Disbursement
Overview
What is a Disbursement?
A disbursement is the release of financial aid funds to the student's account held by the Cashier's Office. The Cashier's Office uses funds in the student's account to pay tuition, fees, books charges, and other charges. The remaining credit balance is refunded to the student.
How do I receive my refund?
Remaining funds in the student's account are released to BankMobile, the college's official refund partner. In their first semester at SF, all students are prompted to create an account with BankMobile and select a refund preference. BankMobile will transmit the student's credit balance through the selected preference.
For more information or for help with BankMobile, please see the Cashier's Student Refunds page.
When will I receive my refund?
Disbursements to student accounts generally begin on the dates in the chart below. However, some files are more complicated and financial aid funds may be disbursed after this time frame.
Once a disbursement is completed the Cashier's Office must pay any charges on the student's account and prepare to transmit a credit balance refund if one exists. Once a student is notified the disbursement has been paid to their student account, it can take 3 or more days for a student to receive their credit balance refund from the cashier, depending on the student's bank.
For Fall 2024 disbursements will continue to process during the B- term book charging period.
Disbursements are temporarily paused for B term book charging. For two weeks prior to the B term, disbursements are paused, but will restart soon after book charging ends for the B term.
Attendance must be marked for your classes for aid to disburse. You should plan and budget accordingly based on your enrollment and the expected disbursement date.
If you have a critical need for money or other assistance, please see the SF Emergency Assistance page for a listing of SF and community resources. Not receiving your disbursement
within normal processing times is not by itself cause for emergency assistance.
| Term | Disbursements begin |
|---|---|
| Fall/Fall A/Fall D | approximately the 3rd week of September |
| Fall B | approximately the 1st week of November |
| Spring/Spring A/Spring D | approximately the 4th week of January |
| Spring B | approximately the 4th week of March |
| Summer/Summer A/Summer D | approximately the 1st week of June |
| Summer B | approximately the 3rd week of July |
How do I check the status of my disbursement?
A student can check the status of their disbursement on the "Financial Aid" menu in the Financial Aid Portal. Clicking on an award will give detailed information about each disbursement.
If the disbursement status shows "paid" it has been sent to the Cashier's Office for processing. There is no way to expedite processing of a refund. Credit balance refunds are processed as quickly as possible.
Why does it take longer for some disbursements to process?
Disbursing financial aid requires compliance with federal and state laws and rules. The Financial Aid Office must get approvals from the federal and/or state government at different stages of the process. This requires transmitting data for that approval back and forth between several systems a number of times. As every file is different, additional steps may be required. The Financial Aid Office works to disburse funds to students as quickly as possible.
For Fall 2024 disbursements will continue to process during the B-term book charging period.
Disbursements are temporarily paused for B term book charging. For two weeks prior to the B term, disbursements are paused, but will restart soon after book charging ends for the B term..
What if I need help with my refund?
Refunds are processed and then transmitted to the student through BankMobile, a third party contractor. Once the Financial Aid Office verifies amounts and eligibility, and disburses funds to student's account, the Cashier's Office uses BankMobile to process payments between Santa Fe College and the student.
For assistance with credit balance refunds, please see the Student Refunds page or contact the Cashier's Office.