How do I use my financial aid to pay tuition or books?

1. You must have completed all steps before the priority deadline. If you were late, you may not defer tuition or bookstore charges against financial aid. Deadlines are listed in this booklet or online.
2. Review your award notification or check your Atlas account to make sure you have actually been awarded financial aid for the term. Unless you have been awarded, you do not have financial aid available for tuition or books. Your award notification will list amounts for full time enrollment initially and will be adjusted if your actual enrollment is less than full–time.
3. Register for your classes. Financial aid programs will only cover courses that are part of your degree program, so you are strongly encouraged to develop an Educational Plan using the LifeMap Tools in Atlas before registering for any classes.
4. Confirm that the amount of financial aid to be paid for the term will cover your entire tuition bill. If it does not, you will be responsible for paying the difference. If you have enrolled as a less than full–time student, your award amounts will be reduced, so be sure to consider this.
5. Log into your Atlas account to see what programs you've been awarded. Some programs cover tuition only, in which case you will need to buy your own books. If your programs are not limited to tuition, and will be more than the amount of your tuition, you may charge your books to your account.
6. The Bookstore will have information about the amount of financial aid you have available for books and will allow you to charge your bookstore purchase against the expected financial aid.
7. Actual financial aid payments will be credited to your student account after the 100% refund deadline and you have attended the first day of classes for each of your courses. The charges you made for tuition and/or books will be paid from your financial aid at that time.
   

Warning: You must begin attending each class as of the first day. If you decide you will NOT attend a class, you must drop the class prior to the drop/refund deadline or you will be held responsible for paying the tuition. If you do not attend class, or your eligibility for financial aid changes prior to actual payment, your financial aid may be cancelled and any tuition or bookstore charges you made will be your responsibility to pay.

How will I get the remainder of the money? What if I paid for my own tuition and books and qualify for financial aid at a later time?

Student loans are paid to Valencia by your lender. Your lender will provide you with an estimated disbursement schedule. The schedule is only an estimate and actual funds may not arrive on that date. If your lender participates with Valencia in electronic fund transfer, Valencia will credit the loan funds to your student account within 3 days of receipt. If the loan funds credited are more than the charges on your account at that time, the remainder or “credit balance” will be issued to you in the form of a refund check.

If your lender does not participate with Valencia in electronic fund transfer and sends instead a paper check, the Valencia Business Office will contact you to endorse your check for deposit to your account. If the loan is more than the charges owed, the remainder or “credit balance” will be issued to you in the form of a check. The Business Office will mail your check to your address listed in Atlas approximately one week after the funds are credited to your account. Financial aid checks are mailed to the address listed in your Valencia student record. Be sure to update your address in Atlas if you move!

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