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Online Summer Counseling

Beginning in March each year, all students interested in summer financial aid must complete online Summer Counseling, accessed via AidLink.  By completing the 10 minute online Summer Counseling session:

• You will be eligible to defer (postpone) payment of your summer registration fees until your summer aid is available. 


• Your aid funds will be released mid-July if—
  • your file is complete, and
  • if you are eligible.
    
    
• You will have access to the online summer counseling session after you have—
  • submitted all of the requested financial aid documents (information available on your AidLink account), and
  • received Award Notifications for the current and upcoming academic years.

Beginning in late May, and after you have enrolled in summer session, the OFAS will review your eligibility and notify you of your summer session financial aid eligibility (check your e-mail and review AidLink regularly). 

Summer Aid—How it Affects Eligibility for Fall and Spring

Most federal and state financial aid programs are for a 9-month academic year.  Therefore, to receive summer financial aid—

• you use any remaining aid eligibility from the current academic year, or
• you may need to request an advance from your upcoming academic year eligibility.

Important: If you request an advance to cover your summer aid, you will have less financial aid available for the fall and spring semesters.   

Requirements for Summer Financial Aid

The following are requirements for you to be considered for summer financial aid.  You must—

• complete the online Summer Counseling session through AidLink;
  
  
• have a Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) and Award Notification for the current academic year to determine your remaining eligibility;
  
  
• have a FAFSA and Award Notification for the upcoming academic year, in case you need an advance from your 2007-08 eligibility; 
  
  
• be a continuing, matriculated student from the spring semester or a newly matriculated student who intends to enroll at SDSU for the fall semester;
  
  
• be making Satisfactory Academic Progress, as defined by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships (OFAS), as a result of spring semester grades;
  
  
• be enrolled for Pell Grant consideration in at least:
  • 1 unit as an eligible undergraduate student or
  • 6 units of required credential coursework as a teaching credential student;
    
    
• be enrolled at least half time to be considered for Federal Direct Student Loan:
  • Half time for an undergraduate or teaching credential student is a minimum of 6 units.
  • Half time for a classified graduate student is a minimum of 5 units.

Summer Federal Work Study

The summer period begins June 1, and ends August 31.

• A supplemental application is required for summer work study and will be available in PDF Forms.
• To participate in summer FWS, you must be attending SDSU currently and/or intend to enroll in classes at SDSU the following academic year.
• It is not necessary to attend summer school.

Important: If you are not enrolled in summer session, your summer earnings will affect financial aid eligibility for the following academic year.

Summer Registration Fee Deferment

You may request summer aid by completing online Summer Counseling on AidLink beginning in March.

A summer fee deferment is a courtesy provided by OFAS in partnership with Student Financial Services and the Office of the Registrar.  A fee deferment—

• only postpones the payment of your registration fees,
• does not guarantee that your summer financial aid will cover those fees,
• does not cover the purchase of books, a parking permit, and other such costs, which you will need to pay for yourself

To be eligible for a summer registration fee deferment, you must complete online Summer Counseling on AidLink .  Otherwise, your fees are due prior to registration. 

Summer Enrollment and Holds on Your Summer Aid

The OFAS will begin processing your request for summer aid beginning in late May. 

Your summer financial aid award will be based upon your specific course enrollment at the time we review your eligibility.  If you add and/or drop classes, we must again review your eligibility.

• If you change your schedule for any reason, we will send you an e-mail message directing you to check AidLink for an Alert about your summer hold. 
• You will be instructed to complete the Summer Discrepancy Hold form online and report your entire new summer schedule.
• We will review your summer aid eligibility from the new registration information that you submit on your online Summer Discrepancy Hold form. 
• If your eligibility for the awarded aid changes, we will notify you by e-mail to log into AidLink to review your adjusted award.

OFAS will place a financial aid hold on your summer disbursement if:

• You drop some or all of the summer classes for which you initially enrolled.
• You drop some or all of the summer classes and add different classes.
• You add one or more classes.
• You do not enroll in enough units to qualify for summer financial aid.  You must be enrolled in at least 6 units as an undergraduate, or 5 units as a graduate, to qualify for most types of summer financial aid.
• Other resources are added to your file (e.g., fee waiver, veteran’s benefits, scholarships, etc.) that could affect your summer award.  (For a hold resulting from additional resources, OFAS will review your eligibility and automatically release this hold.)

Be aware that any hold placed on your file, summer-related or not, could prevent both the disbursement of summer aid funds and the activation of summer loans, until the hold is resolved.  Since all summer financial aid must be disbursed by the last day of the summer session, it is essential that you resolve any hold as quickly as possible so that your summer aid is not jeopardized.

Summer Disbursement

All financial aid and scholarship payments are processed and disbursed by University Disbursements.

• Summer financial aid is released in mid-July after we have evaluated your spring grades to determine that you are making satisfactory academic progress and are eligible to continue receiving aid.
• SDSU will use your summer financial aid to pay your summer registration fees before releasing any remaining funds to you.
• If you owe the university for any charges from a previous term, such as residence hall charges or a financial aid overpayment, disbursement of your summer financial aid will be placed on hold until you resolve the outstanding charges.
• All summer financial aid must be disbursed by the last day of the summer term in
  mid-August each year.
  • It is your responsibility to clear any holds, request an advance of your upcoming academic year eligibility, and/or activate your summer loan to enable a July disbursement and payment of your deferred registration fees.

You must pay all outstanding fees due to the University Cashier if:

• Your summer financial aid is unavailable for any reason.
• Your summer aid is insufficient to cover the entire amount of your registration fees.
• You choose not to accept all or a portion of your summer financial aid.
• Your summer financial aid consists of loans, and you choose not to borrow from the loan program.
• You must activate your summer loans through AidLink, even if you already activated your loans for the fall/spring terms.