Summer Financial Aid

Click to Complete the Summer Aid Application

Summer Aid Eligibility

Financial aid offers are initially processed for Fall and Spring semesters. Students must have a valid 2023-2024 FAFSA on file in order to be considered for Summer 2024 aid.  

Students will have Pell Grant eligibility reviewed upon registration for Summer term. PLEASE NOTE: Students will not be automatically reviewed for federal loan eligibility upon Summer registration. 

Parent and Graduate PLUS Loans will not be automatically offered during Summer Aid Application review.  For students who would like to utilize these loans, an updated 2023-2024 PLUS Loan Application must be completed at  https://studentaid.gov. As a reminder-- PLUS Loan Applications must be completed by the parent of a dependent undergraduate student for Parent PLUS Loans and by graduate students for Graduate PLUS. 

ENROLLMENT STATUSES REMAIN THE SAME FOR SUMMER TERM FOR FEDERAL AID PURPOSES: 

Undergraduate Enrollment Levels:                                               Graduate Enrollment Levels:

Full Time = 12 credit hours                                                          Full Time = 6 credit hours
3/4 Time = 9-11 credit hours                                                       1/2 Time = 3 credit hours
1/2 Time = 6-8 credit hours                                                         Less Than 1/2 Time = 1-2 credit hours
Less Than 1/2 Time = 1-5 credit hours                                        

If a student received the maximum annual amount of aid based on their dependency status and grade level during Fall and Spring, aid may not be available for Summer:

Federal Pell Grant: Students may be eligible for a Summer Pell Grant if they have remaining 2023-2024 Pell Grant eligibility that they did not receive in the Fall or Spring semesters.

Students may also be eligible for a 3rd Pell Grant disbursement as a result of Year Round Pell. In order to be eligible for the 3rd disbursement, students must be eligible for Pell Grant as determined by the Department of Education and must be enrolled at least half time (6 hours) in courses that count towards their degree for Summer term. A student's eligibility for Pell Grant for Summer is also based on their registration for Summer term. 

Federal Direct Loans: Enrollment requirements for Summer term are the same as Fall and Spring. Students must be enrolled at least half time in courses counting towards their degree to be eligible for Federal Direct Loans. Half time enrollment for undergraduates is 6 hours; half time enrollment for graduate students is 3 hours. 

How Summer Aid is Disbursed

If a student is enrolled at least half time in the full Summer term or at least half time in the first mini-session (or in a combination thereof), their aid will be disbursed at the beginning of the Summer semester provided they meet eligibility requirements. If the classes for which the student is registered do not begin until the second mini-term, or if a student will not be considered to be half time until the start of the second mini-term, aid will not credit to the student account until the second mini-term begins.  Federal regulations mandate that aid is paid this way when a student is enrolled in mini-terms.

A student's aid eligibility for Summer is based on the number of credit hours in which they are enrolled as of the official last day to add a course for the Summer term (May 31, 2024*). Please note that any additions to a student's registration after this date will not be counted towards aid eligibility. 

Any financial aid credit balance refund or billing questions should be directed to the Office of Student Accounting at studentaccounting@southalabama.edu or (251) 460-6195.

* Please refer to the Academic Calendar for official dates.