Financial Aid FAQs

To apply for Financial Aid, you need to:

1. Complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) online.

Watch the video for more information.
OR

Complete a California Dream Act Application if you do not meet the requirements to complete the FAFSA. Watch video for more information on the Dream Act Application

2. Submit any required documents via our document submittal webportal, Cuyamaca Financial Aid Student Forms.

3. If you have attended any colleges other than Grossmont, request an Official Academic Transcripts from all colleges previously attended and have them sent to the Cuyamaca College Admissions and Records Office. If the transcripts are issued to you personally, they must be sealed as "Official Transcripts." Submit them in the original SEALED envelope to the Admissions and Records Office. You need to reapply for financial aid every school year. The best time to apply is October 1st through March 2nd.

4. You need to reapply for financial aid every school year. The best time to apply is October 1st through March 2nd.

Click here to complete a FAFSA application

Click here to complete the CA Dream Act Application

Change in income can be considered a special circumstance. Special Circumstances refer to the financial situations (loss of a job, etc.) that allow an aid administrator to use updated income information to calculate your financial aid eligibility by adjusting data elements in the Cost of Attendance(COA) or in the Expected Family Contribution(EFC) calculation. If your income has changed from the base year listed on your FAFSA you may be eligible for special circumstances.

contact your Financial Aid Advisor for more information.

Living on your own does NOT make you independent for financial aid purposes. To be considered independent, you have to meet AT LEAST ONE of the following requirements:
• be at least 24 years old
• be legally married
• be a veteran of the U.S. Armed Forces
• be on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces
• have legal dependents other than a spouse

• be an orphan (both parents are deceased) ,be, anytime since age 13, a youth in foster care or be a dependent or ward of the court

• be an emancipated minor as determined by a Court in California

• be in a legal guardianship as determined by a Court

• be an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or self-supporting and at risk of being homeless
• be a postgraduate student (beyond a bachelor’s degree).

If you are unable to provide biological/adoptive parent information on the FAFSA, you may qualify for an unusual circumstance determination.

Unusual Circumstances refer to the conditions that justify an aid administrator making an adjustment to a student’s dependency status based on a unique situation (e.g., human trafficking, refugee or asylee status, parental abandonment, incarceration), more commonly referred to as a dependency override. 
If you are unable to provide parent information on the FAFSA/ CA Dream Act Application contact your Financial Aid Advisor for more information.

Cuyamaca College - 014435

Here are Title IV school codes for some local colleges:
 - Grossmont College - 001208
 - SDSU: 001151
 - UCSD: 001317

The name, date of birth (DOB), and Social Security Number (SSN) you list on the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form must match what you listed when you registered for your FSA ID exactly. If you're getting this error, it means that your name, date of birth, or SSN from your FSA ID and FAFSA form don’t match.

This error often occurs when you put the student's or parent’s FSA ID information in the wrong field. Make sure you added the student’s or parent’s FSA ID information to the correct role first. This is one reason why it's very important that you don’t use anyone's FSA ID but your own.

If switching student and parent is not the problem, you can check to see if your FAFSA form and FSA ID information match up by following these steps:

Check Your FSA ID Information

1. Log in to your account.

2. Go to the “Personal Information” page under Settings.

3. Check your name, date of birth, and SSN listed, and verify that all three match what appears on your Social Security card exactly. If your   information matches, proceed to the next step of checking your FAFSA information. If your information doesn’t match, correct and save it (Note: If you edit your FSA ID information, you may need to wait up to 3 days for that information to process before you can use your FSA ID to log in to your FAFSA form.

You can check your financial aid status, view required documents, and view your financial aid award information (once available) on Self-Service.
Click here to access Self-Service.

click here for instructions on how to check your financial aid application status

For financial aid eligibility, a student needs an education goal that leads to a vocational certificate/degree, associate degree, associate degree without transfer, or transfer without associate degree. 

If your educational goal is not one of the goals listed above, you will have to update your student data (major/Ed goal) with Admissions and Records.

If your financial aid application status shows you are being requested to Update Student Data (Major/Ed Goal) with Admissions, you can click this link below.

Update Student Data (Major/Ed Goal) with Admissions.

If you are required to submit documents, you will need to create a Cuyamaca Financial Aid Student Forms account using the link below.

Cuyamaca Financial Aid Student Forms

To create an account, please go to Financial Aid Student Forms, click the "create account" button.

• The account you create will be checked against the information from your FAFSA application so please remember to enter your demographic information when creating your Student Forms account just as you entered it on your FAFSA application.
• After you create your account and successfully login to your Student Forms account, you will see what documents are required and instructions on how to complete and submit them. You will also be able to securely upload pictures, pdf documents and other attachments (such as IRS Tax Return Transcripts).

For more assistance click here for instructions

To reset your password, you will need to click the "forgot password" heading located under the password text field section.  If you are unable to reset your password on your own, please contact the Financial Aid Office for assistance with your password.

To unlock your account after exceeding the reset password option, please contact the Financial Aid Office so that your account can be unlocked and access restored.

In general, students must maintain a semester and an overall GPA of 2.0 or higher. Students enrolled in an Associate degree or Transfer program must also have an overall 2.0 GPA after two years. To maintain SAP, students should complete the following:

• Full-time students (12 or more units) must complete at least 9 units each semester

• Three-quarter-time students (9-11.5 units) must complete at least 7 units each semester

• Half-time students (6-8.5 units) must complete at least 5 units each semester

• Less than half-time students (0.5-5.5 units) must complete .5 units

For more information on SAP standards

Students who have completed 71 units or attempted 90 units (for Associates Degree/Transfer objective) or completed 36 units or  attempted 45 units (for Certificate objective) will be required to submit an appeal for Maximum Time frame to determine further eligibility for financial aid at Cuyamaca College. 

For more information on maximum unit appeals

You are on warning/disqualification because you failed to meet the Financial Aid Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements. The first time it occurs you will be placed on “Warning” status and the second consecutive semester that the SAP is not met, you will be “Disqualified” from receiving most types of Financial Aid.

For more information on SAP standards

File status information will be available through your Self-Service account under Cuyamaca Financial Aid. Once awarded, an "Award Information" button will appear and list the award type and date the awards will be disbursed.

Click here for instructions.

Cuyamaca College delivers your payment with BankMobile Disbursements, a technology solution, powered by BMTX, Inc.

For more information on BankMobile Disbursements

You can set up or change your disbursement preference by signing into your BankMobile account on the internet  or through the BankMobile app.