Receive My Aid

Census is the date on which the university’s enrollment is finalized for a semester. It is the 12th class day of each fall and spring semester and the 4th class day in July for the summer semester. All hours and majors are considered frozen on this date for financial aid purposes.

For financial aid purposes, your aid eligibility is based on the courses that count toward your degree. The courses considered to be counting toward your degree are based on both:

• Your enrollment as of the semester census date
• Your major, minor and concentration (as defined in your curriculum record) as of the semester census date

If on the census date your enrollment status (e.g. full-time, half-time, etc.) is lower than what you previously indicated to our office, your financial aid cost of attendance will be reduced and prorated based on your actual enrollment. Such a reduction may result in your becoming ineligible for financial aid that you have already received. As a result, you will be required, as set forth by federal regulations, to repay the aid for which you are no longer eligible.

Repayment of funds may happen after you have received your financial aid disbursement. Please be aware that if you have already received a refund, you may be responsible for using that refund to pay any university charges on your account.

So be sure your enrollment is correct by the census date. Also, make sure your major, minor and concentration are correct well before the semester census date.

Your enrollment status (i.e., full-time, half-time, etc.) for financial aid purposes is determined by the number of hours in which you enroll and that count toward your degree during a semester. To determine the enrolled hours that equate to a particular enrollment status, visit the University Registrar’s Office (see the chart at the bottom of the page). Please note that post-baccalaureate teacher certificate students adhere to undergraduate enrollment status determinations.

To receive your financial aid, you must meet all eligibility requirements as listed on Eligibility to Apply (Undergraduate or Graduate) and complete all the requirements specified on the Financial Aid tab of Texas State Self-Service. If these requirements are met and your aid is ready for disbursement, it will be moved to your student account with Student Business Services no earlier than ten calendar days prior to the start of classes. Any aid available after that point will be moved to your student account within 24 hours of it being ready for disbursement.

For information about the disbursement of your Summer financial aid, please visit our Summer Financial Aid page.

The financial aid disbursement process is the same as for courses taken on campus. The availability of your aid (based on federal disbursement rules) does not affect your payment due date. For payment due date information, visit Student Business Services.

If you intended to but did not withdraw, you will be considered enrolled. As a result, you will be responsible for the repayment of all or a portion of your financial aid due to such issues as your withdrawing from the university once classes have begun, failing to earn at least one passing grade during a semester, etc.

For questions about completing your registration payment, please contact Student Business Services at 512.245.2544.

If your lender does not use EFT (electronic funds transfer), you will have to pick up your paper loan check at Student Business Services (student ID required) within 21 days of it first being available. We are not—under federal regulations—allowed to release your funds until ten days prior to the start of classes.

As a financial aid recipient, the federal government requires that your aid eligibility only be based on those courses that count toward the completion of your degree. So to be considered a full-time student for financial aid purposes, you would want to enroll in 12 credit hours as an undergraduate (or 9 credit hours as a graduate) that count toward your degree. Remember, to be eligible for most financial aid, you only need to be enrolled at least half-time (6 hours for undergraduates and 5 hours for graduates).

As a financial aid recipient, we encourage you to only take the courses that count toward the completion of your degree. However, to be considered a full-time student for financial aid purposes, you would want to enroll in at least 12 credit hours as an undergraduate (or 9 credit hours as a graduate) that count toward your degree. Remember, to be eligible for most financial aid, you only need to be enrolled at least half-time (6 hours for undergraduates and 5 hours for graduates).

The Cost of Attendance, or COA, is the combination of your expected direct and indirect educational costs. This total is used to determine the maximum amount of aid that you can receive. A COA is required by the federal government to ensure tax-payer funded financial assistance does not exceed a student’s educational costs.

So if you go from full-time to half-time status, you will not be paying as much for certain expenses. Since you are not incurring the full-time costs of tuition and fees as well as books and supplies, that part of your COA is reduced as shown in the example below. However, your other educational costs such as room and board are not adjusted.

Yes, but only those courses within the Uniform Undergraduate Degree requirements listed in the catalog or your core curriculum requirements (as defined in your degree audit) are considered aid eligible.

Yes. However, for your minor to be aid eligible, you must declare your minor prior to completing all of the coursework required for your degree.

Even if the prerequisite course is not defined as a remedial course by the institution, the prerequisite course could be considered remedial on a case-by-case basis depending on whether you need the course to progress toward your degree. If so, the course would be aid eligible.

Courses such as remedial math and English that prepare you for college can be considered aid eligible if you are enrolled as a regular student in an eligible program.

You are allowed to repeat a previously passed course that counts toward your degree once. Second and subsequent repeats of previously passed course are not financial aid eligible. The only exception is for courses that are required to be taken multiple times (using the same course number throughout a degree program) and where the content is different each time it is taken.

As with any other course, the study abroad or independent study course must count toward your degree to be aid eligible.

Only courses that count toward your degree are considered aid eligible. If you drop all the courses that count toward your degree and remain enrolled in only courses that do not count toward your degree, you may be required to repay all or a portion of your financial aid.