Summer Financial Aid

Required Documents:

2010 - 2011 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) (if this application is not already on file with our office)

Priority Date for Application:

March 1 of each year. This is only a priority deadline, application can be made after this date.

General Information:

Students wishing to receive student aid funds for summer school should submit the required Summer General Application. This application has a priority deadline of March 1st of every year. For the purpose of awarding financial aid, summer school is considered to be the end of the school year. Therefore, the eligibility of each student aid applicant for student aid funds for summer school is based first upon each student's remaining annual limits for grants and loans. Students who receive their maximum grant and/or loan eligibility for the Fall and Spring semesters may not have any remaining eligibility for summer financial aid. Students wishing to receive funds for summer school should apply as early as possible. Most grant programs available in the summer are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.

In addition, eligibility for summer financial aid requires that a student be enrolled in at least six (6) credit hours during the summer. Dropped courses and withdrawals may result in a reduction or cancellation of your summer awards or a repayment of funds already disbursed. Summer aid recipients should contact the financial aid office and speak to a counselor prior to altering summer schedules.

Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) will be completed when Spring 2011 grades are posted May 19th. Any student not meeting SAP policy who has had financial aid awarded for Summer 2011 will have their financial aid canceled immediately and therefore, may owe a bill for summer. Detailed information on SAP can be found at Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy (SAP).

New Pell Policies

Maximum Duration of Pell Eligibility
Students who are first-time Pell recipients on or after July 1, 2008 may receive Pell Grants for as many as 18 semesters or its equivalent.

Year-Round Pell (Two Pell Grants in an Award Year)
Effective July 1, 2009, students pursuing their first baccalaureate degree may be eligible to receive up to two Pell Grants in one award year.

During the 2009-2010 Award Year, an eligible student can receive all or a portion of a second scheduled Pell Grant within an award year.

For the First Scheduled Pell Grant, a student must:

Be Pell grant eligible;
Be enrolled at any enrollment status (full-time, ¾ time, ½ time or less than ½ time). If enrolled less than full-time, remaining Pell balance will be awarded in the 2010 summer semesters;
Pell amounts received will count toward life-time aggregate limits, if applicable.

For the Second Scheduled Pell Grant, a student must:
- Be Pell grant eligible;
- Have received 100% of the First Scheduled Pell Grant award;
- Be enrolled at least on a half-time basis;
- Pell amounts received will count toward life-time aggregate limits, if applicable.

Effective for the 2010-2011 Award Year, a student must also demonstrate academic acceleration by completing 24 credit hours per academic year.

Disbursement dates for summer are – May 23, 2011 and July 12, 2011. Regardless of your expected Summer enrollment your aid will be disbursed on these dates. Previously, if a student was enrolled only Summer 1, they received all funds at the beginning of this term. Now if you enroll for only the first Summer part of term, you will get half your funds on May 23 and the other half July 12.

Short-term Loans begin May 9, 2011 and end July 18, 2011.

Book Loans will be available during two different periods. Period one begins on May 10, 2011 and ends May 31 (with pickup May 11- June 1). Period two begins July 4 and ends July 11 (with pickup July 5 – July 12). Students will only be allowed one Book Loan for the entire Summer term in the maximum amount of $600.

Pending Financial Aid will be taken into account during the drop process if all Financial Aid terms and conditions have been met.

Parent Loan Information
Due to the credit expiration date by the Department of Education, your Parents must complete a new plus credit application for the summer term. If your parent did not apply for a Parent Loan for Fall/Spring terms they must also complete the 2010-2011 SFASU Parent Plus Information Form and a Parent PLUS Master Promissory Note (eMPN) at the Department of Education’s website at www.StudentLoans.gov.

Transfer Students
A transfer student may be eligible for a second Pell Grant Scheduled Award after he or she has received all of his or her first Scheduled Award.

For additional information concerning these new policies, please visit our office.

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Stephen F. Austin State University

Summer Financial Aid