign a promissory note
• Go through entrance counseling
• Verify your information if required (we’ll let you know)
• Authorize IU to use your financial aid

Be sure to follow all instructions carefully to help ensure that your aid is processed in a timely manner.

How to use your scholarship

IU scholarships will automatically be applied to your account. The Office of Scholarships can help you with everything you need to know about using your IU scholarship funds. For non-IU scholarships, your donor will need to send scholarship funds to IU.

Learn more about using non-IU scholarships

If you’re borrowing a Federal Direct Loan

If you’re borrowing a Federal Direct Loan for the first time at IU Bloomington, you’ll need to e-sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN) within 60 days of your award notification. If you don’t sign the MPN within that time, we may cancel the loan.

An MPN is a promise that you’ll repay your federal loans. You must sign it before loan funds will be credited to your account.

To sign your MPN, you’ll need:

• Your FSA ID
• Your Social Security number
• Your driver’s license number
• Your permanent address and telephone number
• Information for two references, including their addresses and telephone numbers.

To sign the MPN, use your FSA ID to log into your direct loan account and select “Complete MPN.”

Go through entrance counseling

If you’re borrowing a federal loan, you must go through entrance counseling. Entrance counseling is a tutorial that will help you understand the federal loans you’re borrowing and the options you’ll have to repay them. You must complete the tutorial before loan funds will be credited to your account.

To start the tutorial, you will need your FSA ID to log into your direct loan account.