Aid Disbursement Policy
Financial aid can be disbursed to a student’s Portland State University revolving charge account as early as ten days prior to the start of each term. Aid will only disburse at this time if a student’s enrollment level matches their award level for the term, and there are no outstanding requirements. Our ability to disburse aid prior to the beginning of a term means that we must have a “census date” that corresponds to a student’s official aid eligibility for a term. Census dates for the 2016-17 aid year and minimum enrollment requirements for the various sources of aid can be found on the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships Web site at www.pdx.edu/finaid/eligibility. At the census date of each term, each student’s final enrollment is locked. Financial aid for that term is then adjusted, based on the enrollment level at that time. When a reduction in aid is required due to a student’s reduced enrollment level at the census date, the reduction can create a balance due on the student’s PSU account. If there is tuition refund because of dropped credits, the tuition refund will be used to reduce the balance due on the student’s account.
A student whose census date enrollment is less than half-time is not eligible for federal student loans. In these cases, the entire loan amount for the term will be returned to the Federal Student Loan program. The return of loan funds creates a bill on the student’s PSU account, but also reduces the outstanding principal balance due on the student loan. Any current term aid disbursed after the census date will be based on the student’s enrollment on the census date, or their actual number of credits enrolled at the time of disbursement, whichever is less. Credits added after the census date cannot be used to increase aid eligibility. Retroactive aid (aid for a term that has ended prior to disbursement) must be disbursed based on completed grades/credit hours, or census date registration, whichever is less. This includes retroactive grants and loans. Grades that are considered “complete” for disbursement purposes are: A, B, C, D, P, I or IP.