Deadlines for Enrollment Changes

Once a semester, our office takes a "snapshot" of the number of units you are enrolled in. Federal and state grants are based, in part, on the number of units you are taking. Consequently, if aid is disbursed and you have dropped classes and the snapshot is taken on a date when they are enrolled in fewer than 12 units, your financial aid award may be reduced retroactively for programs requiring full time enrollment and you may be required to pay our office back a portion of the award.

Semester freeze dates will be posted each term in the Financial Aid Office, our website, flyers on campus, and the online Disbursement Bulletin published each July for the coming award year.

Full time enrollment is required for most aid disbursement. If you will NOT be enrolled and attending full time, you must immediately submit enrollment plans in writing to avoid overpayment of aid funds. Eligibility for some types of aid depends on a specific number of enrolled units.

If you are eligible for a Pell Grant, or a Cal Grant B, grant disbursement must be prorated according to your enrolled units. Other aid might also have to be adjusted for less than full time enrollment. Be aware that you may be billed for an overpayment for some programs if your account is credited at full-time funding and you drop units, or are enrolled for less than full-time status on the freeze date.

If you receive aid at less than full time, but add units before the freeze date, you may be eligible for additional aid. Notify the financial aid office in writing of any changes in attendance.

Note: Audited and wait-listed courses do not count as enrolled units for financial aid purposes.

Adds or drops AFTER the freeze date will not change funding for the current semester; however, drops may cause satisfactory academic progress problems. If you anticipate a satisfactory academic progress problem, please come to our office to meet with a financial aid counselor.

Prior to the freeze date, you should check your class schedule on Student Center to make sure you are enrolled in the correct number of units (full-time enrollment is 12 units) to prevent billings for overpayment of aid. 

Aid recipients who are not enrolled full time as of the freeze date may be required to pay back part or all of these funds.

THE FREEZE DATE DEADLINE - now the same date as last day to add/drop (approximately two weeks into each term). At the university census date, the financial aid system will take one FINAL reading of your units. Your unit status on this date will set your eligibility level for the following programs for the entire semester: Pell Grant, Cal Grant A and Cal Grant B for tuition fees, Cal Grant B Access, State University Grant (SUG), Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Perkins Loan. Aid recipients who are not enrolled full time as of the freeze/census date may be required to pay back all or part of these funds. Audited or wait-listed courses are not counted as enrolled units for financial aid.

Be aware that you may be billed for an overpayment for some programs if your account is credited at full-time funding and you drop units or are enrolled for less than full-time status on the freeze date.

FEE PAYING GRANTS: If you have a fee waiver or another educational resource that pays your fees, you may be billed for overpayment of SUG or Cal Grant. If your SUG is paid to you for 6.1 or more units, and you drop units, you will be billed for any overpayment.

If you receive aid at less than full time, but add units before the freeze date, you may be eligible for additional aid. Notify the Financial Aid Office in writing of any changes in attendance. Please don't get caught owing $$$. The freeze date is the deadline to finalize your enrollment for financial aid.

Adds or drops AFTER the freeze date will not change your funding for the current semester; however, drops may cause satisfactory academic progress problems. If you anticipate a satisfactory academic progress problem, please come in to our office to meet with a financial aid counselor.

Prior to the freeze date, you should check your class schedule on Student Center to make sure you are enrolled in the correct number of units (full-time enrollment is 12 units) to prevent billings for overpayment of aid.