A student must meet the following criteria to be eligible for Federal Direct Loans:

• Complete a FAFSA for this Academic Year.
• Be enrolled in a Financial Aid Eligible program leading to a degree, certificate, and/or transfer.
• Enrolled in at least 6 units
• Maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress - Please note students with a combined 90 or more units attempted at CCSF or Transferred into CCSF may need to complete an SAP appeal. Completing an SAP appeal does not guarantee Federal Aid eligibility for that semester.

There are two kinds of Federal Direct Loans available at CCSF “Subsidized” and “Unsubsidized”. We are obligated to provide your subsidized loan options first. The only difference between these two loans is that “Subsidized Loans” has the interest paid while students are in deferment. You can find in-depth information on the Federal Student Aid Website here

Initial Loan Offers are based on your status as Dependent or Independent for Federal Financial Aid and the number of units toward your degree assuming Full Time Enrollment of 24 units during each academic year.

• Enrolling in Less than Full Time or not completing units will reduce loan maximums during the academic year.
• CCSF does not offer any financial aid eligible programs at the Junior/Senior loan level or Graduate loan levels. You can read more about the Full-Time loan maximums here. 
• Please be aware that FDSL may be subject to additional limits based on lifetime borrowing, the Cost of Attendance, and other offered Financial Aid

Borrowers are required to meet with an academic advisor to create a Comprehensive Education Plan. This meeting is by appointment and can take up to 1 hour; they may have additional steps to complete to ensure your plan is accurate. You can make an appointment with a counselor
For a comprehensive education plan to be approved for a student loan it must:

• List a Financial Aid Eligible Degree, Certificate, or Goal. 
• It must include the current semester and include plans to the end of your program. 
• Returning borrowers don't need to create a new degree plan/update their degree plan for the purposes of loans unless they change degree programs or their current plan does not include the current semester

 Instructions for accessing and downloading your Education Plan are here

First Time Borrowers at CCSF will be required to attend a general information session and assistance workshop. Returning borrowers can attend the workshop but it is not required. We will have the computer lab for the full two hours but the information session will be less than 45 minutes overall. You can leave early as needed.

The goals for the workshop are:

• First time borrowers to request loans
• Cover details on SAP and Enrollment Requirements
• Make sure students have access to the federal Master Promissory Note, federal Loan Entrance Counseling, and CCSF required CashCourse online training. 
  
  You should bring:
• Government Issued Photo ID
• CCSF Student ID and Password
• FAFSA Log-in Information
• Pens and Paper to take notes as needed.
• (Optional) Your own laptop or tablet.

For workshop dates, please view the financial aid events calendar here: Financial Aid Workshops and Events

Loan Offers will not disburse unless you have also completed the documents below. You can complete these documents before or after any loan workshop. Starting these documents comprise the second half of the workshop but you may need to finish some of these steps on your own time. Generally, these documents do not expire. These documents take 3 to 7 days to reach our office after completion. 
 

• Complete a Federal Master Promissory Note - This is an agreement to repay the loan completed on the Federal Student Aid website. You can find the Federal Undergraduate Master Promissory Note here.
• Complete the Federal Loan Entrance Counseling - This is a quick course required by the Department of Education regarding loans over multiple years. You can find the Federal Loan Entrance Counseling website here
• Complete the CashCourse Training program - This additional course is required by CCSF and covers additional information on loan repayment. Register using your School Email Address, Full Student ID Number, and Name. You can find the registration link here. The Access Code, if needed, is 1581.
  
  Incomplete documents will be listed on your myRAM Portal Financial Aid Dashboard after the loan form is assigned and will disappear from your dashboard after completed documents are reviewed by our office. 

Loans accepted are disbursed in two portions. Depending on the number of semesters the loan covers. Checks/Digital refunds happen approximately 2 weeks after any Disbursements (internal payments toward your bill) as per our standard disbursal processes.

 

• A Fall-Only or Spring-Only Loan will disburse a portion in the middle of their semester and the second portion near the end of the semester.
• A Fall/Spring Loan will disburse a portion in the middle of Fall and a portion in the middle of Spring.
• Disbursements may be reduced if you drop courses, are dropped from courses before each disbursement.
• Disbursements may be delayed or prevented if you are not meeting the general eligibility criteria (SAP, half-time or greater enrollment, et cetera)
• Disbursement may be reduced, delayed, or prevented if required by law.
  
  You can find more information on disbursement and setting up direct deposit.

The loan maximum is reduced propotionally to the classes you are enrolled in at the time of disbursal each semester and looking across the academic year (Fall, Spring, Summer).
This means you might accept the full amount but are the Fall disbursal is half of the expected amount because you are only enrolled in 6 units. Or the second portion might affected if you are paid for 12 units in Fall but complete less than 12 units. See the examples below based on a Dependent First Year Student. The amounts might change for a independent or sophomore student, but the process is the same.

Example One: Less than Full-Time

Example Two: Dropped Courses