Freeze Dates
In accordance with federal regulation, Clayton State University establishes a “Freeze (Census) Date” each semester to determine a student’s enrollment status for disbursing federal grants including the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Loans, and SEOG . Funds will only pay for courses that are required for your major and are added before the freeze (census) date. Hours will be frozen at the end of the No Show deadline. Students must be registered for all parts of the term before the freeze (census) date to receive federal grants for those classes. Federal aid will not be adjusted for classes added after credit hours have been frozen.
After the No Show period (a short window at the start of the semester), our registered hours become “frozen.” This means your schedule won’t be adjusted for financial aid after that point. It’s essential to be fully registered for all part of the term – whether its full session or any of the short sessions- before the Freeze Date occurs.
Degree Works will be used to verify whether a course is part of a student’s program of study. A process will run prior to the start of the semester to identify students whose courses are not part of the program of study. Students enrolled in ineligible courses will receive weekly email notifications leading up to the start of the semester. The process will run again before financial aid disbursement and continue nightly through the freeze (census) date. After this point, no further adjustments will be made to the Course Program of Study, and registration will be frozen.
If you need to make changes to your schedule, program of study, or anything that could affect your eligible courses, it must be completed before the Freeze Date. It is important to speak with your academic advisor early to avoid any issues.
Financial aid will be disbursed at the beginning of each semester after the Late Registration (drop/add) period, on the financial aid Freeze (Census) Date. If you become eligible for a disbursement after the scheduled disbursement data, funds will be disbursed daily based on the course program of study as of the Freeze (Census) Date.
Please Note: If you are only taking second short sessions classes ( and haven’t withdrawn from full or first short sessions courses), you’ll have a different Freeze Date, which will happen when those second short sessions classes start.
| Fall Semester 2024 | August 26 |
|---|---|
| *October 17 *(for students who do not attend at all until the second session) | |
| Spring Semester 2025 | January 27 |
| *March 28*(for students who do not attend at all until the second session) | |
| Summer Semester 2025 | TBD |
| *TBD*(for students who do not attend at all until the second session) |
Example 1 - Here’s an example of how the freeze date affects the amount of financial aid Bill received:
Bill Smith is receiving only federal grants. He started attending classes on January 11. Schedule adjustment period was January 11 through the 14. The financial aid freeze date occurred on January 15. Here is a history of when he enrolled in the courses:
| No. of Credits | Date When Bill Enrolled or Added Credits |
|---|---|
| 6 | December 18 |
| 3 | January 4 |
| 3 | January 20 |
| 12 | Total credits Bill is taking in the Spring |
As you can see, Bill is taking a total of 12 credits in the spring and he will be charged for 12 credits. However, his federal grant received is based on 9 credits and not 12, since this was the number of credits in which he was enrolled on the financial aid freeze date of January 15.
Example 2 - Here's an example of how the freeze date affects the amount of financial aid Mary received.
Mary Jones is receiving both federal grants and HOPE Scholarship. She started attending classes on January 11. Schedule adjustment period was January 11 through the 14. The financial aid freeze date occurred on January 15. Here is a history of when she enrolled in the courses:
| No. of Credits | Date When Mary Enrolled or Added Credits |
|---|---|
| 6 | December 18 |
| 3 | January 4 |
| 3 | January 20 |
| 12 | Total credits Mary is taking in the Spring |
As you can see, Mary is taking a total of 12 credits in the spring and she will be charged for 12 credits. Her federal grants received is based on 9 credits since this was the number of credits in which she was enrolled on the financial aid freeze date of January 15. However, because HOPE Scholarship is not a federal fund, Mary can receive HOPE Scholarship for 12 credit hours. (Mary may need to contact the Financial Aid Office or the Bursar’s Office in order to have those HOPE Scholarship funds applied since she is no longer able to click on “How Much Do I Owe” herself.) Please note that Mary’s federal grants such as Pell, SEOG, etc. is still paid based on 9 credit hours.