About the Financial Aid Disbursement Process

All Financial Aid Programs disburse on scheduled dates each semester. A student's enrollment and financial aid requirement status can also affect the disbursement date of financial aid funds. Due to this, be prepared to pay upfront for textbooks, supplies, and other educational fees until financial aid eligibility is finalized. 

Financial Aid disbursements are issued to students who have completed all financial aid requirements, are meeting Satisfactory Academic Progress, and are actively participating in enrolled classes for the semester. Please note, late start classes will have delayed disbursements once attendance for a late start class begins.

Nelnet Disbursements

Our school delivers your refunds with Nelnet Business Solutions, Inc. (dba Nelnet Campus Commerce).

To view our contract, click here: Nelnet Contract

Academic Year vs Semester Financial Aid Disbursement

When viewing your Financial Aid Award Information on your myRAM Portal, you will notice that your financial aid is listed by Aid Year and also by Term for the Aid Year. Financial aid is offered as an academic year amount that splits evenly between the Fall and Spring semesters. However, depending on your unit enrollment each semester, the amount you receive per semester may vary. Please view the Financial Aid Programs to see the unit requirements for all available financial aid programs.

Additionally, within each semester, some financial aid programs may require a 50% disbursement schedule. Under this schedule, the semester's portion of the financial aid fund is split evenly into two equal disbursements.

Disbursement Calendar

Pell Recipients:

For late starting classes, please note your 1st disbursement will be paid based on the current units you are enrolled in at time of disbursement. For any late starting classes, that you have enrolled in during the registration period, you will receive the remainder of your eligibility once the courses have started.

To understand the calendar, see explanations of each section below:

This is the type of financial aid disbursement that occurs. Please note, disbursements can only occur if all requirements are satisfied. For any requirements completed late, disbursements can occur at a later listed date.

This is the date in which  financial aid funds will apply to your student account. Financial aid is first used to cover current tuition and any other current institutional fees you owe to CCSF. If your financial aid is more than the amount owed, you will receive the remaining balance at the later Direct Deposit/Check Mailed Out Date. 

This is the date on which you will receive financial aid funds in your bank account, only if you previously signed filled out a Direct Deposit Form with the Financial Aid Office, or more recently set up direct deposit through your myRAM Portal. Depending on your bank, it can take until the end of the posted Direct Deposit Date for the funds to post to your bank account.

The CCSF Financial Aid Office has partnered with Nelnet to process your financial aid direct deposit refunds. To sign up for direct deposit through Nelnet, please use the following steps:

  1. Login to your myCCSF Portal
  2. Click on the myRAM Portal button
  3. Click on the Financial Aid button
  4. Click on the Direct Deposit button
  5. Click on the Manage Refund button
  6. Follow the instructions to select a refund method

Please note, after a disbursement occurs, you have 24 hours to update or add direct deposit information on Nelnet. If there is no direct deposit set up within this period, your refund method will default to a mailed paper check. 

This is the date on which a paper check of your financial aid funds will be mailed to your Mailing Address on file. This is available to all students who did not fill out a Direct Deposit Form or sign up for direct deposit through Nelnet. The CCSF Financial Aid Office has partnered with Nelnet to process your financial aid check refunds.