• Fall semester - June 1st
• Spring semester - November 1st
• Summer semester - May 1st

We welcome and will process your application for financial aid after these dates, but we can't guarantee that your aid will be ready for you prior to the start of a semester if your financial aid is not complete by the preferred dates.

If you apply for financial aid after these dates, please make plans to have some other source of payment ready to start the semester.  If you are eligible and receive a financial aid award in excess of your charges for the semester, we'll refund any payment you made to the college to hold your registration. 

In order to be in compliance with federal regulations, if you are pursuing federal financial aid to attend WCJC, you will need to submit a notarized transcript with the appropriate signatures (parent signature for a home school and head of instruction for a nontraditional high school).  The financial aid staff will evaluate the transcript for compliance with the standards for federal financial aid.

If the Financial Aid Office determines that your transcript does not meet compliance standards for federal aid, you will be advised to obtain your GED if you would like to continue the pursuit for federal aid.

It is the student's responsibility to provide proof of high school program accreditation upon request.

You can visit the Business Office at the WCJC Sugar Land Campus during normal business hours to purchase your parking tag.  You will complete a form to authorize payment from your student account.  More information about parking at the WCJC Sugar Land Campus can be found here.

Yes. See the 5 Steps to Financial Aid for instructions on how to complete the FAFSA.

Possibly.  The Department of Education requires schools to use contact hours, rather than credit hours, to determine financial aid award amounts for certificate programs that are not a part of or do not roll into an associate degree program.  Consequentially, students in certain certificate programs may experience a reduction in the award amount quoted in the award letter.  At WCJC, the certificate programs included in this requirement are as follows:  Air Conditioning, Heating, Refrigeration, and Electrical Technology; Welding; Cosmetology; Manufacturing Technology; and Licensed Vocational Nursing.

No, students who are not United States citizens or permanent residents cannot obtain federal aid, except under certain conditions.  You may be eligable for state aid and/or scholarships.  To apply for state aid, you should complete and submit the TASFA.  Students should complete either the FAFSA or the TASFA, but not both.

The Department of Education has created this fact sheet to answer question specific to undocumented and DACA students.

Your parents’ citizenship status does not affect your eligibility for federal student aid. In fact, the FAFSA form doesn’t even ask about your parents’ status.

Here are some tips for students with noncitizen parents:

• If your parent does not have a Social Security number (SSN), you should enter all zeroes for him or her on the FAFSA form where it asks for that information. Do NOT enter a Taxpayer Identification Number in the SSN field.

• If your parent doesn’t have an SSN, he or she won’t be able to create an FSA ID (which requires a SSN) and therefore won’t be able to sign your FAFSA form electronically (either online or via the myStudentAid app). From the online form (you can’t print a signature page from the app), you’ll need to select the option to print a signature page when you get to the end of the application. Print the page, have your parent sign it, and then mail it to the address indicated so that your FAFSA form can be processed.

• If your parent doesn't live in the U.S., select "Foreign Country" from the dropdown box for the question that asks about the parents' state of legal residence.

• If your parents live and file taxes in a foreign country and don’t file U.S. taxes, you’ll have the opportunity to indicate that they have filed their taxes.

• If your parent doesn’t file taxes at all, select “Not going to file" for the question that asks whether the parent(s) have filed taxes. Then you’ll be asked for information about how much your parent earned from work, rather than being asked for information about specific items on the tax form.

Please click on the link What to Expect After You Complete and Submit a FAFSA for information.

No. Although the award you see in Online Services is based on full-time (12 hours) enrollment, your aid will be adjusted to reflect the number of hours you are enrolled each semester. Only classes that are required for your degree/certificate plan can be funded.

Certain scholarships require full-time enrollment as a condition of eligibility.

Students must be enrolled at least half-time to be eligible for Direct Loans.

Dropping a class can reduce your Pell Grant and could also impact your future loan level. Loan recipients who drop below half-time will begin their loan grace period. Dropping a class can also create Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) problems, and you might not be eligible for any future financial aid assistance.

In addition, Wharton County Junior College is working with Loan Science, a leader in the federal student loan management industry, to better assist you in making wise repayment choices.We encourage you to take advantage of their dedicated staff of trained loan counselors to assist in answering questions, understanding your payment schedule, or resolving any repayment challenges that may arise. Questions about how to best manage your federal student loans can be answered by contacting Loan Science directly at: 

              Phone: 866.311.9450

              Email:  loansupport@loanscience.com

Please identify that you are a WCJC student, or former student, when speaking with Loan Science Staff. 

You should check your student account using the Online Services feature on the WCJC website. Information will not be released via telephone due to privacy laws. Loan funds will be deposited into your student account electronically. Check your Disclosure Statement to determine when funds will be sent to the college. The Business Office will deduct what you owe for tuition, fees and books and the balance will be mailed to you. You are responsible for maintaining a current, valid address with Office of Admissions and Registration.

An "origination fee" is charged for Stafford Loans per the regulations governing the loan programs. The fee may not exceed 3% of the principal amount of the loan. The fee is deducted proportionately from each payment before the loan funds are disbursed to the school by the lender. The fee is paid to the federal government to defray the cost of the loan programs.

Thus, if a lender deducts the 3 percent origination fee from a $2,000 Stafford Loan that is to be paid in two installments, the student will receive payments of $970 and $970. However, the student will be responsible for the full value of the loan, $2,000. A lender may choose to pay all or part of the origination fee on behalf of their students.

The guarantor is also authorized to collect an insurance fee not to exceed 1 percent of the loan.  If the guarantor charges an insurance fee for its Stafford and PLUS loans, the lender may pass on the charge to the borrower.

For PLUS loans, the origination fee is always 3 percent and may not be reduced by the lender. The lender may also charge an insurance fee on Stafford and PLUS loans to defray the insurance fee charged by the guarantor; the fee is limited to 1 percent.

Call the Department of Education at 1-800-621-3115 or log on to the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS). You will need your FSA ID to log in.

You should contact the lender and/or guarantor in writing. If the issue remains unresolved you should contact the Office of the Ombudsman at fsaombudsmanoffice@ed.gov or 1-877-557-2575.