Summer financial aid is extremely limited due to the amount a student can receive in Pell Grant and Direct Loans in one academic year. Many students utilize the full value of their financial aid eligibility during the fall and spring semesters; therefore, a student may not have any remaining financial aid eligibility for the summer. For example:
- If you have Federal Direct Loan eligibility for the academic year and you use all of that eligibility in the Fall and Spring semesters, there will be no Direct Loan available to use for summer sessions unless your student record shows a grade level change. Please see Annual Federal Direct Loan Maximums Chart below.
- In certain situations, an eligible student can receive up to 150 percent of his or her scheduled Pell Grant award for an award year. This is referred to as Year-Round Pell. Students eligible for the Federal Pell Grant for the academic year and enrolled full-time in the Fall and Spring semesters receive 100 percent of the 1st scheduled Pell Grant. To receive year-round Pell, the student must be enrolled at least half-time (6 to 8 credit hours) during the Summer semester. If enrolled part-time during the Fall or Spring semester, you may have remaining 1st scheduled Pell Grant available for the summer semester.
How to Apply
- Summer term aid requires a 2023-24 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). If you have not applied, please go to: https://studentaid.gov and add our School Code: 003450.
- The USCB 2024 Summer Financial Aid Application is also required and will be available online beginning April 1st on your Self Service Carolina (SSC) account.
- Summer processing priority deadline is May 1, 2024. After May 1, we will still consider you for summer financial aid, but cannot guarantee that your aid will be available by the summer fee payment deadline. You may update this application at any time until July 15, 2024.
- Verify and finalize any pending items. If we need additional information to process your summer financial aid request, we will notify you by your USCB e-mail. Please respond promptly.
- Register for Summer classes. Financial aid will be awarded according to actual or
planned enrollment you indicated on your Summer Financial Aid Application if not officially
enrolled. Failure to enroll as indicated voids your application including all financial aid
offered, with the possible exception of the Federal Pell Grant. If your enrollment plans change, please update your Summer Financial Aid Application
online at Self Service Carolina (SSC).
Sources of Federal Summer Aid All financial aid, with the exception of the Pell Grant, requires enrollment in a minimum of 6 credit hours.
- Pell Grant: You will be considered for this automatically, and you may be eligible for funds for Summer.
- SEOG: If you are Pell eligible, you will be considered for this automatically, and awarding is contingent upon availability of funds.
- Federal Work-Study: Awarding is contingent upon availability of funds
- Direct Subsidized and Unsubsidized Loans: You may be eligible for loan funds for Summer, if you did not receive your annual maximum award during the 2023-2024 academic year.
Annual Federal Direct Loan Maximums
| Year | Dependent Undergraduate |
Independent Undergraduate* |
|---|---|---|
| Freshman 0-29 credits earned |
$5,500—No more than $3,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. | $9,500—No more than $3,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
| Sophomore 30-59 credits earned |
$6,500—No more than $4,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. | $10,500—No more than $4,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
| Junior & Senior 60+ credits earned |
$7,500—No more than $5,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. | $12,500—No more than $5,500 of this amount may be in subsidized loans. |
- Direct Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS): Parent(s) of dependent students may be eligible to borrow a fixed interest, federally insured loan to pay educational expenses. To apply the parent must go to https://studentaid.gov.
- Private Educational Loans: USCB does not make recommendations on private loan lenders. Therefore, you are advised to thoroughly compare private loan programs before choosing a lender. Interest rates, fees, and other provisions of these programs may be subject to change; be sure you have all of the facts. You must contact lenders directly to obtain detailed information regarding their loan products and application process.
New Sources of State Summer Aid
In 2015, the State of South Carolina introduced the Summer State Scholarship Program: Eligible LIFE and Palmetto Fellows scholarship recipients who are already on track for an early graduation may use 1 of their 8 semesters of scholarship eligibility in the summer as long as they enroll full-time and complete at least 12 attempted summer credit hours. Students earning the Hope Scholarship may also be eligible following the spring term of their first year.
Scholarship Eligibility Requirements
A student who has been verified as meeting all general and continued eligibility requirements at the end of the spring semester is eligible to participate in Summer State Scholarship Program.
- Palmetto Fellows Scholarship: At the end of the spring semester, a recipient must:
- Earn a cumulative 3.0 institutional GPA; and
- Earn at least 30 credit hours of non-remedial coursework during the fall and spring terms, excluding AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, CLEP, or exempted credit hours.
- A summer term cannot be a scholarship recipient’s first term of enrollment.
- LIFE Scholarship: At the end of the spring semester, a recipient must:
- Earn a cumulative 3.0 LIFE GPA; and
- Earn an average of at least 30 credit hours of non-remedial coursework during the fall and spring terms, including AP, IB, Dual Enrollment, CLEP or exempted credit hours.
- A summer term cannot be a scholarship recipient’s first term of enrollment.
- Hope Scholarship: A Hope recipient who meets the continued eligibility requirement at the end of the spring semester will be determined to be a LIFE Scholarship recipient. Should the student decide to participate in the summer scholarship program, the student will follow the LIFE Scholarship recipient guidelines above. Please note: Hope cannot be used in the summer term.
How to Apply
You will not automatically be awarded the State Scholarship in the summer; therefore, you must elect to use the Scholarship during the summer term. For more information, please contact uscbfina@uscb.edu.
Please note: Participating in summer will use a semester of your state scholarship eligibility. It does not grant you an additional term beyond 8 semesters. If your graduation plan will take you longer than 8 semesters, we strongly encourage you to decide if summer participation is the best course of action for your academic goals. If the coursework offered in summer does not fulfill your degree requirements, participation in the Summer State Scholarship Program may not be right for you. We strongly encourage you to meet with your academic advisor to determine if you can earn a degree at a faster pace by taking summer courses.
Attending full time over the summer can be exhausting because the classes are accelerated. You are expected to complete the same amount of work in each summer class in a shorter amount of time. Please be cautious in deciding if summer participation is the best fit for you.
Disbursement of Summer Financial Aid Funds
- You must be making Satisfactory Academic Progress in order to receive financial aid for the Summer term.
- Disbursement of most financial aid funds will occur once you establish the minimum
attendance requirement. For State Scholarships, you must be enrolled full-time (12.0
credit hours) and student loans require half-time enrollment (6.0 to 8.0 credit hours).
For example:
- State Scholarship funds will be disbursed in one disbursement on the first class day of the session in which you establish full-time attendance. You cannot receive Scholarship funds until you begin attending classes in the minimum number of hours that are required for full-time enrollment (12.0 credit hours). For example, if you enroll in 6.0 hours for the Summer I Session (classes begin in May) and 6.0 hours in the Summer II Session (classes begin in July) you will not receive any Scholarship funds until the Summer II Session begins in July.
- Loan funds will be disbursed in one disbursement on the 1st class day of the session in which you establish half-time attendance. You cannot receive loan funds until you begin attending classes in the minimum number of hours that are required for half-time enrollment (6.0 to 8.0 credit hours). For example, if you enroll in 3.0 hours for the Summer I Session (classes begin in May) and 3.0 hours in the Summer II Session (classes begin in July) you will not receive any loan funds until the Summer II Session begins in July.