Disbursement Process
Once you have submitted all applicable documents needed to complete your file and accepted your awards, your funds are ready for disbursement to your bill. Financial aid disbursements will begin on the day of record. Refunds are processed by the business office and are distributed to students using their Student Choice Refunds.
Your financial aid will not authorize to hold your classes for Pay As You Go or disburse when scheduled until:
- All Admissions requirements are complete.
- Your final high school transcript and all academic transcripts are received by Admissions.
- You are meeting the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Performance Standards (SAP).
- You are in a degree program that is eligible for financial aid.
- You are registered for (at least, or a minimum of) six hours. Pell Grant is the only exception and varies for each student depending on the student’s Student Aid Index (SAI) on the FAFSA, or if the student is eligible for Minimum Pell according to the FAFSA.
Blinn begins dropping students for non-payments 1-2 months before each semester begins in a process called Pay As You Go. Once Pay As You Go begins for each semester, classes are dropped nightly if all tuition and fees are not covered by either authorized financial aid, a payment plan, or other means of payment.
You must ensure that your financial aid file is complete and your aid is authorized, if you are dependent on it to pay your bill, at least two weeks prior to the Pay As You Go drop date.
Blinn does not disburse any financial aid until the day of record (12th class day for Fall and Spring, and the 4th class day for Summer) for each aid period.
Aid periods can make up just a single semester/term or be comprised of multiple semesters. Blinn aid periods and the day of record for each are as follows:
- Fall – 12th class day.
- Spring (includes Winter Mini & Spring) – 12th class day of Spring.
- Summer (includes Summer Mini, Summer I and Summer II) – aid does not begin disbursing until the day of record (4th class day) of Summer I.
There are many start dates in a semester and you must be attending, not just registered, in six hours for most grants, scholarships, and loans.
Within the Fall and Spring semesters, there are at least four different parts of term:
- 16-Week – classes meet the entire semester
- 12-Week – classes begin four weeks after the regular semester and finish at the end of the semester
- 8-week sessions – one begins at the beginning of the semester (Weeks 1-8), and the second begins eight weeks into the semester (Weeks 9-16).
- 4-week sessions – one begins at the beginning of the semester and starts every 4 weeks.
Grants and Blinn College Scholarships disburse based on attending hours.
All financial aid disburses based on attending hours. (Classes you are actively going to)
Grants are packaged assuming the student is going to attend in 12+ hours in a semester. The amount that disburses is prorated based on the hours the student is enrolled in the semester.
| Enrollment Level | Amount Disbursed |
|---|---|
| 12 or more hours | 100% of awarded amount |
| 9-11 hours | 75% of awarded amount |
| 6-8 hours | 50% of awarded amount |
Scholarships are awarded and disbursed only for students enrolled in 12 or more hours in a semester. Students must be enrolled in 12 or more hours unless they are in the TEAM program or accepted in a Health Science program that does not allow full-time enrollment. Scholarship amounts disburse based on attending hours and may cause the student to receive multiple disbursements in order to receive 100% of the awarded semester amount.
Examples:
- Student enrollment
- 3 hours in 16-week classes, attending 3 hours – 0% disburse
- 3 hours in 12-week classes, attending 6 hours – 50% disburse
- 6 hours in 2 nd 8-week session, attending 12 hours – remaining 50% disburses
- Student enrollment
- 6 hours in 1 st 8-week session, attending 6 hours – 50% disburse
- 6 hours in 2 nd 8-week session, attending 12 hours – remaining 50% disburses
- Student enrollment
- 3 hours in 16-week classes and 3 hours in 1 st 8-week session, attending 6 hours – 50% disburse.
- 6 hours in 2 nd 8-week sessions, attending 12 hours – remaining 50% disburses.
As long as the student remains in 12 hours the scholarships will fully disburse. If the student never begins full-time enrollment the full scholarship will never disburse and the student loses eligibility for any additional disbursements.