Everything (I know) about Financial Aid
Hey everyone, I'm going to risk sounding like a nerd and try to explain everything I know about financial aid. Since a handful of questions on this sub are about FAFSA, and with the major semester coming up, I hope this clears any concerns about how the disbursements work. I would use this as a TL:DR to the entire process since it can be a little complicated but of course if you still can't find what your looking for, the Financial Aid Office will always be helpful.
M-Th, 8am - 7pm; Fri 8am - 4:30pm
(closed Fri during Summer Term)
Building 9B, 2nd Floor
909-274-4450
Important Sites
The three important sites I use to know when and how much I'm getting are:
How Financial Aid Gets To You - Freeze Dates, Official Disbursement Dates, Credit Requirements for MAX payout
https://www.mtsac.edu/financialaid/resources/policies/how_financial_aid_gets_to_you.html
Official FAFSA Site - Signing in displays FULL disbursement amount expected/paid
Mt. SAC Financial Aid Portal - Shows if FAFSA was received/processed, disbursements amount per term expected/paid (Payment Schedule).
https://prodrg.mtsac.edu/StudentSelfService/ssb/financialAid#!/dashboard/home
Things to check/need to know first:
- The "max payout" is based on your SAI (Student Aid Index), which varies per person. This can be found on the Official FAFSA Site, instructions to find your SAI can be found here
- To receive your maximum payout, you MUST enroll with 12 units (Fall/Summer).
- Using the Financial Aid Portal, check your "Satisfactory Academic Progress" and check if the "Effective Term"/current/upcoming term reads "Satisfactory Progress."
Standard FAFSA Disbursement Process:
Using the Financial Aid Portal, select your Aid Year in the top right, confirm your FAFSA Application is "Received", clicking on Offer and finally "View your payment schedule."
This tab shows how much of your disbursement will be given on specific dates. Note that these dates are when they are "sent." The exact date when it hits your account is exactly 7 days after. (Ex. Expected Date: 10/16/20XX -> Paid on: 10/23/20XX)
As far as everything being in order, that's all you need to know.
General FAQ'S:
The "Expected By" date has passed, where's my refund:
It takes 7 days for the money to hit the account you've selected in your BankMobile Account. For the upcoming payment for example, it will be "sent" July 2nd, but not hit your account until July 9th (Maybe later since July 4th is a federal holiday)
Do we get Winter and Summer refunds?
We do not get Winter refunds, we do get Summer refunds.
When does the next years payment schedule show up?
When we are nearing the start of the Fall term, so around August-September.
SAP Appeals:
In the event your SAP reads "Suspended", you have two options:
- Submit a SAP Appeal Form
- Continue to take classes until the "SAP Standards" are met. You will NOT be receiving a FAFSA refund for the term you are suspended.
SAP Appeals require 4 required items:
- 20XX-20XX Request to Reinstate Financial Aid (Form)
- Look for "20XX-20XX Request to Reinstate Financial Aid" and fill it out
- Educational Plan
- An appointment must be made with a counselor
- Evaluated Academic Transcripts
- Head to your MtSac Portal, Student Self-Service -> Student Records -> 18. View Unofficial Transcript
- Transcript Level: Credit , Transcript Type: Web, Submit
- A "Print" option should appear on the right side of the page, and now download/print the PDF with the download button on the top right of the page.
- Supporting Documentation
- This can be any official document as evidence for your claim made in your SAP Appeal Form
- This may also be any unofficial document that at the very least shows evidence of what your claiming in your appeal is true, in my case I submitted screenshots of my doctors office sending me appointment confirmations through my messages app.
As far as I know, during the Fall/Spring terms, you may submit all of these items electronically through a form, though I am having extreme trouble finding it myself at the moment. I may update this post when it becomes available. During this time, SAP Appeals may only be submitted IN-PERSON, and the unofficial document tip is likely unacceptable.
SAP Appeal Response Times:
SAP Appeals are reviewed by "waves." The dates can be found here
The response time varies depending on when you submitted, for example:
Student to Submit Appeal by: February 6, 2026
Committee to Review by: February 17, 2026
You Submitted On: February 4th
Your appeal will make the deadline for February 6th, but will not be reviewed until February 17th. After the review date, it takes the committee to take 7-14 days to give a response. So around February 24th, you'd get an email and a message on your Financial Aid Portal with the following (best case scenario):
I made another post that has other accounts of people's SAP appeal process, which could be helpful:
https://www.reddit.com/r/MtSAC/comments/1n7rp2l/sap_appeal/
Missed Payments:
Any refunds you missed will be rewarded if your appeal is approved within the same term, which may cause your payment schedule to look a little funky.
This is all I know about how FAFSA works at Mt. Sac, a slightly complicated mess but at the end of the day the school is working with money.
If there is anything simple I missed or make something more clear, feel free to let me know and I'll try to add on to this post/respond!