Receiving Aid

Award Process

USCA's priority date for receipt of the financial aid application (FAFSA) is March 1 of each year. If we receive your FAFSA information by this date and you promptly respond to requests to complete any other documents or to provide additional information, you will be considered for the best financial aid award package for which you are eligible.

A priority deadline for receipt of the FAFSA is necessary because several aid programs for which a student may be considered have limited funding.

Applications received and reviewed after the priority deadline will be considered for Federal Pell Grant funds, Federal Direct Loan funds, and other loan funds. If we receive your FAFSA information after July 1, you should not expect financial aid to be available for fee payment before the Fall semester begins.

Award Notification

An award notification will be sent to your USCA email account if you are awarded financial aid. You will be instructed to access Self Service Aiken to view your financial aid award information, which will include the source(s) and amount(s) of the aid.

You must follow all instructions provided to ensure that your financial aid awards will be available for bill processing. The award information may indicate funds from more than one financial aid program. All references to loan awards will reflect gross amounts awarded, not net amounts to be received.

The proceeds from all indicated awards must be used by the student to pay his or her educational expenses. Educational expenses include tuition and other academic fees, housing costs and other expenses directly related to the student's attendance at USCA.

Financial Aid Award Terms & Conditions

It is the student's responsibility to read this information and be familiar with the terms and conditions of the financial aid award(s). Your financial aid initially will be processed based on full-time enrollment for both Fall and Spring. If you do not enroll full-time, your awards will be adjusted appropriately.

If you want to revise or decline part or all of your financial aid offer, you may do so on Self Service Aiken. The Office of Financial Aid will attempt to meet your calculated need. However, due to funding limitations, you may not receive funds equal to the total amount of your eligibility.

Accepting Awards

Once USCA has received your FAFSA and any verification requirements have been satisfied, the Financial Aid Counselors will assemble an aid package for you.

To view your award package, you must:

Log into your Self Service Aiken (SSA) account
Select the "Financial Aid"
Select "Financial Aid Dashboard”
Verify Aid Year in the top right corner
Select the "Resources" tab
Select the "Offer" tab on your financial aid dashboard to view your award offer

To accept or decline your awards:

Log into your Self Service Aiken (SSA) account
Select "Financial Aid"
Select "Financial Aid Dashboard"
Select the "Offer" tab to accept/decline award offer and submit
- You have three options to accept or decline awards including accepting the full amount of all awards, accepting or declining the full amount of each award individually, or accepting a partial amount of each award. For Federal Direct Loans, you must accept the full subsidized loan before you can accept the unsubsidized loan.

State Award Additional Requirements

Recipients of a South Carolina state scholarship (HOPE, LIFE, Palmetto Fellows) or South Carolina Need-based Grant must also sign a SC State Scholarship/Grant Certification before accepting the award. Your in-state residency must also be completed before a state award can be disbursed.

To sign your State Scholarship/Grant Certification:

Log into Self Service Aiken (SSA)
Select the “Financial Aid” tab
Select “Financial Aid Dashboard”
Select the "Offer" tab
Accept the award offer and submit

To complete your SC residency:

Log into Pacer "Admissions" Portal
Review your Outstanding Requirements
Click on your Residency Requirement to complete the process

Federal Direct Loan Additional Requirements

After accepting a Federal Direct Loan for the first time, you must complete Entrance Loan Counseling and sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN). You can complete the Entrance Loan Counseling and MPN at StudentAid.gov by signing into the site with your FSA ID. It typically takes 24-48 hours for the completion status to be relayed from the federal site into our system at USCA. Please note if both of these requirements are not completed, the loans will not be disbursed.