This means that if a student is registered for three credits during WinterSession and nine credits during Spring, they would be considered a full-time student, and their federal financial aid would be packaged as such.
All Winter Session and Spring financial aid will be disbursed together as spring aid and will be disbursed no earlier than five days before the start of the spring semester. Please note: New York State aid, such as TAP and Part-time TPA, are not available for Winter Session. Please be aware that all awards are contingent upon funding and your remaining aid eligibility.
To be considered for federal financial aid for Winter Session, a student must be matriculated, and the 2025-2026 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) must be on file in the Financial Aid Office no later than December 1, 2025. The Winter Session Financial Aid Application can be found at the Financial Aid Office Forms Center.
Note: Financial aid packages are now automatically adjusted based on the actual number of credits that a student is registered for on that date. Subsequently, adding or dropping a course will cause corresponding adjustments in financial aid. A more detailed explanation of this important change to financial aid processing is available from the Financial Aid Office. For the Spring semester, automatic adjustments based on actual current hours will begin after January 1 and continue until the spring financial aid census date.
The major caveat is that students should be registered for their total number of credits by January 5, 2026, to ensure that the correct amount of aid is credited to the student account and appropriate aid refunds are issued promptly.
Please contact the Financial Aid Office at (585) 395-2501 with any questions. The office is located on the first floor of the Rakov Center for Student Services.