Awards Process & Timeline

Application Period and Deadlines

Mid-April (most years): The Office of Student Financial Aid receives its annual appropriation from the Mississippi Legislature.
May-June: The PostsecondaryThis term means “after high school”. Postsecondary education can be obtained through study at a college, university, community college, technical college, or trade school, on or off campus. Education Financial Assistance Board (PostsecondaryThis term means “after high school”. Postsecondary education can be obtained through study at a college, university, community college, technical college, or trade school, on or off campus. Board) approves the program budgets.
May-June: The institutions submit Grade Reports for the previous term. The Office must have Grade Reports from all 30 institutions before making awards.
June-July: The Office begins to make award offers for the full academic yearFor state aid, the academic year refers to the Fall and Spring semesters. Summer is generally not covered by state aid unless specifically noted for a program. and sends notifications to students with complete applications.
- Grant applicants do not need to do anything to accept an award. The institution will be notified of the award.
- Forgivable loan applicants must sign a contract and submit the self-certification form to accept an award. The institution will be notified of the award once all required documents have been received.

September: Institutions submit Enrollment Reports to verify student enrollment for the fall.
September-December: Fall award payments are disbursed directly to the institution once a week.
- The Office must have the complete student application and enrollment verification before award payments can be made.
- The disbursement process may take up to ten business days from the time payment is initiated until payment is received by the institution and processed to your student account.
February: The institutions submit Grade Reports for fall and Enrollment Reports for spring.
March-May: Spring award payments are disbursed directly to the institution once a week.
- The Office must have the fall Grade Report and spring Enrollment Report from an institution before award payments can be made for any student at that institution.
- The disbursement process may take up to ten business days from the time payment is initiated until payment is received by the institution and processed to a student’s account.