Enrollment Requirements

To qualify for financial aid, there are requirements for the number of credit hours you enroll in, and there are requirements to verify that those hours count toward 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 the financial aid you will receive and plan 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.

An automated evaluation of what courses count in your POS is completed before the start of each semester. Once the initial evaluation has been run, the process will run daily to capture any enrollment changes until halfway through the end of the semester. Once this automatic process ends, only an assigned advisor may make an adjustment to the POS status.

Semester	POS Evaluation Starts	POS Evaluation Ends	POS Advisor Override Deadline
Fall 2026	Jul. 17, 2026	Oct. 27, 2026	Mar. 31, 2027
Spring 2027	Oct. 26, 2026	Mar. 30, 2027	Jul. 15, 2027
Summer 2027	Dec. 12, 2026	May 15, 2027	Aug. 13, 2027

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

Students are encouraged to reference their degree planning tool, GPS, located on ACES, as a guide for understanding which 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.

Proration

Financial aid is typically awarded based on the expectation of full-time enrollment status. Certain financial aid awards will be prorated, or proportionally reduced, if you do not enroll full-time in at least 12 credit hours.

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

Financial Aid Awards that are prorated at the Alamo Colleges District for the 2026-2027 aid year:

Federal Pell Grant: Prorated per individual credit hour. Minimum enrollment in 1 credit hour required.
Federal Direct Loans (Subsidized, Unsubsidized): Prorated per individual credit hour. Minimum enrollment in 6 credit hours required.
Texas Educational Opportunity Grant (TEOG) - Prorated by enrollment status. Minimum enrollment in 6 credit hours required.

Financial Aid Awards that are not prorated at the Alamo Colleges District for the 2026-2027 aid year

Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG): Minimum enrollment in 1 credit hour required.
Texas Public Education Grants (TPEG): Minimum enrollment in 6 credit hours required.

Attending Hours

The different course options offered at Alamo Colleges based on a course’s duration and start date within a semester are referred to as parts-of-term. Examples include 16-week, Flex I, Start II, Flex II, Summer I, and Summer II terms.

Financial aid is disbursed based on the classes you are actively enrolled in for each part-of-term. As a result, your financial aid may not all be disbursed at the same time.

Your full offered financial aid will generally disburse at the same time only when all of your enrolled classes have the same start date and disbursement date. If your classes are spread across multiple parts-of-term with different start dates and disbursement dates, your financial aid may be split into multiple disbursements and prorated based on the classes you are actively enrolled in for each part-of-term.

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.