Financial Aid: Enrollment Requirements for Undergraduates

Learn how your enrollment affects the disbursement of various types of undergraduate financial aid.

To receive financial aid, you must be enrolled in at least 6 units per quarter and 8 units during Summer Session. At the end of Spring Quarter you must have completed a minimum of 36 units and have a GPA of 2.0 to maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress for the academic year.

Other facts about financial aid and enrollment:

• Wait-listed units don't count toward your quarter total.
• UCSD verifies your enrolled units each quarter before disbursing financial aid funds into your student account.
• UCSD re-verifies your enrolled units at the end of each quarter's add period.
• You may be required to repay previously disbursed aid if you reduce your units to less than 12 units per quarter.

Read more about specific types of financial aid that have additional enrollment requirements:

• Academic Competitiveness Grant (ACG) and Science and Mathematics Access to Retain Talent (SMART) Grant

  These grant amounts are reduced if you're enrolled in less than 12 units. Payments are made according to the number of enrolled units:

  • 6–8 units = 1/2 of the award amount
  • 9–11 units = 3/4 of the award amount
  • 12+ units = full award amount

• Pell Grant and Cal Grant B

  These grant amounts are reduced if you're enrolled in less than 12 units. Pell Grants and Cal Grant B stipends pay according to the number of enrolled units:

  • 6–8 units = 1/2 of the award amount
  • 9–11 units = 3/4 of the award amount
  • 12+ units = full award amount

• Federal Stafford and Federal PLUS loans

  These loan funds are based on your actual number of enrolled units at the time of disbursement.

  • You must be enrolled in at least 6 units at the time the loan funds are received from your lender and disbursed to your UCSD student account.

• Summer Session financial aid (any type)

  To be eligible for Summer Session financial aid, you must enroll in at least 8 quarter units in one UCSD Summer Session or a combination of sessions.

  If you're attending other UC summer sessions, you must enroll in at least 8 quarter units, with the exception of UC Berkeley where you must enroll in at least 6 semester units.

  If you're enrolled in multiple sessions, your aid will be divided among the sessions.

  If your enrollment changes after you've been awarded summer aid, it may affect the amount of your summer eligibility, and as a result:

  • Your aid disbursements may be canceled.
  • You may have to repay aid you've already received.

  Read more about financial aid for summer sessions.