Managing Your Aid

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.

• Pell Grants: Are based on full-time enrollment and the amount rewarded is reduced if you are taking fewer hours. If you enrolled full-time during the fall and spring terms, you may have Pell eligibility remaining for the summer term.
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (SEOG): Requires at least six credit hours.
• Texas Public Education Grant (TPEG): Requires at least six credit hours.
• Texas Educational Opportunity Grant Program (TEOG): Requires at least six hours and adjusts based on your enrollment status.

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.

Financial aid is given with the expectation that you will attend and complete all your classes for the semester. If you never attend, drop, or withdraw, your aid may be reduced or canceled, which can affect your future eligibility.

If you withdraw from a class, tuition charges stay the same, but your financial aid might be lowered. Students who withdraw, never attend, or stop attending will have their aid adjusted.

If you withdraw from all classes before completing 60% of the semester, the college must perform a Return to Title IV (R2T4) calculation to see how much aid you actually earned. Any unearned aid must be paid back to the college and federal government. You’ll be notified if you owe money.

Title IV Aid Includes

• Federal Pell Grant

• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG)

• Federal Direct Loans (subsidized and unsubsidized)

• Federal Direct PLUS Loans

Order Funds Are Returned

1. Unsubsidized Federal Direct Loans

2. Subsidized Federal Direct Loans

3. Parent (PLUS) Loans

4. Pell Grants

5. FSEOG

R2T4 Recalculation Example

Earle is pursuing an associate degree at San Jacinto College. He was awarded $5,948 in Title IV aid for the fall 2024 semester and the aid was disbursed while he was still in attendance. 

Disbursements:

• $3,698 Federal Pell Grant
• $2,250 Federal Direct Loan 

The semester is 16 weeks long for a total of 106 days. For personal reasons, Earle withdrew on October 7, 2024, after completing 35 calendar days of the semester. He completed 33.019% of the semester (35 divided by 106). 

Earle has earned $1,964.03 in Title IV aid ($5,948 x 33.02%). His unearned aid is $3,983.97 ($5,948 x 66.98%) and must be returned to the Title IV aid programs.

Federal funds must be returned to the Federal Direct Loan first, and then to the Pell Grant. Therefore, $2,250 will be returned to the Direct Loan and $1,733 will be returned to the Pell Grant. 

If Earle received any of the unearned funds in a refund check, he would owe a debt to the college for funds that had to be returned. Earle will be unable to register for future classes until the debt is paid.