Next Steps
Your FAFSA or TASFA submission will be added to your student account within two weeks after submission. Once your have submitted your application, it is important for you to regularly check on and complete any financial aid requirements added to your account.
You should also become familiar with checking any changes the Financial Aid office has processed on your account, such as new award offers, satisfying your requirements and requests, and disbursing your aid.
Checking Your Status
-
In order to monitor your Financial Aid status and requirements, you will need to log into your ACES student portal. ACES will help you check and obtain the following information related to financial aid:
- Financial Aid Requirements
- Document Status
- Financial Aid Awards
- Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) Status
- Account Summary
- Student ID – you are required to have this at the time you visit or call the Student Financial Aid offices
If you are unfamiliar with navigating ACES to locate your financial aid information, please refer to our tutorial guides.
- Your ACES student email is your ACES user name, followed by @student.vaftizo.com. Example: acolleges30@student.vaftizo.com.
- View your student email inbox by logging into ACES and clicking on the 'Student Email' link in the top right corner of the screen.
- Your student email will be the official mode of communication between you and the Alamo Colleges District. It is important that you check your student email on a regular basis to avoid the possibility of missed deadlines, unsatisfied requirements, or other important updates.
The status for your documents will remain unsatisfied (or a red flag) until each document is reviewed by the financial aid office and completed. Once you see all statuses updated to a check mark, this means your documents are processed and an eligibility determination can be made on whether you qualify for aid.
Students have the option to upload requested documents securely through their ACES log in.
Your FAFSA or TASFA application will provide Alamo Colleges District with information that determines the type of aid you will receive and your total cost of attendance.
-
Student Aid Index (SAI)
The SAI is a measure of a families ability to pay for college and their resulting financial aid eligibility. Taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits are all considered in the formula. This calculated amount will determine how much need based aid like grants and scholarships you qualify for.
Your SAI will be shown to you after you submit your FAFSA through the FAFSA Submission Summary (FSS). A FSS is an electronic or paper document that summarizes the information you reported on your FAFSA that is sent to you by email and/or mail.
Cost of Attendance (COA)
The Cost of Attendance (COA) is an estimate of average costs a student will incur during the academic year. Included in the COA are tuition and fee costs, a room and board allowance, books and supplies, transportation, and personal/miscellaneous expenses. The cost will vary depending on whether a student chooses resides at home with their parents, or resides without parents. Transportation costs will also vary depending on proximity to the campus and mode of transportation.
Dependency Status
All applicants for financial aid are considered either "dependent" or "independent" once the dependency questions are answered at the start of the FAFSA. It will then be required to include either parent information for Dependent students or to include information on themselves and a spouse if applicable for Independent students.
This dependency status will determine the estimated Cost of Attendance that matches your situation.
