We understand that financial aid can be confusing at times and it seems as it is also changing. We have assembled the following FAQs to answer the most common questions.
Approximately 75% of our students receive financial aid.
You will find step-by-step instructions here.
The earliest federal and state financial aid can be credited to university student accounts, is 10 days prior to the first day of classes for the semester. Disbursements begin at 5:00 p.m. on disbursement days. Aid will only be released for those students meeting all financial aid requirements in the semester. Disbursement dates are found on the main Financial Aid Website. These dates represent the earliest your financial aid will be released to the Bursar's Office/Office of Student Accounts.
*For the BAAS-Organizational Leadership (TAB) program, where courses are nontraditional and 7-week courses throughout the year, the earliest day financial aid can be released will be specific to the term.
Special Note for one semester only loans
Federal loan programs must always have two disbursements in any one loan period. The loan period is the first day of the semester through the last day of the semester. The 1st installment will occur no earlier than 10 days before the 1st class of the semester. The 2nd installment will occur after the midpoint of the loan period or the after the middle of the semester.
Check the Financial Aid News and Information page for specific dates
The Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships awards: Federal and State Grants; Work Study; Federal Subsidized Direct Loans and Unsubsidized Loans; and Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students (PLUS).
For additional information, please see Types of Aid.
Log in to myLeo. Go to
"Financial Aid"
"Financial Aid"
"Financial Aid Status"
"Award for Aid Year" select the appropriate aid year, and "Submit"
Look for "Academic Progress Status" under the "Eligibility Information" section.
Status of Academic Progress is based on your academic performance for each term that you are enrolled. Progress towards the completion of your program of study is also a factor. Poor academic performance can affect eligibility for federal, state, and institutional financial assistance.
Visit the SAP website for complete information.
Email
FAO.Web@tamuc.edu
Phone
(903) 886–5096
Fax
(903) 886–5098
Mail
East Texas A&M University
Attn: Financial Aid
P.O. Box 3011
Commerce, TX 75429-3011
In person (B38 on the Campus Map)
One Stop Shop, Student Access and Success Center
2200 Campbell Street
Commerce, TX 75428
For more information on how to apply, go here.
Effective October 1, 2016, the FAFSA will be available beginning October 1st of each year. This is the earliest that an applicant can submit their FAFSA application for the upcoming academic year.
It takes four to six weeks to process the FAFSA. To meet the priority deadlines at A&M-Commerce, you must have a complete file with the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. This includes FAFSA results, verification documents (if selected), and other supporting documents that may be requested. If additional forms are needed you will be contacted through your university email.
To receive the best possible combination of financial assistance, an applicant should submit all required application forms to the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships by the priority deadline dates listed below.
Applications received after these deadline dates are awarded based on funds available.
| Fall/Spring | March 31st |
| Spring Only | November 15th |
| Summer | April 15th |
A&M-Commerce's financial aid school code is 003565. When you include the school code on your FAFSA our office will be able to access your FAFSA data and process your record for financial aid. When we are able to access your FAFSA it will be edited and we will send you a notice if there are any requirements that need to be completed before your financial aid can be awarded. Where applicable, you will also need to put our school code on your federal master promissory note(s) and loan entrance counseling to ensure we receive your electronic documents.
Provide information for the parent that provided you with the most support in the past year. If the parent who provided you with the most support has remarried, your step-parent’s information must also be provided on the FAFSA.
Provide information for the parent that provided you with the most support in the past year. If the parent who provided you with the most support has remarried, your step-parent’s information must also be provided on the FAFSA.
The EFC is the number the government calculates that represents the amount of money they feel you and/or your family can contribute to your education. The EFC is determined by the information on the FAFSA.
Federal Pell Grants are offered to students based on financial need determined by the Expected Family Contribution. By completing the FAFSA you have applied for all Federal & State Programs.
Verification is a process whereby the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships is required to audit the information reported on the FAFSA. Students are selected randomly by the Federal Processor for this procedure. If you are selected for Verification, financial aid will not be awarded until all verification is complete. Data on your FAFSA is subject to corrections resulting from the verification process.
If you are selected for Verification you will be asked to turn in additional forms to the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. These forms include, but are not limited to, a copy of the student’s, parents’ or spouse’s signed tax returns or tax return transcript, and Verification Worksheets. The Verification Forms can be found here.
You can check your myLeo account to see if you have been selected for verification. Click on
“Financial Aid”
“Financial Aid”
“Financial Aid Status”
“Award for Aid Year”, select the appropriate aid year, and "Submit".
Look for "Additional Requirements" under the "Apply for Financial Aid" section.
Please allow 3-4 weeks from when you submit your documents for the verification process to be completed. If we receive the documents within 4 weeks of when tuition and fee payment is due, you will need to make other arrangements for payment of tuition and fees. Payment options are available through the Office of Students Accounts.
Students must file a new financial aid application at the beginning of every academic year. Students who apply for the fall semester will be awarded for fall and spring at one time.
A separate Summer Financial Aid Request is made available in the early part of the spring semester, after the summer course schedule becomes available. Completing this lets our office know you need to be awarded for summer.
Information about scholarships can be found in the following locations/offices,
For more information, please visit the Scholarships website.
As per federal regulations, funds may not be credited to a student’s account until 10 days prior to the first day of class each semester. To view your awards, access your MyLEO account.
Click on
“Financial Aid”
“Financial Aid”
“Award”
“Award for Aid Year”, select the appropriate aid year, and "Submit".
This will show you what awards have been offered, accepted, declined or canceled.
Need-based financial aid is made available to assist you with the expenses of attending college. Because these funds are limited, the government recognizes that a scholarship or other resource can and does assist you with tuition and fees and other educational costs. Therefore, the government requires that your need-based financial aid be reduced so that you are not over-awarded.
No. Though financial aid was used to pay for the tuition and fees of the courses it does require you that you attend all the courses that have been paid. The Registrar’s Office will send faculty attendance rosters for them to report your attendance in their classes. The Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships will receive a list of all students who were reported as not attending a class or classes. If you are on the list as not attending class(es) our office will send you a notice to alert you of your non-attendance. You will have 48-72 hours to respond back to our office before the financial aid is canceled. You must be attending classes to keep your financial aid.
If you drop a class prior to the census date/twelfth class day, for a regular term, fourth day for a summer session, you may be responsible for repayment of the difference between the amount of money you received and the amount specified for the new enrollment status. Please see the university calendar.
If you drop a class, you must make sure you are in compliance with our Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), and renewal requirements for certain types of aid.
For more information, please see Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy.
If you withdraw completely, depending on the date of your withdrawal, you may be responsible for repaying a portion of the money received from the Office of Financial Aid & Scholarships. The repayment or grace period will begin for your student loans. If you return to A&M-Commerce you will be ineligible for financial assistance.
For more information, please see Financial Aid Withdrawal Policy.
By completing the FAFSA and indicating you are interested in loans.
Loan rate information for federal loans is available on Federal Student Aid.
All students who accept a Stafford Loan must complete a Master Promissory Note (MPN) at www.studentloans.gov.
First time borrowers at East Texas A&M University are required to do entrance counseling before any loan money will be made available.
Incoming freshman and students with 30 hours or less will have to wait 30 days from the first day of class before they will receive any loan funds.
If you graduate in December, or if your first semester begins in the Spring, your loan will come in two disbursements within that semester.
If the above conditions do not apply to you, your loan money will be credited to your tuition and fee bill before the due date of the bill for long semesters, provided you are enrolled in a minimum of 6 credit hours.
You are given a grace period before you begin to repay loans. This time allows you to find a job and get settled before the repayment period starts. For Federal Stafford Loans and College Access Loans (CAL) the grace period is 6 months.
The Department of Education established the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program to encourage individuals to work in public service by forgiving the remaining balance of their Direct Loans after they have made 120 qualifying payments while employed by a qualifying employer. For more information, visit the Fact Sheet and Q&A.
If your parents are denied, you may be eligible for additional funds through the Unsubsidized Direct Loan Program. The Direct Loan agency will send us a notice that the Parent PLUS loan was denied. We will proceed with adding the Unsubsidized Direct Loan to your award package.
No. Unfortunately, we are required to have on file the denial of the Parent PLUS received from the Direct Lending agency. Simply refusing to apply will not enable us to proceed.
For PLUS loans made to parents that are first distributed on or after July 1, 2011, the borrower has the option of beginning repayment on the PLUS loan either 60 days after the loan is fully disbursed or wait six months after the dependent student on whose behalf the parent borrowed ceases to be enrolled on at least a half-time basis (6 credit hours).
By completing the FAFSA, and indicating you are interested in work-study.
Yes. Regular campus employment (a staff position) is available regardless of work study eligibility.
Please see the Work Study web page, and the Work Study FAQ.
You can also email FAO.workstudy@tamuc.edu.
East Texas A&M University partners with BankMobile to deliver your financial aid refund. For more information about BankMobile, visit this link: http://bankmobiledisbursements.com/refundchoicessso/.
For more information, contact the Office of Student Accounts at 903-886-5050 or 903-886-5501. You can also e-mail them at Student.Accounts@tamuc.edu or visit their website. Also visit the Refunds webpage.On the disbursement date for a semester, financial aid is released to the Office of Student Accounts. The Office of Student Accounts takes the financial aid that was released to them and subtracts what the student owes for the semester. If the student has more financial aid than what they owe for the semester, they will have a credit balance. The Office of Student Accounts changes that credit balance into a refund and sends the electronic file to BankMobile for processing and distribution of the refund to the student. All refunds require several business days to process. When a refund entry appears on your student account, you should add at least five to seven working days to the refund date to get an estimated completion date. Delivery time to your bank account or mail address will vary.
For more information, contact the Office of Student Accounts at 903-886-5050 or 903-886-5501. You can also e-mail them at Student.Accounts@tamuc.edu or visit their website. Also visit the Refunds webpage.
If you add a course or change a course with one that carries more credit hours or different cost structure, for example dropping a 3-hour course and adding a 4-hour course or dropping a 3-hour face-to-face course with a 3-hour on-line course, there will be a balance created. Because we already released the financial aid refund to you, we are not able to pay for that change directly since you have the money. You will be responsible for paying the balance which resulted from the change that occurred. If you do not pay the balance, you place yourself in a situation that you could be dropped due to non-payment of that remaining balance.
Tuition and fees for each academic year can be found on the Office of Student Accounts website or by using the Tuition Estimator.
The University no longer sends paper bills. Your account information is available through myLEO. Statements are posted periodically and can be printed if a hard copy is required. It is strongly recommended you check your bill on a regular basis specifically if you have changed your registration, meal plan or have any other business transaction that may affect the amount you owe the University.
You can find critical payments dates on the Office of Student Accounts website.
If your funds are not available, you may be eligible for a short-term emergency loan. More information is available at the Students Accounts web page.
Cash, checks, credit/debit cards (Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express). Web checks are accepted for online payment in addition to credit/debit cards.
Monday – Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (McDowell Administration Building lobby and One Stop Shop location).
Extended Saturday hours may be applicable during peak times. Check the One-Stop web site for specific dates and times.
Texas A&M University – Commerce
Attention: Tuition Payment
P.O. Box 3011
Commerce, TX 75429-3011
Yes – call 903-886-5050 or 903-886-5501.
There are no extra charges for telephone or credit card payments.
Payment can be made online. Go through myLEO and click on the LeoPay link. Then click on the payment link and proceed with your payment.
TAMU-C cannot charge a student’s bank account without the student’s permission. Only the student can initiate payment transactions.
During the fall and spring semesters, tuition/fees and housing may be paid in full or in four installments. A minimum down payment of $100 plus payment of the $35 installment fee will be required at signup. A $25 late fee is assessed on past due balances after each payment date. The installment payment plan is not available during summer and mini terms. Each summer and mini semester is assessed separately with different payment deadlines. Summer and mini-term tuition/fees must be paid in full.
For detailed information and instructions, please visit the Student Accounts web page.
Go through myLEO and click the LeoPay link – then click the tab that says Enroll in a New Payment Plan and the system will guide you through the process.
You can find information on waivers and exemptions, as well as the contacts for each here.
The University offers two options:
To request a change to this page or to request access to make changes yourself, email helpdesk@tamuc.edu.