Steps to Apply for Financial Assistance

Complete a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). COD's school code is 006656.

OR 

Students who are not eligible to complete the FAFSA, may complete the Alternative Application for Illinois Financial Aid.

Check your COD student email for important messages.

Log into the portal at inside.cod.edu and click on myACCESS > Financial Aid > Financial Aid-Self Service. 

• Complete any required verification documents.
• Complete Entrance Counseling (only if accepting Direct Loan) 
• Complete Master Promissory Note (only if accepting Direct Loan)

NOTE: Beginning with the 2025-2026 school year, the Office of Student Financial Assistance will no longer automatically include Federal Direct Loans in your offer letter. Instead, students who wish to borrow Federal Direct Loans will need to complete a request form. Additional details will be listed on the student's offer letter.

Review the following:

• Understanding Your Financial Aid Rights and Responsibilities
• Satisfactory Academic Progress.

• Apply for scholarships at cod.academicworks.com. The fall deadline is April 15; the spring deadline is Nov. 1.
• For more information about military education benefits, contact Veterans Services at (630) 942-3814 or veterans@cod.edu 
• Apply for Student Employment
• Enroll in a Payment Plan
• Students are encouraged to sign up for eRefunds.

Your first step in applying for financial aid is to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). In order to complete the application, you will need to have your federal tax return accessible. Complete the application as early as possible to maximize your aid.

If you want to apply for scholarships, you will need to apply at cod.academicworks.com.

You can check your financial aid status by logging into your Financial Aid Self Service. Go to inside.cod.edu > myACCESS > Financial Aid > Financial Aid Self Service.  In your Financial Aid Self Service, you can complete and upload any required documents that may be needed and view your financial aid offer letter.

It depends.

The financial aid amounts listed on your offer letter will be based on full-time enrollment of 12 credit hours or more. If you are unable to enroll as a full-time student, the amount of your financial aid disbursement will be prorated accordingly.

For the Federal Pell Grant -  you need to be enrolled in a minimum of 1 eligible credit hour.  For students who enroll less than full-time, their Pell Grant disbursement will be based on their enrollment intensity. 

For example, if you are enrolled in 7 eligible credit hours, the enrollment intensity would be (7 ÷ 12) × 100% = 58%.  You would be eligible for 58% of your Pell award.

For the Illinois MAP Grant, you will need to be enrolled in a mimumin of 3 credit hours.  For students who enroll in less than 15 credit hours, their MAP Grant disbursement will be prorated based on the number of hours the student is enrolled. 

For Federal Direct Loans, you need to be enrolled in a minimum of six credit hours.

College of DuPage requires students not fully covered by financial aid or military benefits to enroll in a payment plan or pay their account balance by the payment due date. View our payment policy for more information.

If you have additional financial aid funds in excess of your tuition and fees, you may be eligible to purchase your books at our campus Bookstore during our Bookstore Dates.

You must have a financial aid offer letter and funds in excess of tuition. The available amount for book purchases can be found in your Inside COD Portal under Financial Aid Self Service by clicking on Financial Institution > Student Finance > My Bookstore Available Funds

You can check the status of your financial aid in your Financial Aid Self Service.

Once all completed forms have been received by the Office of Student Financial Assistance, there is a two to three week processing time. Please watch your COD email for updates.

If you have questions about forms or why they are incomplete, contact the Office of Student Financial Assistance directly at (630) 942-2251. You can also email financialaid@cod.edu.

The amount of financial aid disbursed is based on the number of eligible credit hours you are enrolled in for each semester. Eligible credit hours refers to the classes that are required for the degree or certificate you are pursuing at College of DuPage.

Classes that fall outside of your specific degree program at College of DuPage – whether it be prerequisites or transfer requirements – are not counted when determining your financial aid disbursement amount.

Contact Advising Services to ensure you are enrolled in the correct classes for your degree or certificate.

Note: If you are enrolled in the 3+1 Program, financial aid disbursed at COD is based on classes that are required for an Associates Degree at COD. Additional classes outside of an Associates Degree are not eligible for financial aid at COD since they are not classes required for the Associates Degree. 

Financial aid refunds are processed after your classes have started and your attendance has been verified. Visit Financial Aid Dates for disbursement dates. You may receive a refund if you have additional funds remaining in excess of your tuition, fees and bookstore purchases. You will receive your refund 10-14 days after the refund is posted to your student account.

The Cashiers Office will contact you through your COD email address to confirm the status of your refund. Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in eRefunds through your Inside COD Portal. If you are not enrolled, you will receive a paper check refund.