Managing Your Aid

Video Managing your Aid
Congratulations, you have been awarded financial aid! As you move forward, there are specific steps you need to take to use your funds and maintain eligibility. It may sound like a lot, but don’t worry. We make the process easy, and we’re always here to help!

Getting Your Aid

We disperse aid five times during the semester. Awarded aid is based on being a full-time student, which means taking 12 credit hours. If your enrollment changes, your refund will change as well. Here’s what happens once your financial aid is awarded!

  1. Get Notified

    We notify you via your San Jac email when your aid is awarded. Your award information is instantly available online in your financial aid account. Check the Scheduled 5 Disbursements and Account Summary by Term sections to see the status of your account at any time via the My San Jac Student Portal.

    My San Jac

  2. Pay Your Tuition

    Any eligible grant, scholarship or requested loan will pay toward tuition. Make payment arrangements by the payment deadline if financial aid requirements are not complete.

    Make a Payment

  3. Buy Books and Supplies

    If you have money left over, you can use it to pay for books and supplies from the San Jac Bookstore. That money can be available for Bookstore purchases, but it does take a day to get there

    Textbooks

  4. Get a Refund

    Any money left after paying for tuition, books, and supplies is your refund. This money will be sent to your San Jac Card or bank account.

    Refunds & Drops

Need More Help?

We’ll walk you through accessing your financial aid information!

Video Check Financial Aid Status in S.O.S.

Maintaining Your Aid

Certain factors impact your financial aid amount and your eligibility to receive financial aid. Here’s how you can stay on track and maintain eligibility.

Enrollment status is determined by the number of credit hours you are taking during the semester. They do not include audit courses, transfer work, credit by exam, and Continuing and Professional Development classes. You are considered:

  • Full-time: 12 or more credit hours
  • Three-quarter time: 9-11 credit hours
  • Half-time: 6-8 credit hours
  • Less than half-time: 1-5 credit hours

Each type of financial aid has enrollment status requirements.

Direct Loans: Require you to be enrolled and attend six credit hours or more. If you are registered for parts of a term, your loan will not disperse until you reach six credit hours. If you received the maximum loans during the fall and spring terms, additional loans are not available unless you advance a grade level.

Additionally, grants and direct loans may only pay for one repeat class if it was passed with a grade of D or better.

Part of Term Classes (POT)
If you are taking POT classes, financial aid funds can cover charges until the classes begin. Please note that refunds from POT classes may fall on different schedules. They may also be delayed until the start date of your enrollment.

Transient Students
Transient students are not eligible for financial aid with San Jac. You are considered a transient student if you are working toward a degree at a different school and only attend San Jac for one semester. 

 

Enrollment status is determined by the number of credit hours you are taking during the semester. They do not include audit courses, transfer work, credit by exam, and Continuing and Professional Development classes. You are considered:

  • Full-time: 12 or more credit hours
  • Three-quarter time: 9-11 credit hours
  • Half-time: 6-8 credit hours
  • Less than half-time: 1-5 credit hours

Each type of financial aid has enrollment status requirements.

Direct Loans: Require you to be enrolled and attend six credit hours or more. If you are registered for parts of a term, your loan will not disperse until you reach six credit hours. If you received the maximum loans during the fall and spring terms, additional loans are not available unless you advance a grade level.

Additionally, grants and direct loans may only pay for one repeat class if it was passed with a grade of D or better.

Part of Term Classes (POT)
If you are taking POT classes, financial aid funds can cover charges until the classes begin. Please note that refunds from POT classes may fall on different schedules. They may also be delayed until the start date of your enrollment.

Transient Students
Transient students are not eligible for financial aid with San Jac. You are considered a transient student if you are working toward a degree at a different school and only attend San Jac for one semester. 

 

Being enrolled in classes isn’t enough to maintain your financial aid eligibility. You must also attend class. We review attendance twice during the semester - after the census and in the middle of the semester. Please be aware of the following attendance policies to maintain your financial aid:

  • If you fail to attend any class meetings as of the census date, you will lose your financial aid eligibility for those classes.
  • If you stop attending class before the 60 percent point of the semester, you will lose part of all of your financial aid eligibility.
  • If you stop attending prior to the 60 percent point of the semester, you will lose part or all of your Financial Aid eligibility. If you manage to be successful for those classes, you can receive a retroactive disbursement at the end of the term for the classes in question. Otherwise, you will have to enroll in classes that start in later parts of term within the same semester to regain your Financial Aid eligibility.
  • You must also complete your assignments, including Blackboard assignments for online classes. If you fail to meet this requirement, your aid will be adjusted.

Online and Distance Learning


Students enrolled in online and distance learning classes follow similar attendance requirements. The U.S. Department of Education defines attendance for these classes as:

  • Participating in a class or
  • Being engaged in an academically related activity (like an online discussion board)

Documenting that you have logged into an online class is not sufficient to demonstrate attendance. Failing to meet these requirements could result in your financial aid being adjusted.

We know that sometimes plans change. You might receive financial aid, register for a term and then decide not to attend. That’s why we have a withdrawal process in place, so you don’t incur any unnecessary expense.

If possible, formally withdraw yourself from your courses before classes begin. That way you won’t receive any unintended grades that could impact your GPA. More importantly, you won’t get hit with any financial aid charges.

Unofficial Withdrawals

Unofficial withdrawals happen if you stop attending class. When this happens, your instructor will submit your grade as FX at the end of the term. You will likely be required to pay back at least a portion of your financial aid. Keep reading to find out how.

Withdrawing Mid-Term & Paying Back Financial Aid

According to the law, if you withdraw before you complete 60 percent of the term, you must pay back at least a portion of your federal financial aid (Title IV funds). This includes if you stop attending class, or unofficially withdraw. We make this process easy for you. After you have officially withdrawn, we will recalculate your aid. We will notify you if you owe anything. This law applies to:

  • Pell Grants
  • Federal Supplemental Education Opportunity Grant (SEOG)
  • Subsidized and unsubsidized Stafford Loans and Parent Loans for Undergraduate Studies (PLUS)

After grades are posted at the end of the term, we will complete a return calculation for you. If we can not determine an official withdrawal date (for example if you stopped attending classes and unofficially withdrew) we will use the midpoint of your enrollment period.

We will notify you of any debts. Notifications are sent to you at the address on file with the College.

Debts Owed to San Jac


Any debts you owe to San Jac for the current term will be deducted from your financial aid before refunds are processed.

Prior-year debts are debts occurring outside of the current school year. These, along with debts you owe from previous terms are usually paid from personal resources. This payment is usually required before you can register for additional classes. There are some exceptions:

  • Debts from previous terms but within the current school year may be paid from your current financial aid award. This includes returning of Title IV funds.
  • Prior-year debts and non-institutional charges may be paid from the current award year funds with written permission. However, the College can not use your current award to pay more than $200 of prior-year debts and/or non-institutional charges.

Funds owed to San Jacinto College are subject to collection procedures and will incur a 30 percent collection fee. Please check with a financial aid advisor or coordinator for more details on your situation.

Debts Owed to the Department of Education


If you owe the Department of Education, your eligibility to receive federal aid at any school will be lost until either:

San Jacinto Student

Financially Savvy for Life

Get more information on financial literacy to help you after you graduate. Learn about budgeting, credit scores, repaying your student loans, and more.
Learn More

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Requirements

The government sets standards for satisfactory academic progress (SAP) that must be met in order to receive financial aid. These standards are reviewed at the end of each semester. As long as you are attending classes and making your grades, you will be just fine. But here is a breakdown of how your progress is measured.
Student

Grade Point Average

San Jac uses the 4.0 GPA system. It is broken down as:
4.0 = A, 3.0 = B, 2.0 = C, 1.0 = D, 0.0 = F

The minimum GPA required to maintain financial aid is 2.0. This is based on your total credit hours at San Jac. It includes any hours taken before changing majors, and all classes if you are pursuing multiple degrees or certificates. However, it does not include transfer hours. Additionally, only the highest grade is included for repeated, developmental, and ESOL courses.

Students

Pass Rate


To maintain your financial aid, you are expected to to pass a minimum of 67 percent of all hours attempted. This includes courses at San Jac as well as coursework transferred from other institutions. If you have repeated a course, only the course with the highest grade is used to calculate the pass rate. However, the other courses are still included in your total attempted hours. Grades that are considered successfully completed include: A, B, C, and D.
Graduate

Time Frame

You are expected to complete your educational objective within 150% attempted hours of the program’s published length. This includes if you have changed majors or are pursuing multiple degrees or certificates. It also includes credit hours from coursework transferring into San Jac from other institutions, repeated, developmental, and ESOL courses, as well as the following grades:

  • F (Failure, unsatisfactory achievement)
  • I (Incomplete)
  • W (Withdrawal)
  • NG (No grade reported)
  • N 

What if I Don’t Meet SAP Requirements?

We understand that things happen that cause your GPA to fluctuate. If you don’t meet SAP requirements, there’s a process in place to help get you back on track.

Your SAP status is based on which requirement you fail to meet. SAP statuses are:

Warning
If you haven’t met the GPA or pass rate standards, you will be placed on a financial aid warning. Think of this as a heads-up, a way for us to let you know what you need to do. Even under warning status, you can continue to receive your financial aid. This status lasts one term.

Suspension
If you are not in compliance by the end of your warning term, or we receive transfer work while you are on a warning that does not improve your status, you will be placed on suspension. While in a suspension status, you are no longer eligible to receive financial aid. But that doesn’t close doors on your educational journey; there are still options for you to regain eligibility.

Maximum Time Frame
If you have attempted more than 150% (including transfer hours) of your program's published length, you are no longer eligible to receive financial aid. However, there are still options to regain eligibility through the appeals process.

Probation
If you fail to make satisfactory progress, and you have appealed to have your financial aid reinstated, you will be placed on probation for one term. While on probation, you must meet all the conditions stated on your appeal approval contract to get off probation. If you do not meet the conditions, you will be placed on financial aid suspension.

Academic Plan
If you completed the conditions of the appeal during the probation term, but you still are not making satisfactory academic progress, you will be placed on academic plan status. While on this status, you must continue to meet the conditions of your appeal within a specified time, as stated in your appeal packet.

Regaining Eligibility
You have the option to submit a written appeal to the Financial Aid Office. Learn more about the appeal process below.

Sometimes there are things out of your control that negatively affect your ability to meet SAP requirements. If there were justifiable reasons or extenuating circumstances that impacted your ability to meet the GPA or pass rate requirements, you may submit a SAP appeal (with supporting documentation) to the financial aid office for consideration to regain financial aid eligibility. Submitting an appeal for reinstatement of your financial aid eligibility does not guarantee that reinstatement will be granted.

  • To start the financial aid appeal process, please fully review the instructions below and follow the link to submit an appeal online. Please allow plenty of time to complete the process, as it requires you to:
    • Type a letter of explanation.
    • Download a copy of your San Jac GPS Degree Evaluation.
    • Gather documents that supports your extenuating circumstances (e.g. death certificate, hospital records, vehicle maintenance records, eviction notice, etc.)
  • Students are required to have all official transcripts sent from all previously attended colleges and universities before they can appeal.
  • Students who are approved for their appeal will regain probationary eligibility for their financial aid by showing continuous progress as defined in their probation conditions.

Extenuating Circumstances and Supporting Documentation

  • Examples of unusual extenuating circumstances include and possible documentation (not limited to):
    • Illness, injury, or medical condition (hospital records or letter from doctor on official letterhead)
    • Learning or functional disability (third-party letters or supporting documentation from a professional)
    • Loss of a loved one (obituary, death certificate, or hospital records)
    • Birth/Childcare issues (birth certificate, hospital records, or statement from childcare provider)
    • Change in household or marital status (third-party letter or divorce decree)
    • Employment-related changes (a statement from employer on official letterhead, work schedule(s), or pay stubs)
    • Unexpected impact on meeting basic living needs
    • Transportation challenges (vehicle maintenance records, vehicle title, or vehicle finance documentation)
    • Housing Issues (eviction notice, lease agreement, or a third-party member in the household, etc.)
    • Family emergency (third-party letter, article, or police report)
    • Natural disaster or national emergency (insurance document, third-party letter, article, or report)
    • Other unusual event disrupting academic performance
  • Examples of not an extenuating circumstance:
    • Wasn’t ready for the semester or for college.
    • Passing a few courses by paying on own.
    • Issues with professor.
    • Did not like the course.
    • Not a morning person.

Typed Explanation

  • You are asked to explain your extenuating circumstances in detail to cover the period(s) In which you did not meet one or more of the SAP standards. You must, also, provide a detailed explanation of the actions you have taken to improve your situation to ensure you successfully complete all classes you attempt.
  • It would be best for you to meet with a financial aid advisor to look over your extenuating circumstances and supporting documentation. Meeting with an advisor does not guarantee approval but gives you a greater chance of your application being ready for review.

Appeal Contract

  • Upon submission of an appeal, students also agree to the probation conditions:
  • Students are required to successfully pass each class for which they enroll with a letter grade of “A”, “B” or “C”. Any other letter grade, including withdrawals, will result in their financial aid being suspended for a future term.
  • Students may only register for courses leading to the completion of their approved degree plan.
  • Students are required to stay on their current degree plan until graduation – students cannot change their major.

Appeal Deadlines:

  • The deadline for each semester is for the appeal to be considered for the current semester. Students can submit an appeal at any time. If the deadline is missed, the appeal will be reviewed for future semesters. If denied, the student can submit a committee appeal for review by a committee of leaders.
    • Fall: September 15th
    • Spring: February 15th
    • Summer: June 15th

What Happens After You Submit an Appeal

  • Submitting an appeal for reinstatement of your financial aid eligibility does not guarantee that reinstatement will be granted.
  • You will be notified of the final decision concerning your appeal via email within two weeks of submission. You must make other payment arrangements to cover your tuition, fees, and other expenses if you wish to enroll before the review of your appeal.

Questions? Ask us anything.
Financial Aidmay seem confusing, but we’re here to help you through it! If you plan to visit one of our campuses, we strongly urge you to make an appointment using the appointment scheduler online.

I did well during one semester – did I earn SAP?
It depends – Satisfactory Academic Progress is determined at the end of each semester and is calculated based on students’ cumulative grades. Students can check their current SAP status on the Financial Aid Dashboard

What are my chances of my appeal being approved?
Each situation is unique – students' SAP appeals are reviewed on a case-by-case basis for sufficient explanation of extenuating circumstance and supporting documentation.

What happens if my appeal is denied?
If a student’s appeal is denied, then they will be required to pay out of pocket, and/or they can request their appeal be reviewed by the appeal committee.

Why am I on suspension if I’m in good academic standing?
Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) and Academic Standing are different academic criteria. SAP refers to the requirements to be considered eligible for financial aid, while Academic Standing refers to the student’s eligibility to enroll in classes.

learn more about sap

Questions?

You can contact the Financial Aid Office at 281-998-6150 and email us at Finaid@sjcd.edu. Or visit one of our campus offices. 
Central Campus

Central Campus

Building 27
Room C-27.1307
Fax: 281-478-2710

North Campus

North Campus

Building 6
Room N-6.150
Fax: 281-669-4385
South Campus

South Campus

Building 6
Room S-6.181
Fax: 281-669-4336