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Administrator Guide
Last Updated: 2026-05-15
Create Student Award Items

Create Student Award Items

When a student is eligible for financial aid, they can accept a financial aid package with various awards.
Award items represent the different types of financial aid at your institution, such as an athletic scholarship or a federal loan. To package financial aid, you must first create the different award items a student can receive. On each award item, you can define details including:
  • The award type.
  • Eligibility requirements.
  • Award calculations.
  • Disbursement rules.
  1. Access the
    Create Student Award Item
     task.
  2. Complete the header section:
    Option Description
    Effective Date
    Select the date when the award item takes effect.
    To match the beginning of the financial aid award year, enter July 1 as the month and day. The earliest effective date that you can enter is
    07/01/1949
    .
    Several fields on this task also use the effective date you select. Workday lists effective dated fields on each section header.
    If you need to make accounting changes, Workday recommends:
    • Creating a new award item. Editing past award items might disrupt current accounting processes.
    • Not making changes in the middle of the award year. Example: Changing Worktags significantly impacts accounting.
    Inactive
    Select to prevent Workday from packaging the award. You can only make award items inactive if they're not in use on any active financial aid packages.
    Type
    Select the type of award item. Workday displays additional fields based on the
    Type
     that you select.
    Disbursable
    Clear the check box if you can't disburse the award. Example: You can't disburse Work-Study awards.
    Only awards that you can disburse display as anticipated financial aid payments.
    Federal Program ID
    Select an option on this prompt when the funding
    Source
     is
    Federal
    .
    Workday references the
    Type
     and
    Federal Program ID
     of an award to identify Pell Grants, Federal Direct loans, PLUS loans, and other federal sources of financial aid. Additional fields display based on the
    Federal Program ID
     that you select.
    State Program ID
    Use this field on web services for external reporting. This field is for reporting purposes only and doesn't affect processing.
    Example: You create a student award item for the Wisconsin Grant, a state-based award for residents of Wisconsin, with a state program ID of
    WISC Grant
    . Workday stores this information on the student award item, but doesn’t process this field for financial aid purposes.
    Code
    Use this field to indicate any other award codes. This field is for reporting purposes only and doesn't affect processing.
    IPEDS Category
    Use this field for Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) reporting. Workday displays additional fields based on the
    Source
     and
    Type
     that you select.
  3. Complete the
    Packaging
     tab:
    Option Description
    Package Additional Unsub for Parent PLUS Denials
    Select to package students for additional unsubsidized loans automatically when their Parent PLUS loan application is denied. See Troubleshooting: Loan Packaging for additional requirements.
    This check box displays only when the award item has a
    Federal Program ID
     of
    Direct Unsubsidized Loan
    .
    Do Not Package if Parent has Loans in Default
    Select to prevent Workday from packaging the award when the parent who applied has loans in default.
    This check box displays only when the award item has a
    Federal Program ID
     of
    PLUS Loan
    .
    Package Provisionally
    For PLUS loan awards, select to package students only when they don't have an associated PLUS loan application. The purpose of the provisional status is to help you identify and notify students who can apply for a PLUS loan. See Concept: PLUS Loans.
    This check box displays only when the award item has a
    Federal Program ID
     of
    Graduate PLUS Loan
     or
    PLUS Loan
    .
    Package Once
    Select to lock the award after Workday packages it once.
    Do Not Round
    Select to prevent Workday from rounding award amounts when packaging financial aid. If not selected, Workday rounds award amounts to the nearest whole number and applies any variances to the final disbursement of the award.
    This check box displays only when the award item has a
    Federal Program ID
     other than
    Graduate PLUS Loan, PLUS Loan, Direct Subsidized Loan,
     or
    Direct Unsubsidized Loan
    .
    Award Sort
    Identify the order in which you want to display the award items. You can view the order on the
    Find Student Award Items
     report.
    You can use up to 4 characters. The order is alphabetical. Example:
    a
     before
    b
    ,
    ab
     before
    ba
    , and
    aaa
     before
    aab
    .
    Initial Award Status
    The status of the award when you first package it. The status changes if you select the
    Package Provisional Awards
     check box when you run the
    Package Merit Financial Aid
     or
    Package Need Financial Aid
     tasks.
    If you leave the field empty, the status automatically populates to
    Accepted
    , unless the award item type is
    Loan
     or
    Work-Study
    . When the award item type is
    Loan
     or
    Work-Study
    , the status automatically populates to
    Offered
    .
    Action Items
    Select the action items that you want to assign to students. When students receive this award in a financial aid package, they can see the selected action items in My Tasks.
    Need Method
    Select a need method to use in combination with the packaging strategy, to determine how the award impacts the student's unmet need and unmet cost of attendance (COA):
    • EFC/SAI Replacement
      : Select when the award can replace the student's Expected Family Contribution or Student Aid Index after covering any remaining financial aid need. Example: Direct Unsubsidized loans, PLUS loans.
    • Need Impact
      : Select when the award impacts the student's financial aid need. Example: state grants, Direct Subsidized loans.
    • No Need Impact
      : Select when the award doesn't impact the student's financial aid need or eligibility for other forms of aid.
    On a merit packaging strategy:
    • EFC/SAI Replacement
      : Select when the award can replace the student's Expected Family Contribution or Student Aid Index after covering any remaining financial aid need. Example: Direct Unsubsidized Loans, PLUS loans.
    • Need Impact
      : Select to reduce the student's unmet need and unmet COA. When you select
      Need Impact
      , Workday recommends that you either manually package the award or configure a calculation to evaluate the student's eligibility and determine the amount for which they're eligible.
    • No Need Impact
      : Select to reduce the student’s unmet COA, but not their unmet need.
    When these need methods are on a merit packaging strategy and you select the
    COA Required
     check box, Workday limits the award amount to the student's unmet COA. If you don’t select the
    COA Required
     check box, the award amount could exceed the student’s unmet COA.
    On a need packaging strategy:
    • EFC/SAI Replacement
      : Select when the award reduces a student's unmet need and unmet COA. Workday limits the award to the student's unmet COA.
    • Need Impact
      : Select when the award reduces a student's unmet need and unmet COA. Workday limits the award to the student's unmet need.
    • No Need Impact
      : Select when the award doesn't reduce a student's unmet need, but reduces their unmet COA. Workday limits the award to the student's unmet need.
    Student Allowable Action
    Specify how students can respond to the award offer. Select
    Accept Partial
     if students can accept less than the full award amount.
    Assign Action Items for Accepted Awards Only
    Select the check box to assign action items for the award only if the student accepts the award instead of when the award is packaged as offered.
  4. Complete the
    Preservations
     tab:
    Option Description
    Preserve Disbursed Amounts
    Select to prevent Workday from reducing the packaged amount of a disbursed award below the already disbursed amount, even if the student's award eligibility changes when you rerun packaging.
    Example: The student was eligible for and received a Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan disbursement. They drop courses and go from being a full-time to a half-time student. When you repackage the student's financial aid with the
    Preserve Disbursed Amounts
     option selected, Workday won’t reduce the award amount below the amount that has already been disbursed, even if repackaging shows they are no longer eligible for that amount.
    Workday disregards your
    Preserve Disbursed Amounts
     configuration when:
    • You manually make changes to an award and lock it on the
      Edit Total Financial Assistance
       task.
    • Award amount preservation rules to prevent reduction or all adjustments trigger.
    • You make changes to packaging strategies.
    Because Pell Grant disbursements might vary based on the
    Pell Recalculation Date
    , Workday recommends that you don't select
    Preserve Disbursed Amounts
     for Pell Grant award items.
    Rules to Prevent Reduction
    Rules to Prevent All Adjustments
    Select a rule you created on the
    Maintain Time-Based Award Amount Preservation Rules
     task to prevent automated packaging jobs from reducing or adjusting award amounts after a specified date.
  5. Complete the
    Calculations
     tab:
    Option Description
    Eligibility
    Calculation
    : Select or create a calculation that evaluates whether a student is eligible for the award. Leave the field empty if all students are eligible. Examples: GPA is 3.95 or higher, or Academic Unit = College of Business.
    Check the award item frequency if you manually update this field. Workday automatically reverts the
    Frequency
     value back to
    Award Year
    .
    Interim Calculation
    : Select to create or use an eligibility interim calculation. Eligibility interim calculations enable you to determine whether to include an award item on a financial aid package based on:
    • Eligibility calculations.
    • The presence or absence of other financial aid in the same package.
    Amount
    Calculation
    : Select or create calculation to calculate the award amount. This calculation rule returns the maximum amount that Workday can award a student for the selected
    Frequency
    .
    Workday provides calculations for certain awards so that you don't have to configure your own. For:
    • Pell Grants, select
      Pell
      .
    • Federal direct loans, select
      Federal Direct Loan
      .
    Interim Calculation
    : Select or create an amount interim calculation. Amount interim calculations enable you to calculate a custom amount for the award item. The amount is dependent on how much the student has already received from previous award items in the same package. Workday calculates the amount based on a
    Frequency
     of
    Academic Period
    .
    Frequency
    Select whether the calculation rule returns the maximum award amount for either an
    Academic Period
     or an
    Award Year
    .
    You must select a
    Frequency
     of
    Award Year
     for these award types:
    • Direct subsidized loan.
    • Direct unsubsidized loan.
    Fiscal Limit
    Select the maximum amount that your institution can award for the financial aid award year. The limit applies to all awards associated with the fiscal limit – not just this award.
    Workday enforces the fiscal limit when packaging awards, regardless of any calculations that could cause you to exceed it.
    You can use a fiscal limit that's within only the same or a superior academic unit and level as the student award item.
  6. (Optional) Complete the
    Individual Award Limits
     grid.
    An award item can have up to 6 limits, each with a different frequency. If you define multiple limits, the packaging process enforces the strictest one.
    Option Description
    Limit Type
    Select the type of limit for the award.
    • Academic Period Maximum Amount
      : Sets the maximum amount of the award that a student can receive in an academic period.
    • Academic Period Minimum Amount
      : Sets the minimum amount of the award that a student can receive in an academic period.
    • Financial Aid Award Year Maximum Amount
      : Sets a limit on how much a student can receive in a financial aid award year.
    • Lifetime Maximum Amount
      : Sets a limit on how much a student can receive for all their years enrolled in school.
    • Lifetime Maximum Number of Academic Periods
      : Sets a limit on how many academic periods that a student can receive the award for all their years enrolled in school.
    • Maximum Number of Academic Periods each Financial Aid Award Year
      : Sets a limit on how many academic periods that a student can receive the award in a financial aid award year.
    Minimum
    Enter the minimum amount that you can award to the student. Applies only to the
    Academic Period Minimum Amount
     limit type.
    Maximum
    Enter the maximum amount that you can award a student. Applies to all limit types except
    Academic Period Minimum Amount
    .
  7. If the award
    Type
     is
    Loan
    , enter
    Loan Fee
     details.
    Create a loan fee for every year even if it hasn't changed from the previous year. If you don't configure a loan fee for the current year, it might result in a 0 percent loan fee, which could affect loan processing.
    You can use a loan fee that's within only the same or a superior academic unit and level as the student award item.
  8. Complete the
    Disbursement
     tab:
    Option Description
    Payment Precedence Group
    The order in which to pay student charges.
    Example: If you set the order as
    Tuition
    ,
    Housing
    , and
    Supplies
    , the
    Disburse Payments
     job pays the charges in that order.
    Disbursement Eligibility Conditions
    Select the eligibility conditions that students must meet before you can disburse funds to them. See Reference: Disbursement Eligibility Conditions.
    If you don’t want an award item to disburse due to a pending hold, select
    Disbursement Hold Exists
    . If there's a disbursement hold, the award won't disburse until you resolve the hold.
    Disbursement Eligibility Calculation
    Select or create a calculation that evaluates whether a student is eligible to receive a disbursement of the award.
    Example: Create a calculation that checks the student enrollment status before disbursing a Pell Grant award.
    Disbursement Schedule Rule
    Controls which disbursement schedule to use. If more than 1 schedule applies, this rule specifies the conditions for using each.
    You can use a disbursement schedule rule that's within only the same or a superior academic unit and level as the student award item.
    Disbursement Proration Rule
    Specify how to prorate awards when a student's disbursement load status differs from their packaging load status.
    Example: If a student has a full-time load status for packaging but a half-time load status for disbursement, they might receive a prorated amount of the award.
    Refundable
    Enable Workday to generate a refund when a student award has an unapplied balance.
    1098-T Impact
    Specify which 1098-T boxes the award impacts, if any.
    If you must change the impact after including the award in 1098-T processing for previous years, Workday recommends creating a new award item to avoid impacting previous calculations.
    Anticipated Payment
    Select the check box to display the award amount according to the
    Anticipated Payment Display Rule
    .
    Anticipated Payment Display Rule
    Identifies the conditions for displaying anticipated financial aid payments and how long to display them.
    If you select
    Anticipated Payment
     and leave this field empty, Workday always displays the anticipated payment.
    You can use an anticipated payment display rule that's within only the same or a superior academic unit and level as the student award item.
  9. If the award
    Type
     is
    Work-Study
    , enter Work-Study details on the
    Work-Study
     tab:
    Option Description
    Work-Study Payment Conditions
    Configure eligibility conditions for Work-Study payments.
    Work-Study Allocation Set
    Select an allocation for the Work-Study payments.
    Payment Limit
    Select whether Workday should calculate the remaining work-study maximum amounts for a student by award year or each academic period.
  10. Complete the
    Accounting
     tab:
    Option Description
    Spend Category
    Identifies logical groupings for easier searching and reporting. Also associates award items with their account-posting rules. These rules direct where journals post in ledger accounts.
    Applies when the
    Type
     is
    Grant
     and the
    Source
     is
    Institutional
    . Workday requires you to select an option on this prompt if you selected the
    Disbursable
     check box in the header section.
    Override Spend Company
    (Optional) Direct-spend to a company that isn't associated with the academic unit. If you don't select an override spend company, Workday posts the spend to the company of the academic unit.
    • You can select from companies within the same hierarchy as the company of the institutional academic unit.
    • You can specify override spend companies only for award items associated with institutional academic units.
    • You can't edit this field after transactions exist for the student award item.
    You can override spend companies only for award items that are associated with institutional academic units.
    Related Worktags
    Set up related worktags for this object using the related worktag types that you configure on the
    Maintain Related Worktag Usage
     task. Workday automatically populates transactions with the values in the
    Default Worktag
     column when you select the object on the transaction.
The award items are now available for financial aid packaging.
You can use the
Find Student Award Items
 report to view and edit award items.
Assign the award item to 1 or more award packaging strategies.