Northern Virginia Community College
Northern Virginia Community College

Buy Books & Supplies with Financial Aid

If you did not opt out of the NOVA All Access program, the cost of your course materials is included in the charges shown on your myNOVA SIS account summary. Information on obtaining your course materials is provided on the NOVA All Access page.

If your pending financial aid is more than what you owe for the semester, you may use your excess aid to purchase books, supplies or even a laptop through the NOVA Bookstore during the dates shown below. Note that prior to disbursement, excess aid can only be used to make purchases from the NOVA Bookstore, not from other vendors.

To use excess financial aid to purchase items through the NOVA Bookstore, complete the Bookstore Authorization e-Form if not completed in a previous year. This form only appears as a To Do Item in myNOVA if you are potentially eligible to use financial aid at the bookstore.

Semester Period to buy books and supplies with excess financial aid through NOVA’s bookstore
Fall 2026  August 10 - October 29, 2026

How to purchase books, supplies and laptops with financial aid

Ordering textbooks and other materials from the bookstore is easy! To order online, visit the Bookstore website. If you visit in person, be sure you have your current class schedule and/or your course syllabus available. NOVA Online courses are located only at the Alexandria Campus.

The bookstore accepts American Express, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Barnes & Noble gift cards as accepted forms of payment. Financial aid is available for payment during certain periods of the semester. Please allow 1-2 business days for order processing.

Orders, excluding laptops, can be shipped to your home or held for pickup in store. If you have courses at multiple campus locations, the shipping option can be selected for each separately.

On the Bookstore website select “Textbooks” or “Supplies & Electronics".

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(or)

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For Textbooks, select your campus and enter your course details (term, department, course, section) using the drop-down menus to find the materials for your course. For Nova Online, use the Alexandria Campus & Nova Online location.

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Indicate that you want to pay with financial aid when checking out.

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Enter your name and your 7-digit student ID number.

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Place your order. If there is an issue, the bookstore staff will email you.

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If you completed the Bookstore Charge Authorization e-Form on your myNOVA To Do List at least 24 hours prior to placing your order and if your financial aid is enough to cover your charges, then your order for books and supplies will be shipped to the address indicated during the checkout process.

Please check with a campus bookstore to confirm which laptop models are available for purchase with financial aid. Laptops may be purchased in-person at the bookstore or online. Laptops will not be shipped and must be picked up in-person.

If a laptop is purchased online, it must be picked up at the Alexandria campus bookstore. If that is not a convenient location for you, please consider calling another campus bookstore to verify that the laptop you wish to purchase is in stock and then purchase it in-person at that campus bookstore.

If you wish to purchase a laptop in-person with your financial aid:

  1. Verify that your Pending Financial Aid Based on Your Actual Enrollment is enough to cover your tuition, fees, and bookstore purchases.
  2. Complete the Bookstore Charge Authorization e-Form on your myNOVA To Do List for each academic year at least 24 hours before attempting to make a bookstore purchase with financial aid. This form will only appear on your To Do List if you are potentially eligible to use financial aid at the bookstore.
  3. Present your current NOVA ID card at the bookstore.
  4. Complete the Laptop Order Form and the Laptop Agreement Form at the bookstore.
  5. Purchases must be completed before the end of the bookstore purchase period indicated.

If you have questions, please contact the appropriate campus for assistance.