Census Date

 

The census date is set by the college and typically marks the end of the add/drop period. On this day, the college takes a "snapshot" of all students' enrollment which becomes the "official enrollment" that is used for both state reporting and financial aid eligibility.

 

At Collin, the census date for the Fall and Spring semesters is the twelfth (12th) class day. For the Summer semester, it’s the seventh (7th) class day.  Express classes each have a census date which varies based on the number of weeks of the specific class.

 

Generally, the classes you are enrolled in AND ATTENDING (i.e., the professor has verified your attendance) and that are on your official degree plan as of the census date will determine the amount of financial aid grant money you will receive. 

 

If you are enrolled and attending less than full time as of the long (16 week) semester's census date, your aid will likely be less than what was reported to you in your initial award letter or email. This is because students are initially awarded based on the expectation of full-time enrollment. Then aid is then adjusted on census date to their actual enrollment. 

However, if you are enrolled in Express classes, as each of those classes starts, the professor verifies your attendance, and we verify that the class is on your official degree plan, additional aid will be released up to the full time award (a student cannot get more than a full-time award in any given semester).

 

 For most financial aid funds, there are generally 4 enrollment levels: 

• Full-time (12 or more credits)
• 3/4-time (9 -11 credits)
• 1/2-time (6 - 8 credits)
• Less than 1/2-time (1-5 credits)
  
  

However, Pell Grant is paid for the specific number of hours in which you are enrolled (up to 12 hours).  So, if you are in 10 credit hours (on your degree plan), your Pell Grant will pay out for 10/12's of the full time award. For example, if your full-time Pell Grant award for the semester is $1,000 and you're only enrolled in 10 hours, the amount you will receive is 10/12's of the $1,000 or $833.

 

What does this mean for you? 

 

If you increase or decrease your enrollment level through the enrollment snapshot period/census date, your financial aid will be adjusted, as appropriate, to ensure that it is the appropriate amount given for your enrollment level. 

 

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you decrease your enrollment after the first class day but on or before the census date, you aid will be decreased as well to match your enrollment (as already explained). However, you may still owe some tuition and fee charges to the school because of the refund policy.  Students in this situation will be responsible for any balance owed the cashier's office. To see more information about the college's refund policy, click here. 

Additionally, since Pell eligibility begins on the first day of classes and is calculated day to day, a student who drops all their classes during the add/drop period (and before the census date) will be considered a Return of Title IV (R2T4). To read more about R2T4, click here.

 

If you increase your enrollment level after the census date of the long (16 week) semester, your aid may be increased depending on a number of factors. For example, for loans, as long as you're enrolled and attending at least 6 credit hours (on your degree plan), you will get the full amount of your loan. Adding more hours would not get you more loan money.  But for Pell Grant, if you were not enrolled and attending full time at the start of the long semester and you add a class after census date, your Pell Grant should increase. Realize that for supplemental grants such as FSEOG and TPEG, if you were not initially awarded these when you originally registered, it is unlikely these would increase if you later added a class. This is because these grants are provided to the school in a limited amount and are awarded to all eligible students as applications are loaded into our system. Therefore, we typically have no additional monies available by the time the semester begins. 

 

If you decrease your enrollment level after the census date, your grant aid will not be reduced.  This means, for example, that a student who is enrolled in 15 credits as of the census date, and who later drops a 5 credit class, will not have his/her aid reduced to the 3/4-time level. Rather, the aid will remain at the full-time level. But realize that for Satisfactory Academic Progress purposes, the student will be held accountable for completing a full-time course load (meaning, this will affect a student's rate of completion). If a student has loans, however, and drops below 6 hours, any future disbursements will be canceled per federal regulations.

Some additional notes about census date and financial aid:

If your initial financial aid award is made:

• Before census, it is based on the assumption that you will be enrolled full time (12 credit hours or more).    
• After census, it is based on your actual enrollment status.