YOUR ACCEPTANCE OF AWARDS

You must read all information that is sent to you about financial aid programs from which you have been awarded and understand the conditions and terms associated with your financial aid. Before any of your awards can be credited to your student account, you must sign and return, to the Office of Financial Aid the 2003-2004 Financial Aid Award Letter and any corresponding documents (i.e. Master Promissory Notes, tax returns) requested.

EXTERNAL AID

You must report any external award you receive from sources other than Trinity to the Office of Financial Aid. Since these awards must be counted as a resource in meeting your financial aid package in order to accommodate an outside source of funding. In general, outside awards reduce self-help assistance (i.e. loans and work-study). Circumstances, however, may require the reduction of your Federal, State, or Trinity grant(s) as a result of the receipt of external funds. It is your responsibility to notify us as soon as you become aware of an external award and to ensure that funds are sent directly to the Office of Financial Aid.

ENROLLMENT STATUS

We prepare your awards under the assumption that you will enroll as a full-time student (i.e. taking at least 12 credit hours of classes per semester) and live on campus. Consequently, you have the responsibility of notifying the Office of Financial Aid if you change your enrollment status and drop below full-time attendance, or if you plan to live off-campus.

Undergraduate students in their final term must be enrolled in at least 12 hours to be considered a full-time student, for financial aid purposes.

Your enrollment at the end of the add/drop period of each term will determine your enrollment status for that term.

SATISFACTORY ACADEMIC PROGRESS

In order to receive financial assistance, you must be in good academic standing and must be making satisfactory academic progress towards a degree. You are maintaining satisfactory academic progress if you achieve a minimum grade point average of 2.0 AND complete 75% of the hours attempted at Trinity.

If you fail to meet standards of academic progress, you will be offered financial aid on probationary basis for one year. If you fail to meet the standards of academic progress after your probationary year, you will be denied further financial aid. For more information see Satisfactory Academic Progress.

YOUR STUDENT ACCOUNT AND YOUR AWARD

The Business Office bills you for your direct college expenses (e.g. tuition, fees, room and board). The fall semester billing statement is mailed in mid-July with a payment due date in mid-August. The spring term billing statement of your account is sent in late November with a due date in late December. The billing statement also records any advance payments (e.g. room deposits, AMS payment, and admissions deposits).

The semester disbursements of your grant and scholarship awards are listed as direct payments to your student account. The semester disbursements of your student loans appear as a credit on your statement, once we have received the money from the lender and you have endorsed or authorized the proceeds to be deposited to your student account. In the case of Perkins and Walton loans, direct payment to your account occurs once the Business Office has received a signed promissory note.

Your Federal Work-study award will not appear on your student account statement. FWS is an earning potential, which is an amount that can be earned through campus employment. FWS participants are paid by check on a bi-weekly basis based on the number of hours worked during the pay period.

A scholarship from a source other than Trinity may not appear on your student account as a payment until you notify the Office of Financial Aid of the award. While we can extend credit to you on the basis of this anticipated payment from an outside source, a direct payment to your account cannot occur until we actually receive payment form the outside source. It is your responsibility to have this source send the scholarship check directly to the Office of Financial Aid.

All financial aid must be applied to your student account as it is received. No refunds will be made until your account balance has been paid in full. Refund of excess financial aid will be made when your student account reflects a credit balance after the add/drop and last day to register ends each semester. Please direct any questions regarding a refund to the Student Accounts Office at 210-999-8002.

If you have a balance on your student account, you are responsible for paying that balance. Please contact the Student Accounts Office for available payment plans.