Frequently Asked Questions
Pell Grant:
Each student's Pell grant is determined by their Expected Family Contribution (EFC),
cost of attendance, and enrollment status.
No. My Student Dashboard lists tentative award amounts that are based on full-time
enrollment. If you do not take at least 12.0 credit hours per semester, your award
will be adjusted based on your enrollment status.
Yes, you may possibly be eligible for summer Pell grant depending on how many credit
hours you're enrolled in.
Your Pell Grant should automatically authorize towards your tuition & fee charges
within 24 hours of registration. If your Pell grant does not authorize towards your
tuition & fee charges then you need to contact the financial aid office.
You can use Pell grant and other federal funds to pay for your books & supplies as
long as you're eligible for disbursement and are expected to receive a refund from
your financial aid.
Yes, you must fill out a new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) each October.
NO! It is your responsibility to drop any classes you don’t want to be responsible
for during the published drop/add period. If you don’t, you may be responsible for
those charges.
The financial aid office begins disbursing financial aid approximately 3-4 weeks after
the first day of class each semester. Those first 3-4 weeks are used to verify enrollment
& attendance.
It depends. You may receive multiple Pell grant disbursements within a single semester
if your classes start at different points in time. For example, Associate of Science
in Nursing students often have semesters containing classes with different start dates
and the timing of their Pell grant disbursements is affected accordingly.
Credit balance refunds are issued to students by the Business Office according to
the refund preference that's been selected via the BankMobile link/app in Lighthouse.
Withdrawals & Grades:
Yes! Please visit the Return to Title IV webpage for more information.
Gulf Coast has resources to help you. Never hesitate to ask your teachers for help.
Classmates are often a great resource. There may be tutors and other services available
to you. Talk to Financial Aid and Academic Advising before withdrawing to see if
there are other options.
Yes! Every student that receives federal aid (e.g. Pell grant, Stafford Loans, Work-Study)
has to make Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP). Please visit the Satisfactory Academic Progress webpage for more information.
Other Questions:
We are very limited to what we can discuss on the phone unfortunately due to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). This is for your own protection, since we cannot verify who someone is over
the phone. We prefer that you visit the financial aid office in person instead. You
may also send an email from your GCSC email account to fa@gulfcoast.edu.
No! Please visit the Loans webpage for more information.
It depends:
- A course that you are repeating, which has not been previously completed with a passing grade, may count towards enrollment status with regard to the awarding of Title IV funds as long as you are achieving Satisfactory Academic Progress or are on an approved SAP appeal.
- A course that you are repeating for the first time, after having previously completed with a passing grade once, may count towards enrollment status with regard to the awarding of Title IV funds as long as you are achieving Satisfactory Academic Progress or are on an approved SAP appeal.
- A course that you are repeating that has already been passed once and already repeated after the first passing grade may not count towards enrollment status with regard to the awarding of Title IV funds.