Your financial aid will be electronically applied to any unpaid Windward Community College (WCC) registration charges approximately ten days prior to the start of instruction, unless your aid was finalized after the start of school or if you have any outstanding eligibility requirements. Your financial aid award payment schedule can be viewed in your MyUH Services Account via the “View My Financial Aid” tab.

ENROLLMENT/CHANGES IN ENROLLMENT

Your initial financial aid offer is based on full-time enrollment (12 or more credits), unless you are set to graduate at the end of the Fall semester, are entering in the Spring semester, or are nearing your maximum timeframe for financial aid eligibility. If you register less than full time in either the Fall or Spring semester, please notify the WCC Financial Aid Office so your financial aid disbursement can be prorated based on your new enrollment status.

If you are changing your enrollment level (adding or dropping classes) after your financial aid has been disbursed, you may be required to return a portion of the full amount of the financial aid funds disbursed to your student account, resulting in an outstanding financial obligation (financial hold on your account) to the institution.

If you do not attend, or complete the courses for which you received aid, you will be subject to a Federal Return of Title IV Funds calculation and may be required to repay a portion or all of the aid received for the semester. You are responsible for informing the Financial Aid Office if you completely withdraw or stop attending classes. Click Return of Title IV Funds Policy to view the policy.

CONCURRENT ENROLLMENT

Generally, most of the funds that are administered by the Financial Aid Office will be applied to WCC charges only. If you are enrolled for courses at another UH campus, you are responsible for making payment for any tuition and fee charges due to the other campus.

REFUND

There are two ways to receive a refund:

• Direct Deposit (Electronically/eRefund)
  Your refund will be processed within three to five business days from the date of your disbursement. To have refunds processed to you electronically, you must sign up for eRefund via your MyUH Services account. Please note that it can take up to two weeks for the University of Hawai’i to verify your bank account information (from the time you set up eRefund) and for your eRefund to be active and ready.
  • To sign up for eRefund, please follow these instructions.
• Paper check
  Your refund will be processed within seven to ten business days from the date of student disbursement. The paper check will be mailed to the mailing address on your student account. You are responsible for maintaining a correct and current mailing address on your student account.

DISBURSEMENT INFORMATION BY PROGRAM

Federal Pell Grant Recipients

The Federal Pell Grant will disburse according to your enrollment status at the time of disbursement. A prorated or reduced amount will disburse for enrollment statuses less than full-time (fewer than 12 credits), unless you are not eligible at that particular enrollment status. Please inform the Financial Aid Office right away if your enrollment credit level changes after receiving a Pell Grant disbursement.

Institutional Grant/Scholarships/Waiver Recipients

Institutional grants/scholarships/waivers will be disbursed based on the required enrollment status of the fund. If the institutional grant/scholarships/waiver does not have a requirement of full-time enrollment, the disbursement will be prorated and/or reduced for all enrollment statuses that are less than full-time (fewer than 12 credits). No disbursement for enrollment statuses less than half-time (five credits or fewer).

Federal Work Study Recipients

Must be enrolled at least half-time (six or more credits) to be eligible. Federal Work Study (FWS) does not represent money in-hand at the beginning of the semester. You are required to work, generally on-campus, to earn the award. Federal Work Study at WCC is based on availability of funds as well as meeting the criteria for Federal Student Aid eligibility. Please visit the WCC Financial Aid Office to inquire about on-campus or community service Federal Work Study opportunities. Once you are placed in a position, you will receive your work study monies in the form of a paycheck for the hours worked. You may view FWS job openings at the University of Hawai‘i Student Employment Site.

Federal Direct Student Loans

If you have completed all of the Loan Requirements, funds will be disbursed ten days prior to the start of instruction, unless your loan funds were finalized after the start of school or you have any outstanding requirements. In general, students need to be registered for a minimum of six credits for student loan funds to disburse. However, if your enrollment at the time of disbursement is not the same level as it was at the time your award was prepared, please notify the Financial Aid Office as soon as possible. An adjustment to your financial aid package may be needed, which could also delay the disbursement of your loan fund(s).

• First-time, first-year borrowers’ loan funds will be disbursed approximately 30 days after the start of the semester, per federal regulations, unless your loan funds were finalized after that time frame.
• One-semester loan borrowers’ loan funds will be split into two disbursements, per federal regulations. The first disbursement will be ten days before the first day of instruction, unless your loan funds were finalized after that time frame. The second disbursement will be at the mid-point of the semester (mid-October for Fall only loans and mid-March for Spring only loans).

External Scholarship Recipients

WCC receives external scholarship funds via the following methods: electronically (ACH), master check or by individual paper check. All external scholarship funds will be applied to your student account, whether or not you have any outstanding tuition/fee charges, and any applicable refund monies will be processed by the WCC Cashier’s Office within a two-week time frame. Please keep in mind that not all external scholarship money is sent to the Financial Aid Office. It is always good practice to check with the donor (the organization that awarded you the scholarship) to find out what their disbursement method will be.