Financial Aid

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Financial Aid Office

The primary purpose of the Financial Aid office is to provide financial assistance in the form of grants, scholarships, loans, and employment opportunities to qualified students who, without such assistance, would be unable to attend college.

Students should contact the Financial Aid office on their campus for assistance in completing financial aid or scholarship applications and for answers to specific questions about the financial aid process.

Eligibility

In general, to be eligible for financial aid, students must:

  1. Be a US citizen or an eligible non-citizen.
  2. Have a high school diploma, GED, or its recognized equivalent.
  3. Be enrolled in an eligible certificate or degree program.
  4. Be making satisfactory academic progress.
  5. Not be in default of a federal or state student loan or owing a repayment on any federal grant.
  6. Meet requirements specific to the financial aid program for which students are applying.
  7. Enroll for at least the minimum number of hours required by each program.
  8. Recognize that audited courses, credit earned by placement tests, repeated courses, or programs not approved by the US Department of Education are not eligible for financial aid funding.

Eligibility Date (Census Date)

If students register for a term and decide that they do not want to attend, they must withdraw themselves from their courses before classes begin. If they do not withdraw themselves, they may receive grades of F and/or FX in registered courses, which will impact their grade point average and incur a potential debt for financial aid received. If a student wants to avoid a withdrawal assigned on their transcript, the student must withdraw prior to the census date. The official census date varies according to the length of the course. For a traditional semester, generally the 12th class day is marked as the census date. A student's census date is identified as the latest census date enrolled for the term. For all other parts of term census dates, students may visit the Financial Aid office.

Financial aid funds are offered at a full-time status (12 semester hours). Actual disbursements are based on enrollment status as of the census date. If students enroll for less than 12 semester hours or if they drop classes, their funding will be adjusted. Also, if they do not attend class(es) or if they stop attending class(es), their aid may be adjusted or canceled. If students are enrolled in part-of-term classes, eligibility will be calculated accordingly and payments will be made after the parts-of-term classes begin. Part-of-term classes are defined as classes with varying start and end dates that can occur during the regular term or between terms.

San Jacinto College can only disburse aid for classes that are part of a program of study. On the census date, a final review is performed to ensure classes are part of a current program of study. Students are not allowed to change their program of study for the current semester after the census date. Program of study changes made after the census date will be effective for financial aid the following semester.

Concurrent Enrollment

Federal regulations prohibit a student from receiving financial aid funds under Title IV programs while enrolled at more than one college or institution at the same time. A San Jacinto College student who registers concurrently at another school and receives Title IV aid at both schools must officially cancel their aid from one of the schools. This will allow financial aid to be processed at the appropriate school. If the student does not officially cancel their financial aid, all San Jacinto College financial aid will be rescinded. The student will be accountable for reimbursement of these funds to the College.

Financial Aid Steps

Completing the following steps by the deadline will increase the chance of the financial aid application being reviewed prior to the beginning of school. Student should: 

  1. Apply for admission to San Jacinto College online at www.sanjac.edu. Returning students who have not attended San Jacinto College during the past year may need to submit a new application. Students must be admitted to San Jacinto College prior to any financial aid awards being made.
  2. Submit an official high school transcript or state-approved equivalency to San Jacinto College.
  3. Submit official college transcripts (transfer students) from each institution attended that includes all classes attempted and file a request with the College to have the transcripts evaluated. Students who have taken classes outside the United States must have their transcripts evaluated on a course-by-course basis by a foreign transcript evaluation company, at their own expense.
  4. Apply for financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online at studentaid.gov. The College's school code is: 003609.
  5. Follow up on all communication from the College when additional information is requested.
  6. Register for classes.

Procedures

Students should apply for federal funding and follow the progress of their financial aid application on the web.

  1. Students can follow the progress of their financial aid application by viewing the SOS website at www.sanjac.edu/soslogin. Here, students can:
    • Check the status of a financial aid file, including documents that are requested.
    • View financial aid awards.
    • Determine if funds have arrived at the school.
    • Determine if funds were transferred to the SanJac Card.
    • Determine remaining eligibility for future terms.
    • Check any updates to financial aid account.
    • View grades and academic transcript.
  2. If students have been awarded financial aid, they can expect the aid to be posted as authorized (available) aid to their account at the time of registration. Only once the student is registered can eligibility of financial aid be determined. The updating of the authorized process occurs on a regular and frequent basis. If the aid has not been authorized within 24 hours of registration, students should contact the Financial Aid office to determine if a problem exists. Financial aid funds are officially disbursed to student accounts approximately 30 days after the start of the semester. If a student is enrolled in a later part-of-term class, funds will be applied after the class begins. If student charges are paid by a third party, students must visit the campus Business office to sign the paperwork to have the third-party payment applied. Once payment has been applied, the paid flag is set on the account. The paid flag prevents the purging of registration for non-payment.
  3. Once aid has been authorized, students will also be able to go to the campus bookstore to charge books and supplies to their grants, loans, and some scholarships within 24 to 48 hours. Students will need their student ID number, a photo ID, and a copy of their class schedule to use any available funds. Students should check with the bookstores or the Financial Aid office for the dates financial aid will be available. Students have the right to opt-out of using the bookstore on campus. If the opt-out is selected, students will still receive their credit balance during the regular refund process.
  4. Any unused balances from financial aid funds (grants and/or loans) will be transferred to the student’s preference of refund method, i.e., existing personal bank account or SanJac Card. After attendance has been verified, financial aid credit balance refunds are issued 30 days after the first day of classes. Students may track the status of their refund by logging into SOS, clicking on Financial Aid Dashboard, then clicking on Award Offer, then clicking on View your Award Payment Schedule.
  5. If a student does not plan to attend and financial aid is authorized, the student must officially withdraw.
  6. If students have been awarded financial aid for fall and/or spring terms, and they decide not to register for a term, their financial aid awards will be canceled for the terms in which they do not attend.

FAFSA School Code (003609)

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) determines eligibility for aid. The FAFSA is available online. The San Jacinto College school code is 003609 regardless of the campus students will attend. Students can go to: studentaid.gov for details.

Deadlines

Students must apply for financial aid each year. If students wish to receive priority consideration, they should apply as soon as the FAFSA is available, usually after Oct. 1. Although students are awarded on a first come, first served basis, funds for most financial aid programs are awarded on demonstrated financial need.

Awarding of aid will begin approximately the first week of June. To secure an award for fall, applications must be completed by the end of June; to secure an award for spring, applications must be completed by the end of October; to secure an award for summer, applications must be completed by the end of April. An application is considered complete when all documents needed by the Financial Aid office and the Admissions office are on file.

Student applications completed after the deadlines above may still receive aid. However, they will have to pay for their own tuition, books, and supplies at the time of registration.

Before Beginning a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

Students (and parents) will log on to FAFSA on the Web at studentaid.gov with a username and password that they create, this is also known as an FSA ID.

Steps to create a FSA ID:

  • Go to fsaid.ed.gov
  • Create a username and password
  • Enter all information that applies

Email Address

Students should include the email address they check most frequently on the FAFSA to ensure faster communication from the Department of Education. Specifically, students will receive a link where they will be able to view the results of the data they submitted on their FAFSA. In addition, the Financial Aid office will use this email address to communicate with them until their official San Jacinto College email address has been assigned. The College strongly encourages all students to check their San Jacinto College email account at: www.sanjac.edu/email. San Jacinto College will only send electronic communications to this email account.

Major Sources of Financial Aid

For additional information about federal financial aid programs, including eligibility guidelines, the College encourages students to visit the Federal Student Aid website at studentaid.gov. For information about state assistance, students should visit the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) website at collegeforalltexans.com.