Contact Us. Financing Your Education. Back to top. At American University, we understand that navigating the college application process can be both exciting and overwhelming. To provide you with the flexibility that suits your individual circumstances, we offer four decision plans by which first-year applicants can apply for fall enrollment: Early Action, Early Decision I, Early Decision II, and Regular Decision.
Additionally, first-year students can also apply to AU for spring enrollment. Whether you choose to apply Early Decision, Early Action, or Regular Decision, rest assured that your application will be carefully reviewed for merit scholarships. Early Action is a non-binding application deadline.
Early Action applicants submit their applications earlier and receive their admissions decision earlier but will have until the May 1 deposit deadline to consider all of their admissions and financial aid awards before deciding where to enroll in the fall. Early Action applicants will receive an admit, deny, or defer decision by January Applications deferred to the Regular Decision deadline will be considered again and receive their final decision by April 1.
Both Early Decision deadlines are binding decision plans, meaning that an applicant and their family are agreeing at the time of application submission to attend AU if admitted. Early Decision applicants know that AU is their first choice and feel comfortable in their financial aid estimate, as calculated by the net price calculator.
The net price calculator provides a close estimate of the financial aid award a family can anticipate. In addition to the other required application materials, Early Decision applicants must also submit a document called an Early Decision Agreement, signed by the applicant, the parent or guardian, and the high school counselor stating that an applicant is committed to attending AU.
