Financial Aid Steps
Completing the following steps by the priority processing date will increase the chance of your file being reviewed prior to the beginning of school:

  1. Apply for admission to SJC (online at http://www.sanjac.edu/ "Apply Now") Returning students that have not attended SJC in the past year need to submit a new application. You must be admitted before your financial aid application will be reviewed.
  2. If you have never attended college, submit an official high school (or GED) transcript to your Enrollment Services Office.
  3. Transfer students (Students who have attended another college or university)
    1. Submit to the Enrollment Services Office official transcript(s) from each institution that includes all classes attempted
    2. Request that each transcript be evaluated by the Enrollment Services Office
    3. Request a foreign transcript evaluation company to evaluate, on a course-by-course basis, each class taken outside the United States
    4. Register with Selective Service at http://www.sss.gov/ if you are a male age 18 to 25.
    5. Apply for financial aid by completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) on-line at http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/.
    6. Immediately submit requested financial aid documents to your Campus Financial Aid Services Office.

Eligibility

For specific eligibility requirements, you may view the Funding Education Beyond High School: The Federal Student Guide at http://www.studentaid.ed.gov/ or obtain a copy from your Campus Financial Aid Services Office.

In general, to be eligible for financial aid, a student must:

  1. Be a U.S. citizen, or an eligible non-citizen.
  2. Have a high school diploma, GED, or its recognized equivalent.
  3. Be enrolled in a certificate or degree program.
  4. Be making satisfactory academic progress.
  5. Not be in default of a federal or state student loan, nor owe a repayment on any federal grant.
  6. Meet requirements specific to the financial aid program for which the student is applying.
  7. Enroll for at least the minimum number of hours required by each program.

Before You Begin a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA)

You must obtain a PIN to electronically sign the FAFSA. For a dependent student, your parents should also apply for a PIN now so that they can electronically sign the FAFSA. For those who do not already have a PIN, one can be obtained at http://www.pin.ed.gov/. Please note, any FAFSA that has not been submitted with the required signature(s) will be rejected by the Department of Education and cannot be processed.

FAFSA School Code (003609)

The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the only government-approved application for determining your eligibility for aid. The FAFSA is available online and guidance for filing is available from any Campus Financial Aid Services Office. Because SJC processes all student aid applications through a central location, school code 003609 should be listed on the FAFSA, regardless of the SJC campus you will attend. If you list the SJC school code, SJC will download your information electronically from the Federal Central Processing Center. You will know if additional information or documents are needed by accessing My Financial Aid Status on the SOS website. You should refer to this website frequently to view the status of your file.

E-Mail Address

Be sure to include your e-mail address on the FAFSA to insure faster correspondence from the Department of Education. Specifically, you will receive a link where you will be able to view the analysis of the data you submitted on your FAFSA. 

Summer Financial Aid Awards

As a rule, only Pell Grants and FFEL loans are available for the summer. If you attended school as a full-time (12 term hours or more) student the fall and spring terms, and received a Pell Grant, all of the Pell Grant to which you are entitled for the year has been used. If you enroll for less than full-time in either the fall or spring term, you might have Pell eligibility for the summer.

Access Your File

You may access your financial aid information at any time during the year. If you have any questions about your financial aid file, contact the Campus Financial Aid Services Office on the campus you will attend.

On the San Jacinto College On-Line System (SOS) web site, which requires an ID and password, you will find specific information related to the financial aid application process including:

My Financial Aid Application Status

  • Student Requirements—please review this item carefully and submit to the Campus Financial Aid Services Office any item listed here as your application cannot be processed without these documents. Review this item frequently.
  • Cost of Attendance—this is an estimate of your college expenses for SJC. Only tuition and fees are paid to the college.
  • Tentative Financial Aid Award—this is aid we can offer to you or that you have received. This data could change as new information becomes available to us. Review this item frequently.
  • Academic Transcripts—this is a copy of your academic record.
  • Financial Aid Holds—if there are any financial aid holds on your record, they are listed here.
  • SJC Financial Aid History—this is a record of past financial aid, if any, you have received from SJC.

My Award Information

  • View Account Summary by Term—view activity (charges, financial aid) on your account for any term.
  • Tentative Financial Aid Award—this also lists the aid we can offer to you or that you have received.
  • SJC Financial Aid History—this is a record of past financial aid, if any, you have received from SJC.
  • SJC Federal Student Loan Application History—this is a record of current and past loans you have received.

My Financial Aid Academic Progress—View whether or not you are in compliance with the SJC Academic Requirements for Receiving Financial Aid (commonly called Satisfactory Academic Progress)

How to Apply for Federal Stafford Loans—Federal Family Educational Loan (FFEL) Application—this section contains instructions, priority dates and a link to apply for loans.

Failure to Attend

NOTE: If you receive financial aid, register for a term and decide that you do not want to attend, you must withdraw yourself from your courses before classes begin. If you do not withdraw yourself, you may receive grades of F in registered courses which will impact your grade point average and you may incur a financial aid liability.

If you have been awarded financial aid for Fall and Spring terms and you decide not to register the Fall term, all your financial aid award will be cancelled for both Fall and Spring terms. If you decide to attend SJC the following Spring term, you should immediately contact your Campus Financial Aid Services Office and inform them that you wish to be considered for financial aid for the Spring term. There is no guarantee that you will receive the same aid as originally awarded due to limited funding in some grant programs.

Concurrent Enrollment

Federal regulations prohibit a student from receiving financial aid funds from Title IV programs while enrolled at more than one college or institution at the same time. A SJC student who registers concurrently at another school and receives Title IV aid at both schools must officially withdraw from one of the schools so his/her financial aid can be processed at the appropriate school. If the student does not officially withdraw, all SJC financial aid will be rescinded and the student will be accountable for reimbursement of these funds to SJC.

Transfer Students

  1. Under the San Jacinto College Academic Requirements for Receiving Financial Aid (Satisfactory Academic Progress), transfer hours must be taken into account in determining whether or not a student is in compliance with the Time Frame Component. Transfer hours are not used in the computation of GPA or rate of completion components. A transfer student must have a transcript from each college/university attended, including foreign schools, on file in the Enrollment Services Office and must request the transcript(s) be evaluated by that office. A student who has attended a school outside the United States must also have the transcript(s) evaluated, at his/her own expense, on a course-by-course basis by a foreign transcript evaluation service. Transfer students who were awarded a Bachelor's Degree from an institution outside the United States (even if the Bachelor's Degree is not equivalent to a degree awarded in the United states) must check that they have a Bachelor's Degree in the appropriate place on the FAFSA.

    A student must stop by the Enrollment Office after he/she has applied for admissions to complete a request to have his/her transcripts evaluated. To apply for admission, a student should visit the SJC web site at http://www.sanjacedu/ and click on the “Apply Now!” button.

  2. Transfer Monitoring (TM) is the process by which schools must verify, with the Department of Education through the National Student Loans Database System (NSLDS), eligibility for financial aid of students who begin their study mid-year or the summer at San Jacinto College. Per regulation, during the 7-day period after a student is added to the SJC NSLDS TM list, SJC may not authorize or disburse Title IV aid to the student’s account. It may take longer than 7 days if, through NSLDS, any issues are identified that need to be resolved. During the 7 day NSLDS review, financial aid funds are not available to the student and funds will not show on the student’s financial aid file, even if previously offered. A SJC student may determine when his/her file was put on TM hold and when it will go off hold by accessing his/her account at http://www.sos.sjcd.edu/.

A student at SJC then may take the following steps to check on his/her status;

  1. SOS-My Online Lifeline
  2. My Registration, Financial Aid & Student Record
  3. My Student Record
  4. View Holds

Any aid awarded to a student whose record goes on TM hold will be automatically reinstated after the 7 day period, unless there is an unresolved issue.

Financial aid does not automatically transfer between schools. Eligibility must be established at each school you attend. If you transfer to SJC during the year, you must list the SJC school code on the FAFSA and meet school eligibility requirements. If eligible, the type and amount of aid SJC can offer, if any, may not be the same as you were offered at the other school you attended. You should be prepared to pay your tuition, fees and buy books and supplies from your own resources.

Undocumented Students

Senate Bill 1528 continues the eligibility of undocumented students to qualify as residents if they have lived in Texas for the 36 months prior to high school graduation or the receipt of the GED. It expands this option for establishing residency to other students, too (not just international and undocumented students). Thus, a student born and raised in Texas whose parents move out of state while she/he was in high school will not lose his/her claim to residency if the student remains in Texas for the required 36 months and graduates or earns a GED. SB 1528 also removes the requirement of having lived with a parent or guardian while attending high school, and the requirement of having taken no hours prior to fall 2001. The affidavit is still required.

Requirements:

  1. Graduated from a Texas public or private high school or received the equivalent of a high school diploma or GED in Texas.
  2. Resided in Texas for at least three consecutive years as of the date of graduation from high school or receipt of a GED.
  3. Resided in Texas twelve months prior to enrollment in a college/university which can include the third year mentioned in requirement 2, above.
  4. Provided to the SJC Enrollment Services Office an affidavit stating that the student will file an application to become a permanent resident at the earliest opportunity the student is eligible to do so.

Why is this important to me?

If you meet the requirements of SB 1528, you can be considered for the following State funding programs:

  1. Texas Public Education Grant
  2. Texas Grant
  3. Texas Educational Opportunity Grant
  4. State Nursing Scholarship Program

Since these programs have limited funding, we encourage you to apply early.

What do I have to do?

  1. Complete either the FAFSA or the Texas Application for State Financial Aid, including the statement and affirmations, available on-line at http://www.collegefortexans.com/, and submit to your Campus Financial Aid Services Office.
  2. If a transfer student, provide academic transcript(s) from all school(s) attended and have them evaluated by the SJC Enrollment Services Office. If you have attended a foreign school, you must have the courses evaluated on a course-by-course basis by a foreign transcript evaluation company (contact the SJC Enrollment Serivces Office for details).
  3. You must meet SJC Academic Requirements for Receiving Financial Aid (SAP).
  4. If you are a male student, between the ages of 18-25, you must register with Selective service if you are required to do so and must provide proof of registration. Most male non-citizens, including illegal aliens, legal permanent residents and refugees are required to register. Complete the application available in any U.S. Post Office (without a Social Security Number you may not apply on the internet).
  5. You must complete and sign that the student agrees to all the "Affirmations" listed on the application. (see Affirmations on back)
  6. Apply for admissions to San Jacinto College.
  7. Submit official high school transcript(s) to your SJC Enrollment Services Office.

Then what happens?

Your request for funds will be processed by the SJC Financial Aid Services Office. You will receive written acknowledgement of the application, requests for additional information or corrections, denials, or an award of aid.

What are the affirmations?

The Texas State Law authorizing SB 1528 requires that these provisions be met in order for the student to be eligible to receive State of Texas funds.

You must complete the first affirmation and sign that you meet all the affirmations which are:

  1. I affirm that I lived in Texas when I graduated from a public or private high school or at the time I received my GED.
  2. I affirm that I lived in Texas for at least three consecutive years prior to the date I graduated from high school or received my GED.
  3. I affirm that I have resided in Texas for the 12 months prior to the date of this enrollment in a college/university.
  4. I affirm that I will file an application to become a permanent resident at the earliest opportunity I am eligible to do so.
  5. I affirm that all information given by me in support of my application is accurate and complete to the best of my knowledge and ability.

Information for Parents

Applying for Texas State benefits to assist you in paying for college education expenses does not impact the current immigration status for you, your spouse, or children. While the Texas Application for State Financial Aid requires the income earned by the student and the parent(s) and the Social Security or Tax Identification Numbers if you have them, they are NOT then reported to any offices of the federal government. The information required is only for consideration of the student’s eligibility to participate in State of Texas funding.

Dual Credit Students

High school students who will enroll in dual credit classes may apply for a TPEG grant to cover their share of the tuition and fees. A completed FAFSA and a special application, which are available through the Campus Financial Aid Office, are required for this program.

Foreign Students

Foreign students may apply for a TPEG grant by completing the FAFSA and a special application that is available through the foreign student advisor.

Continuing Education Students

Students enrolled in selected continuing education classes may apply for a TPEG grant by completing the FAFSA and a special application that is available through the campus Continuing Education Office.

Eligibility Date (Census Date)

In general, eligibility for financial aid is based on the number of hours in which a student is enrolled and attending as of census date and for which classes have begun. Each term and part-of-term has its own census date. The census date is usually the 12th class day during the long term and the 8th class day during summer. Census date for part-of-term classes is determined by the length of the class. Eligibility for aid for students who have enrolled in part-of-term class(es) will be calculated (recalculated) and paid after the part-of-term class(es) begin.

Students who drop classes or completely withdraw prior to the census date of the class will have their aid recalculated or, if applicable, rescinded.