The Life Cycle of Financial Aid

So, you just filled out your FAFSA, and you want to know where your financial aid is, right? I mean, it tells you how much you’re getting on your Student Aid Report (SAR) when you submit the FAFSA, so what’s the hold up? Isn’t it a simple process?

While the Department of Education has made many changes to make applying for aid easier, there is still much to the process. Let’s take a look at the life cycle of financial aid: from FAFSA to the Term Bill in Catalyst.

Before your FAFSA is submitted to your school, your name and Social Security Number gets verified with the Social Security Administration. If there is any kind of mismatch with your identity, then you would need to correct it before it can be sent to us.

Then, once your FAFSA is on its way to UC, it may get selected for a review process called “verification.” If selected, you would need to supply additional documentation, such as income tax documents or W2 forms, to verify the data that was provided on the FAFSA. This process could cause delay with receiving your financial aid so it is very important to provide all requested documentation as quickly as possible. You can review requested documentation by reviewing your To Do List in Catalyst.

After that, you then must have an open program at UC for us to import your FAFSA into Catalyst for review. Students are able to send their FAFSA to several schools, some of which you will ultimately not attend. In order for UC to process your FAFSA, you must have been offered admission (if you are an incoming student) or you must be a current UC student.

Your personal information such as name, birthdate, and Social Security Number must be correct on the FAFSA and your on your UC file. Otherwise, Catalyst will not be able to import the FAFSA for review. We’re not even at the part of offering the aid to you, yet!

Let’s say everything is correct on the FAFSA and your Catalyst file, and you are then offered a financial aid award. While grants and scholarships are accepted automatically, since it is free money that you do not have to pay back, you still have to accept loans and work study, if you are interested in accepting them. We’ll be sharing a blog post all about Federal Work Study soon.

That leads us to our next subject in the life cycle of financial aid: the timing of disbursement. You’ve waited this long; so, show me the money, right? Your federal financial aid cannot be applied to your bill until ten days prior to the start of your classes. So, if your classes start on August 24, you’re not going to see it applied to your Term Bill until, at least, August 14. How do you use financial aid to pay for your textbooks or other supplies not included on your bill? If you have more than enough financial aid to cover the costs on your bill, you’ll receive a refund of the excess funds. Direct deposit is required for financial aid refunds that you receive so be sure to enroll in Catalyst as soon as possible.

So, that begs the question: where does the money come from? It comes from FAFSA, right? What does that even mean? After your financial aid is accepted in Catalyst, the financial aid goes through an origination process that includes UC and the Department of Education. Only after origination is complete can it be applied to your term bill in Catalyst. Whew…what a process that can be! You had no idea, there was so much to it, did you?

So, there you have the life cycle of financial aid! While it can seem complex, know that the One Stop Center is here to help guide you and answer questions along the way. Now is probably a good time to remind you to get your FAFSA in early! Catch our upcoming blog post about all of the reasons you should file your FAFSA early. Be sure to file your 2021-22 FAFSA early. It becomes available on October 1, 2020.