Financial Aid

Frequently Asked Questions

Applying for Aid

  1. Create an FSA ID and Password – Create an account via www.studentaid.gov if you haven’t done so already. Your FSA ID and password will serve as your log in credentials to all federal student aid systems.
  2. Complete the FAFSA via www.studentaid.gov – Complete the FAFSA every year with our school code is 001229.
  3. For federal student loan borrowers, complete Entrance Counseling and MPN – To be eligible to borrow student loans, you will need to complete both requirements via www.studentaid.gov.
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the form you need to fill out to get any financial aid from the federal government to help pay for college.
Upon submission, it can take 5-7 business days for SCU to receive your FAFSA application.
Once the Office of Financial Aid receives your FAFSA and all required documents, your FA counselor will email your award offer to you SCU email. You will be directed to review and accept/decline/amend your aid offer on the student financial aid portal.
Yes. Graduate students can apply for the Direct PLUS loan via https://studentaid.gov/plus-app/. Note that the approval for the Graduate PLUS loan is based on credit. Students can apply for up to the Cost of Attendance, but we recommend that you borrow only what you need.

Types of Aid

See the page on Undergraduate Student Aid.
See the page on Graduate Student Aid.
Yes. If your financial aid awards exceed your tuition and fees, you may be entitled to a refund/living expense credit that you can use towards books, supplies, and living expenses.

If your financial aid is not enough to cover tuition and fees, you can apply for additional loan sources such as the PLUS loan or private loan.

Please check our Important Dates page that lists the refund release dates for every term.

Graduate PLUS Loan

A Graduate PLUS loan allows graduate students to borrow additional loans that may be used for educational expenses. Unlike the Direct Unsubsidized loan, approval for the PLUS is based on credit. Students can borrow up to their Cost of Attendance (COA). Note that every student’s COA of attendance varies based on program and enrollment status.

For example, if your COA for a single term is $30,351.00, and your initial award offer for the term is is $10,250 in Direct Unsubsidized loans and $6,250 in the Healthcare Unsubsidized Loan, you are eligible to borrow up to $13,851 in the Direct Graduate PLUS loan.

Enter the month of year of the start and end terms you want the PLUS loan to cover. If you want to borrow the PLUS loan for the entire academic year (Fall, Spring, Summer) and you are enrolled in one of our standard calendar programs, enter September 2023 – August 2023.
Students are encouraged to apply for the Graduate PLUS loan each year. The PLUS application for the new academic year usually opens in April. Note that credit approval is only valid for 6 months. You may be asked to reapply again by your FA counselor.

Federal Work Study

The Federal Work-Study Program (FWS) provides jobs for undergraduate and graduate students with financial need, allowing them to earn money to help pay for expenses related to their education. The program encourages community service work and work related to your course of study.

For a list of available job opportunities, please visit our FWS page. You will need to log in with your mySCU username and password.

Yes. All students are assigned a Cost of Attendance (COA) which is comprised of direct costs (tuition and fees) and estimated indirect costs (books, supplies, living expenses, transportation.) The COA serves as a limit of how much financial aid a student can receive per term. Note that grants, loans, scholarships, FWS, state aid are all considered financial aid.

If you are borrowing the maximum amount of loans, we must reduce one of your awards (usually the PLUS) in order to make room for the FWS award.

No. If you wish to continue to participate in FWS, you must complete a new FAFSA and complete a new set of FWS paperwork by June 1st of every year.

Scholarships

Yes! All institutional scholarship opportunities are posted on our scholarship page.

We also have a number of external scholarships posted here.

Award Offer

No. We recommend that you borrow only what you need. Please see our Cost and Aid snapshot tabs.

Your FA counselor awards you the maximum amount of standard aid allowable based on your eligibility. If you are in need of additional aid, you can apply for the Direct Graduate PLUS loan if you are a graduate student or apply for a private loan.

If you are already borrowing the maximum PLUS allowable but still need additional funds, you may be considered for a Professional Judgment.

Office of Financial Aid

SCU students are assigned to financial aid counselors alphabetically. If your last name begins from A to G, you are assigned to Nida Labao. Those with last names between H and O are assigned to Omar Barrera. If you have a last name that begins with P to Z, your Financial Aid counselor is Janeth Chaidez.
You can email us at financialaid@scuhs.edu or call us at 562-947-8755 Ext. 766.