Page Contents

• NEW Pell Grant for Attending Summer Session
• Requirements for Summer Financial Aid
• Summer Registration Fee Deferment (Postpone Payment)
• Automatic summer fee deferment requirements
  • How to activate summer fee deferment if you do not meet automatic requirements
  • Fee deferment explained
  • Paying your summer registration fees
• Summer Aid - How it Affects Eligibility for Fall and Spring
  • Pell Grant for undergraduate students
  • Pell Grant for teaching credential students
  • Using an advance for summer
  • Using any remaining loan eligibility from the current year for summer
• Summer Federal Work Study
• Summer Enrollment and Holds on Your Summer Aid
  • Adding or dropping classes
  • Summer disbursement holds
• Summer Disbursement
• Summer Financial Aid Timeline (table)

NEW Pell Grant for Attending Summer Session

Undergraduate students eligible for Pell Grant for 2009-10 may now receive additional Pell Grant assistance for enrolling at least half time in SDSU summer session. Pell Grant received during the summer will not affect the amount you receive during the fall and spring semesters. This new federal regulation will allow you to accelerate your progress toward your degree.

Requirements for Summer Financial Aid

The following are requirements for you to be considered for summer financial aid. You must—

• have a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and SDSU Award Notification for the current academic year to determine your remaining eligibility;
• have a FAFSA and Award Notification for the upcoming academic year, in case you need an advance from your eligibility;
• be a continuing student from the spring semester or a new student who intends to enroll at SDSU for the fall semester;
• be making Satisfactory Academic Progress, as defined by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS), as a result of spring semester grades;
• be enrolled at least half time for Pell Grant and/or a Federal Direct Loan:
  • half time for an undergraduate or teaching credential student is 6 units.
  • half time for a classified graduate student is 5 units.

Summer Registration Fee Deferment (Postpone Payment)

You may be able to postpone payment of summer registration fees until July. To find out—

• Login to your AidLink account,
• Select the summer 2009 tab, and
• Follow the directions. The directions are specific to your eligibility and application status.

Automatic summer fee deferment requirements

A fee deferment is automatic if you have an SDSU Award Notification for 2009-10 that includes Pell Grant.

Summer fee deferment if you do not meet automatic requirements

If you are a continuing undergraduate or graduate student who is not eligible for a 2009-10 Pell Grant, you will be eligible to postpone the payment of summer session registration fees after you complete the 10-minute online summer counseling session through AidLink.

Allow 48 hours after you complete your summer counseling session
for your summer fee deferment to be activated.

Fee deferment explanation

A fee deferment—

• only postpones the payment of your registration fees,
• does not guarantee that your summer financial aid will cover those fees,
• does not cover the purchase of books, a parking permit, and other such costs, which you will need to pay for yourself

Paying your summer registration fees

You must pay all outstanding fees due to the University Cashier if—

• Your summer financial aid is unavailable for any reason.
• Your summer aid is insufficient to cover the entire amount of your registration fees.
• You choose not to accept all or a portion of your summer financial aid.
• Your summer financial aid consists of loans, and you choose not to borrow from the loan program.
  • You must activate your summer loans through AidLink, even if you already activated your loans for the fall/spring terms

Summer Aid—How it Affects Eligibility for Fall and Spring

Pell Grant for undergraduate students

For an undergraduate program, Pell Grant received during the summer will not affect the amount you receive during the fall and spring semesters. For Pell Grant, you must enroll for a minimum of 6 units. Most other financial aid programs are for a 9-month academic year.

Pell Grant for teaching credential students

Teaching credential students summer session Pell Grant amount is limited. The amount you receive for attending summer session for required teaching credential courses is either your remaining eligibility from 2008-09 or is an advance of your 2009-10 Pell Grant.

Financial aid to attend summer session may be from either the current or upcoming year, but not be both.

Using an advance from your upcoming academic year for summer

If you are eligible for a 2009-10 Pell Grant, additional aid from a Federal Direct Student Loan will be an advance of your upcoming academic year eligibility.

An advance of your loan is not automatic. The form to request an advance will be available to you online through AidLink once we determine your eligibility for all aid.

If your summer award includes an advance of your Federal Direct Student Loan,
you will have less loan available for the fall and spring semesters.

Using any remaining loan eligibility from the current year for summer

If you have 2008-09 remaining loan eligibility, use it to pay your summer session fees, and your loan eligibility for 2009-10 will not be affected.

Request the remaining loan eligibility before May 14, 2009.

Summer Federal Work Study

• A supplemental application is required for summer work study and will be available in PDF Forms at the beginning of May.
• To participate in summer FWS, you must be attending SDSU currently and/or intend to enroll in classes at SDSU the following academic year.
• It is not necessary to attend summer school.

Important: If you are not enrolled in summer session, your summer earnings will affect financial aid eligibility for the following academic year.

Summer Enrollment and Holds on Your Summer Aid

The OFAS will begin processing summer aid beginning in late May after you enroll.

Your summer financial aid award will be based upon your specific course enrollment at the time we review your eligibility. If you add and/or drop classes, we must again review your eligibility.

Adding or dropping classes

If you add and/or drop classes, we must again review your eligibility.

• If you change your schedule for any reason, we will send you an e-mail message directing you to check AidLink for a message about your summer hold.
• You will be instructed to complete the online Summer Discrepancy Hold form and report your entire new summer schedule.
• We will review your summer aid eligibility from the new registration information that you submit on your online Summer Discrepancy Hold form.
• If your eligibility for the awarded aid changes, we will notify you by e-mail to login to AidLink to review your adjusted award.

Summer disbursement holds

OFAS will place a financial aid hold on your summer disbursement if—

• You drop some or all of the summer classes for which you initially enrolled.
• You drop some or all of the summer classes and add different classes.
• You add one or more classes.
• You do not enroll in enough units to qualify for summer financial aid. To qualify for most types of summer financial aid—
  • you must be enrolled in at least 6 units as an undergraduate, or
  • you must be enrolled in at least 5 units as a graduate,
• Other resources are added to your record (e.g., fee waiver, veteran’s benefits, scholarships, etc.) that could affect your summer award.
  • (For a hold resulting from additional resources, OFAS will review your eligibility and automatically release this hold.)

Any hold placed on your record, summer-related or not, could prevent both the disbursement of summer aid funds and the activation of summer loans, until the hold is resolved.

Since all summer financial aid must be disbursed by the last day of summer classes, resolve any hold as quickly as possible so that you do not jeopardize your summer aid.

Summer Disbursement

All financial aid, including private student loans, and scholarship payments are processed and disbursed by University Disbursements.

• Summer financial aid is released in mid-July after we have evaluated your spring grades to determine that you are making satisfactory academic progress and are eligible to continue receiving aid.
• SDSU will use your summer financial aid to pay your summer registration fees before releasing any remaining funds to you.
• If you owe the university for any charges from a previous term, such as residence hall charges or a financial aid overpayment, disbursement of your summer financial aid will be placed on hold until you resolve the outstanding charges.
• All summer financial aid must be disbursed by the last day of summer classes in mid-August each year.
  • It is your responsibility to clear any holds, request an advance of your upcoming academic year eligibility, and/or activate your summer loan to enable a July disbursement and payment of your deferred registration fees.

By August 12, you must pay all outstanding fees due to the University Cashier if—

• Your summer financial aid is unavailable for any reason.
• Your summer aid is insufficient to cover the entire amount of your registration fees.
• You choose not to accept all or a portion of your summer financial aid.
• Your summer financial aid consists of loans, and you choose not to borrow from the loan program.
  • You must activate your summer loans through AidLink, even if you already activated your loans for the fall/spring terms.