How Financial Aid Pays

Here’s how the process works:

  1. Your instructors must verify your attendance in at least one of the first two sessions for each of your classes.
  2. The money is credited, or disbursed, to your student account. Your tuition, fees, books and supplies (if you used financial aid funds in the bookstore) will be deducted from your financial aid.
  3. If there’s still money remaining, you’ll receive a refund through direct deposit or a paper check. The Cashier’s Office processes refunds weekly. When you receive your refund depends on when your class(es) start.

Here are other things that determine how your financial aid pays:

  1. Course in Program of Study.  Your financial aid eligibility is determined by taking courses that are part of your program.
  2. Attending Hours.  Your aid will pay as your classes begin.

There are two exceptions:

  1. If you receive work-study, you’ll be paid every two weeks.
  2. If you are a 1st year student (30 earned credits or less at WCC) and have never borrowed a student loan, federal regulations require WCC to wait 30 days after classes begin to credit loan funds to your account.

Here is how to use your financial aid in the WCC Bookstore:

  1. You must authorize the bookstore to receive some of your funds. This is done by going to MyWCC, click on the Financial Aid tab, Authorization Information, and then Barnes & Noble Bookstore transfer authorization. Read the authorization, accept and submit.
  2. The following day, you will have up to $75 per credit hour in the WCC Bookstore.
  3. Check your spending limit on MyWCC during the bookstore dates for the semester – the dates are below.

Here are the refund dates for the Winter semester:

Session(s) Start date        Funds pay to account First refund date
15 weeks, First 12, 10, 7 ½, 5 weeks January 9  January 26 February 2
Second 12 weeks   January 31 February 14 February 23
Second 10 weeks February 14 February 28  March 9
Second  7 1/2  weeks March 2 March 16 March 23
Third 5 weeks March  28 April 11 April 20
Swipe left to see full chart

If you’ve authorized your financial aid to go to the WCC Bookstore, money will be available between November 30, 2022 and January 24, 2023. Learn more about using  Financial Aid at the Bookstore.