Enrollment Requirements

In order to qualify for financial aid, there are requirements on the number of credit hours you enroll in and there are requirements to verify that those hours count towards your program of study. Your enrollment determines the amount of financial aid that is disbursed to you.

Becoming familiar with Financial Aid's key enrollment requirements and terminology will help you anticipate what financial aid you will receive and make plans for each term accordingly.

Program Of Study (POS)

Program of Study (POS) is a U.S. Department of Education requirement stating that only courses included in a student's degree plan are eligible for financial aid. Due to this requirement, any courses you take that are not a part of your official degree plan will not qualify for financial aid.

POS Evaluation

Automated Evaluation

An evaluation of what courses count in your Program of Study is done through an automated process before the start of each semester. Once the initial evaluation has been run, the process will run daily to capture any enrollment changes throughout the semester. The initial and last automated date for evaluation are posted below for each semester.

Timeframe	Fall 2024	Spring 2025	Summer 2025
Start of POS Evaluation	7/12/24	10/29/24	4/2/25
End of POS Evaluation	10/28/24	4/1/25	7/17/25
Last Day for POS override by Advisor	12/14/24	5/17/25	8/15/25

GPS

Students are encouraged to reference their degree planning tool, GPS, located on ACES as a guide for understanding what future courses count toward their degree plan. For specific questions about whether a course counts toward your degree or if a course override may be applicable, contact your academic advisor.

Contact Academic Advising
SAC Advising	SPC Advising	PAC Advising	NVC Advising	NLC Advising

How does POS effect my financial aid enrollment status?

A student's enrollment status for financial aid is based on the number of credit hours of courses that are included in your Program of Study (POS). Your enrollment status will determine how much of your award will be paid to you.

How does POS effect my Cost of Attendance?

Your cost of attendance (COA) is initially calculated based on the expectation of full-time enrollment status. Your cost of attendance will recalculate after the semester has started based on your total enrollment in courses included in your Program of Study (POS).

An overall reduction of financial aid may be necessary if your cost of attendance is recalculated to an amount less than your total aid.

How do I find my assigned academic advisor?

You can find your assigned academic advisor on your ACES account or on the GPS portal.

Will an advisor override for a course to count towards POS still apply if I have dropped it and added it back?

No, an override approved by an academic advisor will count only towards that specific course and section. If you change your class or it is dropped, you will need to contact your academic advisor to have an override added again.

What if I don't know whether a course counts toward my degree?

You should always reference your official degree plan and course catalog as to what courses count toward their degree. For specific questions about whether a course counts toward your degree, contact your academic advisor.

Currently, the best way to contact your Certified Advisor is by scheduling an appointment:

Log in to ACES
Select the 'Start Here' tab
Select the 'Alamo Navigate' icon
Click 'Login'
Select the 'Appointments' tab
Select 'Schedule an Appointment'
Select the reason for your appointment and click 'Next'
Select the location and click 'Next'
Select the day and time that works for you and click 'Next'
Enter 'Zoom Appointment' in the Notes box
Review the selection and confirm your appointment

Is the POS evaluation cumulative for the year?

No, your enrollment will be evaluated each semester.

Enrollment Status

There are four levels of enrollment used to classify our student population each semester in Fall, Spring, and Summer. The amount of credit hours associated with each enrollment status are listed below.

Full-Time	3/4 Time	Half-Time	Less-Than Half-Time
12 Hours	9-11 Hours	6-8 Hours	1-5 Hours

Proration

Financial aid is typically awarded based upon the expectation of full-time enrollment. Certain financial aid awards will be prorated, or have a percent based recalculation, if you do not enroll full-time in POS hours. These recalculations will occur within each part-of-term that you attend in a semester.

Full-Time	3/4 Time	Half-Time	Less-Than Half-Time
12 Hours	9-11 Hours	6-8 Hours	1-5 Hours
100% of Original Offer	75% of Original Offer	50% of Original Offer	0- 25% of Original Offer

Financial Aid Awards that are subject to proration at the Alamo Colleges District include:

Federal Pell Grants
Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG)
Texas Public Education Grants (TPEG)
Texas Educational Opportunity Grant (TEOG)

Financial Aid Awards that are not prorated and will pay out fully with at least half-time enrollment include:

Federal Direct Loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized, PLUS)

Parts-of-Term

The various course options offered at Alamo based on their duration and start date in a semester are known as 'Parts-of-term'. Ex. 16-week, Flex I, Start II, Flex II, Summer I, Summer II terms, etc.

As there are many start dates in a semester, you must be attending - not just registered, for your enrollment to count towards the amount of financial aid that is paid to you. See more below.

Attending Hours

All financial aid pays out based on "attending hours", or the classes you are actively going to for each part-of-term.

This means that your offered financial aid for a semester will only pay out 100% at the same time if all the classes you are actively going to share the same start date and disbursement date. If your registered classes are spread out between parts-of-term with different start dates and disbursement dates, your financial aid will be split up and prorated.

Semester Disbursement Dates

Census Date

Census is the date on which enrollment is officially confirmed for a part-of-term. All hours are considered "locked" on this date for financial aid disbursement purposes.

For a list of census dates for each part-of-term, review the Academic Calendar here:

Academic Calendars

Enrollment FAQs

How will my enrollment affect my financial aid disbursement?

Example #1: If you are enrolled full time in Fall (12+ credit hours) and begin 9 credit hours of courses during a 16-week part-of-term, on the 16-week disbursement date your disbursement will be prorated to 75% of your eligible financial aid. Once you begin 3 credit hours of a Flex II part-of-term, on the Flex II disbursement date, you will receive the remaining 25% of your eligible financial aid.

Example #2: If you are enrolled full time (12+ credit hours) and begin all classes during Flex I or 16-week sessions, you will receive 100% of the eligible financial aid for which you qualify all on the same date. If you add additional classes, no adjustments will be made to your financial aid since you've already received your maximum disbursement.

We want you to be aware that if you drop a course before the census date of any part of term for which you are enrolled, your financial aid calculation will also reflect those changes. This could result in a decrease of your financial aid.

Does my financial aid pay for Wintermester classes?

Wintermester is a unique short terms that does not have it's own financial aid award & pay out date before classes start.
Students must pay the costs of their Wintermester tuition and fees up front by the December payment due date to avoid being dropped for non-payment.
Wintermester enrollment counts towards your financial aid eligibility for the Spring semester.
Students will not receive any financial aid for their Wintermester courses if they do not also enroll in Spring courses.

Does my financial aid pay for Maymester classes?

Both Maymester and Summer I-8 week courses are unique short terms that do not have their own financial aid award & pay out date before classes start.
Students must pay the costs of their Maymester and Summer I-8 week tuition and fees up front by the payment due date to avoid being dropped for non-payment
Maymester and Summer I-8 week enrollment will only count towards your financial aid eligibility for the Summer semester if you are also enrolled in any of the following Summer terms: Summer I-5 week, Summer II-8 week, Summer-10 week, Summer III-8 week, and Summer II-5 week
Note: students will not see any summer aid disbursed until after the Spring Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) calculation has run.