Loan Disbursements
The act of paying financial aid to your student account for a term is called Disbursement.
At Columbia State Community College your financial aid is disbursed based on the number of hours in which you are participating. Participation is reported to the Records Office by your instructors and must be reported no later than 14 days after a term begins.
The 14th day of the term is called the Census Date. No financial aid, including loans, is disbursed to student accounts until after the census date.
Per Federal regulations loan money must always be given to the student in two, equal disbursements. Loans that are originated for both fall and spring semesters will be disbursed evenly between the two semesters.
Loans originated for a single semester, such as Summer, are also required to come in two, equal disbursements. In this case the first disbursement occurs approximately two weeks after classes have started for the term. The second disbursement will occur at the mid-point of the semester.
Disbursement dates will be posted on the Financial Aid website under Important Dates, and you should receive notices through your Columbia State email.
Note there is a 30-day delay for freshmen and other First-Time borrowers! If you are a freshman and this is your first time borrowing through the Stafford loan program, the Department of Education will not allow the first half of your loan to disburse until 30 days after the start of your first semester in college.