How Enrollment Affects Your Financial Aid

Most aid programs and award amounts are affected by the number of semester credit hours (SCH) for which you enroll and the amount you pay for basic tuition and fees. You pay a lower tuition-and-fee rate if enrolled for six (6) semester credit hours or less.

If you are an undergraduate, your award before the census date* is based on the assumption that you will be enrolled full time - 12 SCH or more.

Your financial aid will prorate up to the census date, at which time we will lock your semester credit hours, and your financial aid will neither increase nor decrease for the rest of the semester.

*The census date is the 12th class day of a long semester or the 4th class day of a summer semester.

Programs That May be Affected

Some aid amounts will be reduced or canceled if you enroll in fewer than 12 SCH as an undergraduate.

You must be enrolled at least half time to receive some amount from most aid programs, including student loans. If you enroll less than half time, you begin your grace period and repayment of your student loans.

These are some of the financial aid programs and how the award amounts may be affected by your enrollment.

• Pell Grants prorate based on your enrollment.
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Texas Public Education Grants (TPEG), Ram Grants and Federal Direct Loans require half-time enrollment. These grants also prorate depending on your enrollment.
• Some scholarships require that you enroll full time to receive the funds.

Adding or Dropping Classes

Disbursement of financial aid is based upon the number of semester credit hours in which you are enrolled at the time your aid is released.

If you add classes after your financial aid has been disbursed:

• You may be entitled to additional funds, which will be released during the next disbursement.
• If you have received all of your awarded funds, be prepared to pay any additional costs due to added out-of-state tuition (tuition increases for each class you add) or class lab fees, etc.

If you drop classes after all your financial aid funds have been disbursed prior to census:

As an undergraduate, we assume that you will enroll full time, therefore, your financial aid could be reduced. If you drop classes after receiving full-time funds, you may be required to repay some or all of the funds.

If you received a refund, Student Accounts will send you an electronic billing notice for the amount you owe.

Dropping classes after census:

If you drop classes after the census date, you may not be required to repay financial aid funds. However, because your enrollment has changed, your successful completion rate will decrease. This will not affect your current financial aid, but you need to be aware of how it affects Satisfactory Academic Progress. 

Withdrawing from ASU

If you must withdraw from ASU, refer to the Registrar’s Office for withdrawal procedures.

Depending on the date you withdraw and how many days you attended classes, you may be granted a refund of your tuition and fees, but you also may be required to repay some or all of the financial aid you received for that semester. Once you withdraw:

• Any remaining refund amount will be deposited to your bank account.
• If you borrowed student loans, contact the Loan Servicing Center as soon as you withdraw to determine when you must begin repaying your loans.

The semester may be counted as a semester of enrollment, and you may incur a semester credit hours deficiency that may impact your future aid eligibility.

Refunds

Federal regulations under Title IV require the university to determine if a refund must be made to the student or if financial aid that has already be disbursed to you must be returned to the federal government accounts.

Concurrent Enrollment at Another College

You are only eligible to receive financial aid at one school per term. If you are going to enroll at two schools, please decide at which school you want to receive your aid and notify the both schools.

Limited Eligibility for a Second Master’s Degree

If you are pursuing a second master’s degree, you may be eligible for the Direct Loan Program.