Financial Aid Quick Guide

Your success is important to us!

Changes are made to Federal Student Aid regulations yearly that impact student eligibility. The Alamo Colleges Student Financial Aid Department (SFA) prepared this guide to assist you in developing strategies to successfully apply for, receive, and maintain financial aid eligibility. 

Federal regulations state that a student must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to be eligible to receive financial aid. Schools are required to periodically evaluate whether students are meeting SAP to ensure their academic progress is consistent with financial aid requirements. Alamo Colleges District SAP requirements are:

• Student must maintain a 2.0 minimum overall GPA.
• Student must complete a minimum of 67% of all credit hours attempted.
• Student may not exceed the maximum time frame allotted to complete an associate or bachelor’s degree - 150% of the published length of their degree program.

SAP is evaluated at the end of each term (Fall, Spring, Summer), after grades are posted. Students who do not meet SAP are granted a probationary semester to improve their GPA or completion rate while continuing to receive aid. If SAP status has not improved by the end of the probationary semester, the student will be placed on financial aid suspension, indicating that all future semesters’ eligibility for financial aid is immediately suspended. An appeal process exists for students with extenuating circumstances which impacted their ability to successfully complete their courses.

2. Students who submit their FAFSA by the priority dates, and complete all eligibility requirements, are guaranteed to have their financial aid application processed before the first day of class.

3. Students submitting their FAFSA or requested documents after the priority dates are advised to consider making payment arrangements with the Business Office.

4. The students’ Primary College on record at Alamo must match the college entered on the FAFSA to ensure the student is awarded at the correct college. Any mismatch must be corrected before a student can receive financial aid.

5. The Alamo Colleges’ Student Financial Aid office is responsible for reviewing the application data of all students who have been by selected for Verification by the U.S. Department of Education. Selected students are required to submit verification forms to confirm all FAFSA information is correct and to determine their financial aid eligibility. All required documents are submitted and evaluated through the ProVerifier+ student portal, located at the link in the student’s ACES account.

6. The student’s full name and Social Security Number must match exactly as listed on both the ApplyTexas and FAFSA applications. Any mismatch must be corrected before a student can receive financial aid.

7. Students have access to view their financial awards, eligibility requirements, messages, and SAP status through the ACES (underlined link) student portal. Important notifications are also sent to the student email address throughout the academic year. Financial Aid ACES tutorials (underlined link) are available online.

8. Eligibility for the Federal Pell program is based on a student’s SAI (Student Aid Index) as determined by their FAFSA. In addition to the SAI, the family size, adjusted gross income, and poverty guidelines are also considered. Both criteria will determine the Scheduled Pell Award for the student, which is the maximum Pell grant a student may receive for the fall and spring.

9. Financial aid is awarded based upon the expectation of full-time enrollment. The following awards will have a percentage-based recalculation (reduction), for students that do not enroll full-time: Federal Pell Grants, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG), Texas Public Education Grants (TPEG), Texas Educational Opportunity Grant (TEOG).

10. Financial aid is also awarded based upon the expectation that a student will attend school for the entire semester. If a student withdraws from all classes (or earns all “F” grades), the award amount must be recalculated to determine the amount of funds the student truly earned. The unearned proportion of aid paid must be repaid to the college by the student.

11. Financial aid refunds are issued through BankMobile Disbursements. Visit the Alamo Colleges Business Office Refunds (underlined link) webpage for more information on refunds.