Receiving Your Aid

The Financial Aid Office processes complete aid applications in the order in which they are received. The office determines aid eligibility for each student and notifies them of their financial aid offer by email.

General Information

You must choose an eligible program of study to receive financial aid. Your program of study is the degree or certificate you plan to work on while attending Shoreline Community College.   See the list of eligible programs here.

By federal regulation, your financial aid can only pay for the classes you need to complete your program, or for prerequisites you must take before you enroll for required classes. 

Financial aid cannot pay for the following:

  • Classes related to your program, but not required
  • Classes recommended by an advisor, but not required for your program
  • ABE, GED, ESL, and CECO classes
  • Continuing Education classes
  • Classes you wish to Audit (N Grade)

We determine your program of study from your student record:

  • You must receive approval from the Financial Aid Office if you wish to change your program of study.
  • Submit a Program Change Request if you need to change your program of study.
  • We report your program of study to the Department of Education (ED) each year.

Program and Funding Limitations

  • Generally you may receive funding for one program of study at a time.
  • You may earn more than one degree or certificate, but we allow funding for only one transfer (AAS – DTA), and one transfer Associate of Science.
    • If you earned an associate degree or a bachelor’s degree at another college or university, we require you to ask Shoreline Community  College to complete a transfer credit review, so we can determine what classes are still required for the degree or certificate you plan to earn at Shoreline CommunityCollege.
  • Funding for selective admission programs, such as Nursing or Dental Hygiene degrees requires full acceptance into the program. We cannot fund conditionally admitted students.
  • Under certain circumstances you may receive loan funds only to take classes that meet the admission requirements needed to transfer to another college or university.
  • You may receive funding to repeat a class one time for a better grade if you completed the class, or received a grade of No Credit (NC), Unsatisfactory (U) or a grade of HW.
    • If you officially withdrew from a class and received a grade of W, you may repeat and receive funding up to two times.

Plan with an advisor

Planning your coursework carefully with the help of an academic advisor can really make a difference. Advisors at Shoreline Community  College are friendly and knowledgeable. They work closely with you to help you get the most out of your time here. You may even find ways that help you reach your academic goals more quickly. To make an appointment contact the Academic Advising Office. 

Aid Offers & Enrollment Level

Students enrolled in less than full time credits, 12 or more credits, need to notify the Financial Aid Office of their  enrollment level. Waitlisted classes are not counted as registered classes.  

Financial aid calculates grant and loan funding based on a student's enrollment level at the time of disbursement.  The following enrollment levels are used:

Full time
12 or more credits
3/4 time
9 - 11.5 credits
1/2 time
6 - 8.5 credits
Less than 1/2 time
1 - 5.5 credits

 

Fund Availability

Grants and waivers apply directly toward tuition and applicable fees first. Loan funds apply after all steps in the loan process have been completed. Any remaining funds are made available to the student as a refund.

Please Note: All debts owed to the College, such as parking tickets or library fines, must be paid before students can receive their financial aid refund. Students should start each quarter with some of their own funds to pay for books and other expenses.

Funds are available if students:

  • Are offered financial aid. Aid offer notifications are generally sent to the students' preferred email account. Aid offer notification information can be found in ctcLink. Learn how to check your aid status in ctcLink
  • Are making the required academic progress
  • Are registered for the correct number of credits and for courses required for degree completion
  • Do not have a block on their account (i.e., parking fine, library fine, past tuition debt). Contact the Cashiers Office if you believe there may be a block on your account.
  • Check the school's academic calendar for quarterly disbursement dates

Fund Disbursement

Funds are disbursed each quarter with initial disbursement beginning the business day before the quarter begins (except summer which is July 1).  We disburse funds on Tuesdays and Thursdays after that for the remainder of the quarter.

Financial aid refunds are disbursed through our partner BankMobile, a financial services company serving higher education.

To learn how accessing your disbursements and refunds works, visit BankMobile's How It Works page

Learn more by viewing Shoreline's contract with BankMobile.

Make sure your contact information is up to date within your ctcLink account to receive your refund.