Financial Aid Updates

This webpage will provide the latest updates on Financial Aid processing for the current academic year. This page will provide general information; information about specific accounts will be found in the financial aid portal.

Fall 2025

I don鈥檛 see federal financial aid offers for 2025鈥�2026 in the Financial Aid Portal.

Most students have been awarded aid for the 2025鈥�2026 year. If you don鈥檛 see award offers check:

that you have selected the 2025-2026 award year.
- On the Financial Aid page within the portal, use the drop-down menu to select 2025鈥�2026.
for outstanding requirements.
- Items in the 鈥淒ocuments鈥� section of the financial aid portal in eSantaFe require action. Completing these allows eligible awards to be posted, which then creates the deferment.
course enrollment: Awards are based on actual Fall enrollment. If enrollment occurred within the last 48 hours, awards will post once data is processed, and the deferment will follow.

I can鈥檛 select a borrowing plan in the Financial Aid portal.

Some accounts are experiencing a known issue that prevents students from selecting a borrowing plan.
A fix is on the way 鈥� please try again later.

In the meantime, your FAFSA Submission Summary can give you a good estimate of your eligibility. It will indicate whether you qualify for the Federal Pell Grant. If your Student Aid Index (SAI) is between -1500 and 0, and you meet all other eligibility requirements, you may receive a Pell Grant each semester of $3,687 for full-time enrollment (12 or more credit hours).

I don鈥檛 see my Bright Futures award for Fall 2025.

Bright Futures awards for Fall 2025 have been added to accounts for 2024鈥�2025 award year. If you do not see your award make sure you鈥檝e updated your to indicate that you鈥檒l be attending Santa Fe College this Fall. If you have to make a this change, allow 5 business days for it to update in the financial aid portal.

I have fees due for Fall, but I have financial aid. What should I do?

Although class registration is open, students have until September 3 for fee payment. Setup for the new award year is being finalized, and fee deferments will begin to be applied to accounts once this process is complete. Deferments will hold class schedules for students who have completed all required financial aid processes and are eligible for awards. When deferment processing begins, keep the following in mind:

Scholarships and Grants: No action is required for deferments based on scholarships or grants once awards are posted on the account, though deferments may take additional time to appear.
Bright Futures Scholarships: Bright Futures awards for Fall will be posted on accounts once the transition to the next award year is complete. Confirm Santa Fe College is listed as the attending institution in the state scholarship account. If Bright Futures is the only award, there will be a balance due for fees it cannot cover. Be prepared to pay this by the fee payment deadline.
Loans: Loan deferments require the loan offer to be accepted and all required loan documents completed, and may take additional time to appear after awards are posted.
Outstanding Requirements: Items in the 鈥淒ocuments鈥� section of the financial aid portal in eSantaFe require action. Completing these allows eligible awards to be posted, which then creates the deferment.
Enrollment: Awards are based on actual Fall enrollment. If enrollment occurred within the last 48 hours, awards will post once data is processed, and the deferment will follow.

Summer 2025

My Bright Futures for Fall, Spring, or Summer hasn鈥檛 paid out yet?

Over the summer Bright Futures awards have been processed for payment through a manual process. Many awards have been paid through this process. Paying the remaining Bright Futures awards is the highest priority.

Fall 2024 and Spring 2025

Financial aid processing in Fall and Spring was delayed by a series of technical setbacks related to the integration of a new financial aid processing system. Many of the technical issues have been addressed and college staff are working diligently to ensure students receive all the aid they are eligible for. Processing is being supported by a manual effort to help ensure aid packages are complete and correct before being disbursed. While this requires more time, the College added additional support staff to support completing aid distribution.

On This Page

Phishing Scams Life Happens Emergency Grant Frequently Asked Questions Terminology

Phishing scam is using financial aid language

Students and employees are asked to be vigilant when responding to email communications that might appear to be about financial aid.

The college will NEVER request important information by asking you to click on a link or attachment. Official Santa Fe College instructions will always direct you to your existing password protected sign-ins such as eSantafe for students.

Santa Fe College has received phishing attempts from scammers pretending to be financial aid or other official offices or personnel.

Examples of recent phishing subject lines have been: 鈥淧ending Allocation,鈥� 鈥淔inancial Aid Verification,鈥� 鈥淪ANTA FE COLLEGE Financial Aid,鈥� 鈥淰erification/Financial Aid/BankMobile.鈥� There might be others that are similar.

Colleges throughout the Florida College System are experiencing these same phishing scams. The College is able to block many scams emails and typically can delete them before they are opened. But it is still possible to emails with malicious intentions.

To learn more about phishing scams and how to protect yourself, visit: /its/faq/how-to-identify-a-phishing-email.html

Life Happens Emergency Aid Grant

The Santa Fe College鈥疞ife Happens Emergency Aid Grant is available to assist currently enrolled students who are experiencing financial hardship.

Financial hardships considered by the committee include documented:

Housing Issues
Transportation Issues
Medical Issues
Fire or Natural Disaster
Childcare
Other (explain in narrative)

Documentation

To qualify, students must provide documentation of a financial hardship.

Documentation will vary by the situation and the request. However,鈥�students鈥痵hould provide any documentation that is relevant to the specific financial need and hardship.鈥�Examples include鈥痗opies of bills/invoices/receipts or eviction notices, overdue payments, and notifications from childcare or healthcare providers.

Funding

Funds for the Life Happens Emergency Aid Grant are made available through the 麻豆原创 Foundation and the generous donations of individuals who care about the health and wellbeing of 麻豆原创 students.

The amount varies depending on the situation and documentation. The maximum grant amount is $1,000.

Disbursement

The 麻豆原创 Foundation will only write a check only to the third party that the student identifies, i.e., the car repair shop, landlord, etc.鈥�Neither the student nor the college qualify as third party.

Students will pick up the check to deliver to the listed third party.

This is a grant, not a loan. Therefore, students do not have to pay it back.

Have questions or need assistance?

The grant is overseen by College Ombuds Dr. Bea Awoniyi. 鈥疌ontact her at鈥�bea.awoniyi@sfcollege.edu鈥痮r by phone at 352-395-5513.

Frequently Asked Questions

Please remember that financial aid processing is ongoing. We encourage all students to regularly check their financial aid portals for updates.

This FAQ addresses the more common questions students are having currently.

Currently aid is being released according to the type of funding source. If a student has aid from multiple funding sources, such as a federal, state and a local scholarship, it is possible that aid will be received in multiple deposits at different times. Aid will not be held until other aid arrives; it will be processed as soon as the College receives the funds.

The college does not receive Pell Grants or federal student loans and other funding until just prior to the time it is transferred to BankMobile for deposit into to student accounts. The amount the college receives depends on student eligibility.

It generally takes one to three business days for the funds to be deposited into student accounts once they reach BankMobile. The amount of time that it takes for each file to process and be sent to BankMobile differs for each case. Each file must be reviewed and approved for completeness and accuracy before any funds can be released into student accounts. This is done to protect students and ensure that students are not under-awarded or over-awarded, which could result in having to pay back funds. While this does take time, the College has brought in additional resources to help that process move more quickly.

If you have a financial obligation and registration hold, and you believe it is due to the delay in your financial aid, to let us know.

In the Fall, Santa Fe College implemented a new financial aid processing system to address federal processing changes. The process of integrating the new system with the college鈥檚 current system presented multiple unexpected challenges when the systems failed to interact appropriately. The College has made significant progress resolving the implementation issues and has engaged additional expertise to get the issues resolved more quickly and accurately. Moving forward, we anticipate that the new system will accommodate evolving federal regulations and streamline the student experience.

Nearly all funds for Fall were disbursed. Any remaining aid falls under more complex regulations and processes, and because of the delays, emergency funds remain available to assist those students. Students who need emergency aid should apply at Emergency Aid/ Resources.

While rare, there are situations that will cause students to receive more aid than they are eligible for. Typically, this results in a student having to return funds to the college, which in turn, the college returns to the Department of Education or other funding source. If a student thinks they have been overpaid, they could contact the financial aid office. Also see 鈥淩eturn to Title IV.鈥�

The College is working hard to assist any student experiencing hardship. Emergency aid has been made available to help students mitigate resulting problems. Emergency aid may be used to assist with housing, utilities, transportation, toiletries/personal items, and/or childcare. Students who need emergency aid should apply at Emergency Aid / Resources.

Emergency aid funds are directed to landlords and other service providers to ensure they are used for essential student needs such as housing, utilities, transportation, and childcare. This approach helps the College verify that the funds are meeting the most pressing needs directly. When students apply for funds, they'll be asked to provide documents like rental agreements or utility bills to demonstrate their needs.

While the college does not disburse funds directly for food, we invite you to visit the Saints Food Share Pantry, which is available to support students facing food insecurity.

Terminology

Terminology can vary by institutions. This is Santa Fe College鈥檚 common terminology related to financial aid.

An ACH payment is an electronic transfer of funds between banks using the Automated Clearing House network, commonly used for direct deposits and bill payments. It allows for secure and convenient money transfers without the need for paper checks. BankMobile may use this terminology.

A student is awarded when they are presented with a financial aid package to help cover the cost of attendance.

BankMobile is a disbursements platform that serves to move funds from various financial aid funding sources into student accounts. Once the college approves a financial aid package, funds are transferred to BankMobile for deposit into student accounts. It takes BankMobile 1 or 3 days to transfer funds.

Clock hour programs (sometimes called contact hour programs) are vocational or technical programs where the student's progress is measured by the number of hours spent in class or in hands-on training, as opposed to credits earned. In a clock hour program, each hour of instruction is considered to be one "clock hour".

In Credit Hour Programs, a student鈥檚 progress is measured by the number of credits earned for the class.

Student鈥檚 financial aid payment has been released by the college to BankMobile and arrives in student鈥檚 bank accounts in 2-3 business days. Note: The total amount disbursed to BankMobile does not include funds that covered tuition, fees and books.

Emergency aid refers to grant funds that are awarded to students to meet immediate needs. These funds, which are awarded to students who are waiting for their aid to be processed, do not have to be paid back and do not have any impact on the pending financial aid award. Emergency aid may be used to cover housing, transportation, medical, and childcare expenses. Students can apply for emergency aid at /student-affairs/emergency-aid/#financial

Refers to any tuition, fees or other payments owed to the college.

An overaward is when certain factors cause the student to be presented with an aid package that has more awards than they are eligible to receive. An overpayment occurs when that award is disbursed. An overpayment also can occur when a student receives duplicate payments of the same award. In these cases, funds must be returned to the college, which in turn returns it to the funder.

Paid means the Financial Aid Office has verified eligibility for aid and has authorized the finance department to draw down funds that have been transferred to the College by the Department of Education. It does not mean that aid has been moved into student accounts, but that the process for disbursing aid has begun.

Student鈥檚 award has been processed through the Financial Aid system.

When a student receives more aid than is needed to cover tuition, fees, book charges and other charges, it is refunded to the student鈥檚 account. Funds are transferred to BankMobile, which transfers the funds into a student鈥檚 designated account. Once funds are received by BankMobile, it can take 1 to 3 days to be deposited into student鈥檚 account.

Students who withdraw complete from classes stop attending classes, or have all failing grades may have their aid revised and might be required to repay all or a portion of federal student aid received. This is known as Return to Title IV. The College is required to calculate how much of the semester a student did attend to determine how much of the aid was "earned." Students are required to pay back the portion of financial aid not earned.

The Title IV programs include: Federal Pell Grants, Direct Loans, Direct PLUS Loans and Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOGs).

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