[Skip to Content] [CSUSM Home] [CSUSM Search] [Help for this Site]
Page Last Revised on 07/12/2004

 

Reading Award Letter

Table of Contents

If we have given you a fall award and you decide to postpone your enrollment until the spring semester, you must notify us immediately. Unless we are otherwise notified, if you are not registered for the fall semester, we will assume that you do not plan on attending Cal State San Marcos this year and will cancel your aid for the full year.

Your award letter is sent to you either by mail or email once your FAFSA is received and if documents are required, after those documents have been submitted and reviewed. The award letter tells you:

Types of aid Shows the aid offered for each semester
Minimum Units The minimum number of units in which you must be enrolled to receive this award.
Status Indicates if parental information was required (dependent)

And the housing status on which the budget is based (living with parent or not with parent). Also indicates the number in household and number in college used to calculate EFC
Cost of Attendance The financial aid budget on which eligibility is based
Contribution The EFC (see below) on which eligibility is based
FA eligibility The maximum eligibility for need-based aid

 

Example:
 
Minimum Units Fall 12 units   Spring 6 units
Status

Dependent, Living with parent
Household size 3, 1 in college
Cost of Attendance $9,766    
Contribution
 Parent
Student
$ 500
$1,100		    
FA Eligibility $8,166    
 
Type of Aid Total Fall Spring
Pell Grant $1,875 $1,250 $  625
State University Grant $1,845 $1,167 $  678
EOP Grant $   600 $   400 $  200
Subsidized Loan $3,500 $1,750 $1,750
Total Aid $7,820 $4,567 $3,253

This student indicated that she would be a junior attending 12 units in the fall, 6 units in the spring. For this reason, her grant aid changes between fall and spring. If she registers in less than 12 units in the fall, she will not be eligible for the aid awarded. It will have to be revised.

Loan Aid
Your initial award will include the maximum loan we can offer at your current grade level and based upon the cost of attendance and other aid offered. There are up to three steps to finalize your student loan at Cal State San Marcos. Please review the boxes below for information on how to accept or decline the loans offered.

All students:

You must accept or decline the loan via SmartWeb.

Access SMARTWeb (instructions to access the secure website is noted above)

  • Click on “my award information”
  • Click on “accept award offer by aid year”
  • Select 2004-2005 and click “Submit”

Here you may:

  1. Accept the full loan amount
  2. Decline the full loan amount
  3. Accept a portion of the loan amount
    If you accept a portion, your award will be updated accordingly

If you had a loan at Cal State San Marcos this past year, there are no further steps to receiving the loan.

If this is your first loan at Cal State San Marcos:

In addition to the step above, you must also complete an on-line loan entrance counseling. Your loan will not disburse until this requirement is met:

  • Go to the financial aid website: www.csusm.edu/finaid
  • Click on “Loan Information”
  • Click on “Online Loan Entrance Counseling”
  • Follow the instructions to complete the counseling session

When finished, a confirmation of completion will be emailed to our office and posted in your file.

If you have never had a loan, or have had only student loans through banks:

In addition to the step above, you must also complete the federal direct loan promissory note. To complete the promissory note, you need to go to the direct loan promissory note website:

http://dlenote.ed.gov/

You will need your federal PIN # to complete the promissory note, if you do not have one, or have forgotten it, you need to go to the PIN website at www.pin.ed.gov