Summer Session Financial Aid

If you are an Undergraduate or Credential student, and you received a Federal Pell Grant during the academic year, there are two ways you may be eligible to receive a Pell Grant during the summer:

• If you did not enroll full-time in the fall and spring semesters, you may have some remaining Pell Grant eligibility for the summer semester
• If you received 100% of your scheduled Pell award during the fall and spring semesters, and you are enrolled in at least 6 units during the summer, you may be eligible for an additional Pell Grant payment 

Any Pell Grant disbursement you receive during the summer semester will be applied towards your overall Pell Lifetime eligibility. Please log in to the Federal Student Aid site to view your Pell Grant usage and to determine the amount of eligibility you have remaining.

Your actual Pell Grant eligibility will be determined by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships and will be reflected on your MyCSULB student center.

For Summer 2024, you do not need to submit an application for any summer grant aid. You will be awarded grant aid within a week of enrolling for summer, beginning in mid-March 2024, as long as you have eligibility and have enrolled in summer courses

Your Pell Grant eligibility is going to be based on a number of factors specific to you. These include your summer enrollment; use of Pell Grant during the academic year; and your lifetime use of Pell Grant. If you are eligible to receive Pell Grant during the 2023-2024 year but were not enrolled full-time during the year, you may be eligible for the remainder of your eligibility during the summer as long as you are enrolled in at least 1 unit. 

If you were full-time during the fall and spring semesters and received your full Pell Grant during those terms, you can still use part of your overall Pell Grant eligibility for summer if you enroll in at least 6 units. You might be limited by your overall Pell Lifetime Eligibility, as students may not receive more than six years of full-time Pell Grant eligibility (600%). Confirm your lifetime usage at the Federal Student Aid site.

Your actual Pell Grant eligibility will be determined by the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships and reflected on your MyCSULB Student Center.

Pell Grant is based on your enrollment for any given term. If you change your enrollment throughout the summer term, your Pell Grant will be adjusted accordingly on a weekly basis. You can always review the status and amount of your Pell Grant on your MyCSULB Student Center.

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Example: If your remaining eligibility for Cal Grant is one year (100%), you will use one semester (50%) for summer and will only have one semester (50%) of Cal Grant for the following academic year.

Here is a breakdown of the Cal Grant payments (assuming student has a minimum of one full semester of Cal Grant eligibility remaining):

Cal Grant A/B Fees (Tuition)

Cal Grant B Stipend

Please send an email to ES-CalGrant@csulb.edu. The email should include your name, student ID number, remaining Cal Grant eligibility (from WebGrants), and the number of units you are enrolled in. Your enrollment will be confirmed. 

Cal Grant requires a minimum enrollment of 6 units during the summer. Your official payment will be based on the number of units that you’re enrolled in at the time of awarding. If you change your enrollment throughout the summer term, your Cal Grant will be adjusted. The adjustment can result in reduction/cancelation of the Cal Grant payment, resulting in a bill for any amount that you are no longer eligible for. 

Eligibility for federal loans will depend upon your remaining or unused loan funds from the fall and spring semesters and your summer cost of attendance. Subsidized and Unsubsidized Direct Loan eligibility for the summer is subject to the maximum annual and lifetime aggregate loan limits.

To borrow a loan for summer, you must be enrolled at least half-time. ​

• Undergraduate Degree - enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours
• Master’s Degree - enrolled in a minimum of 4 credit hours
• Doctoral Degree - enrolled in a minimum of 3 credit hours

The deadline to submit a summer loan application is two weeks prior to the end of your summer classes. 

• If you enroll in Session I only, you must submit your loan application by June 14
• If you enroll in Sessions I and III, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in Session III only, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in the Full Session (12 weeks), you must submit your loan application by August 2

In order to apply for Direct Loans for the summer, you will need to complete the following steps:

1. Complete a Summer Undergraduate Loan Application (available by mid-March) or Summer Graduate Loan Application (available by mid-March)
   • You will be notified within two weeks about your eligibility for a Direct Loan for summer.
   • Find the latest forms and applications via Enrollment Services forms 
2. Complete Direct Loan Entrance Counseling and a Subsidized/Unsubsidized Master Promissory Note online, if you have not already done so
   • These steps only need to be completed the first time you borrow a Direct Loan at CSULB.
   • For additional information on these steps, you can visit our Loan Information page.

You can only borrow a certain amount of Direct Loan funding each year; you can review annual loan limits and the amount of loans you have borrowed at the Federal Student Aid site. The difference between what you borrowed during the 2023-2024 year and your annual maximum is what you might borrow during the summer. 

If you borrowed your full Direct Loan eligibility during the academic year, you can consider applying for a Grad PLUS loan, if a graduate student, or asking your parents to borrow a Parent PLUS loan, if you are a dependent student.

Your summer borrowing cannot exceed your summer cost of attendance minus any other financial assistance, and might be limited by your lifetime Direct Loan borrowing.

Federal Grad PLUS Loans are available to graduate students to help cover your summer cost of education that exceeds other aid received. PLUS loans are available only to borrowers who do not have adverse credit histories. 

The maximum PLUS Loan amount borrowed cannot exceed your summer cost of attendance minus any other financial assistance. A Graduate PLUS Loan may be an option for graduate or doctoral students who have borrowed their maximum annual Direct loan amount.

The deadline to submit a summer loan application is two weeks prior to the end of your summer classes. 

• If you enroll in Session I only, you must submit your loan application by June 14
• If you enroll in Sessions I and III, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in Session III only, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in the Full Session (12 weeks), you must submit your loan application by August 2

In order to apply for a Grad PLUS Loan for the summer, you will need to complete the following steps:

1. Submit a 2023-2024 FAFSA and completed all required financial aid processes.
   • You can check your To Do list on your myCSULB Student Center for any outstanding documents
2. You must complete a Grad PLUS Loan application on the StudentAid.gov site
   • Make sure to use the summer term for your period of enrollment
   • You will be notified within two weeks about your eligibility for a Grad PLUS Loan for summer
3. Complete PLUS Loan Entrance Counseling and PLUS Master Promissory Note for Graduate/Professional Students online, if you have not already done so
   • These steps only need to be completed the first time you borrow a PLUS Loan at CSULB
   • For additional information on these steps, you can visit our Loan Information page

You will be notified by our office within two weeks if your Grad PLUS loan application has been denied. If you are denied, you may either apply for the Grad PLUS with an endorser (credit-worthy co-signer); contest the credit denial with the Department of Education; or cancel the loan and seek other financing options.

Please review the information on PLUS Loans on our Loan Information page for more information on your next steps if you are denied a PLUS loan.

Federal Parent PLUS Loans are available to parents of undergraduate students. These loans can cover your student's summer cost of education that exceeds other aid received. PLUS loans are available only to borrowers who do not have adverse credit histories. 

The maximum PLUS Loan amount borrowed cannot exceed your student’s summer cost of education minus any other financial assistance. A Parent PLUS Loan may be an option to help cover educational expenses for dependent students who have borrowed their maximum annual Direct Student Loan amount.

The deadline to submit a summer loan application is two weeks prior to the end of your summer classes. 

• If you enroll in Session I only, you must submit your loan application by June 14
• If you enroll in Sessions I and III, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in Session III only, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in the Full Session (12 weeks), you must submit your loan application by August 2

In order to apply for Parent PLUS Loans for the summer, the following steps will need to be completed:

1. Your student must have submitted a 2023-2024 FAFSA and completed all required financial aid processes.
   • Your student can check their To Do list on their myCSULB Student Center for any outstanding documents
2. You must complete a Parent PLUS Loan application on the StudentAid.gov site
   • Make sure to use the summer term for your student's period of enrollment
3. You must complete PLUS Master Promissory Note for Parents online, if you have not already done so
   • These steps only need to be completed the first time you borrow a Parent PLUS Loan at CSULB
   • For additional information on these steps, you can visit our Loan Information page

You will be able to run your own credit check when you submit your PLUS loan application on StudentAid.gov. If you are denied, you may either apply for the Parent PLUS with an endorser (credit-worthy co-signer); contest the credit denial with the Department of Education; or cancel the loan and seek other financing options.

CSULB students who have exhausted all other financial aid options may wish to pursue a private education loan to cover costs associated with the summer term. Although CSULB is unable to recommend or advise students on specific private loan options, we have provided some general information on our Loan Information page for you to keep in mind when considering a private loan.

Please keep the following information in mind when deciding whether or not to apply for a private loan:

• You should exhaust your federal student aid options before pursuing a private student loan
• You should only consider a private education loan if you have reached your federal student loan borrowing limit or are not eligible for federal aid
• Private student loans are usually higher-interest loans with interest that accrues while you are enrolled in school
• Most lenders will require a co-signer for a private loan. The co-signer must have a good credit history
• Only apply for one private loan at a time

The deadline to submit a summer loan application is two weeks prior to the end of your summer classes. 

• If you enroll in Session I only, you must submit your loan application by June 14
• If you enroll in Sessions I and III, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in Session III only, you must submit your loan application by August 2
• If you enroll in the Full Session (12 weeks), you must submit your loan application by August 2

In order to apply for a private loan for the summer, you will need to complete the following steps:

1. After applying for a private loan with a lender, complete a Summer Private Loan Application (available by mid-March)
   • You will be notified within two weeks about your eligibility for a private loan for summer
   • Private loans will be certified for the amount requested – up to your summer cost of attendance minus any other financial aid you are receiving for the summer term
   • Summer private loans will be certified for the summer enrollment period only. Loans for the academic year must be applied for separately.

All offers of summer financial aid are contingent on students successfully completing courses for the Spring 2024 semester. We will review grades at the end of the semester and if you do not meet the requirements of our Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy, your summer financial aid will be cancelled. If any summer financial aid funds have been disbursed prior to the SAP review, you will be billed.

Before you drop a summer class, read the refund and withdrawal policies in the Summer Class Schedule.

Dropping some of your courses
If you receive financial aid for summer and you drop one or more classes but not all classes before the end of the session, you may be required to repay part or all of the funds you received. If the withdrawal results in enrollment in fewer than 6 units for summer, your financial aid awards are subject to cancellation.

Dropping all of your courses
If you receive financial aid for summer and you withdraw from all courses before the end of the term, you will most likely be required to return a portion of your aid. A calculation will be performed based on when you last attended and/or withdrew from your courses.

Your Satisfactory Academic Progress status will be affected if you drop a course during the summer and it results in a grade of W.