Financial aid will appear on your awards page on VIP at https://vip.sc.edu. At the time of billing, awards for which all eligibility criteria have been fully met will be classified as "available;" and may be committed against your outstanding University charges for the term of the award. Awards for which all eligibility criteria have not been met will be classified as "pending" and the reason for this status will be displayed on your bill. Questions regarding awards in a pending status may be referred to our office or the Student Loan Collections Office, 113 Petigru. Once the reasons causing the pending status are resolved, the award will become available and may be used to pay your University fees. Please note that Federal Work-Study may not be used to pay your fees. Work-study funds are only received when work has been completed.

Regulations require that your federal financial aid must be used to pay your tuition and fees and University room and board. In order for your federal financial aid to pay other charges on your bill, you must complete an authorization form giving the University permission to use your federal financial aid to pay them. This authorization is available on the Bursar's web site at http://www.sc.edu/bursar/Permit.pdf.

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To pay your bill, you should go to VIP to commit your financial aid and pay your University bill. If you fail to pay your bill via VIP or otherwise satisfy your bill by mail or by payment in person in Petigru or the Coliseum, your classes will be canceled and you will once again need to register for them. You must do this for each semester or summer term. Please pay close attention to the information provided in the University's Master Schedule regarding class cancellation and fee payment dates.

You must pay careful attention to the instructions provided on VIP web or on the University bill that you will be able to print. It will outline the procedures to follow when using VIP to apply your financial aid awards to pay your University charges. Please pay close attention to the date when your classes will be canceled for failure to pay your bill. Additionally, at the time funds are disbursed, you must be found to be making satisfactory academic progress for financial aid eligibility as defined by the University's policy. Click here for the University of South Carolina Satisfactory Academic Progress Policy for financial aid eligibility. 

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If you do not take action to commit your financial aid to pay your University charges for any term, your financial aid for that semester or summer session as well as subsequent semesters or summer sessions will be canceled. In order to avoid cancellation for the entire year, you must request in writing that your future aid be held and not canceled. The Financial Aid Office must receive this request before you use your aid to pay University fees.

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Most PLUS disbursements are made via Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and applied to the student's charges. When a Parent Loan (PLUS) is disbursed via a paper check, it is made co payable to the parent borrower and the University and sent to the Student Loan Accounting Office for disbursement. Once that office receives a PLUS check from the lender, it will verify enrollment of the student for whom the loan was made, and if eligible, mail the check to the parent for endorsement.

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In cases where your available financial aid is greater than your University charges, you will be able to receive the excess in the form of a University check. These checks are mailed, according to an arranged schedule, from the Office of Financial Services to either your local or permanent address as listed with University Records. Check with the Office of Financial Services for the exact mailing dates and with questions regarding the mailing of your check. It is your responsibility to keep your address current with University Records.

Students may also elect to participate in the electronic check feature through which your financial aid excess is directly deposited into your checking or savings account. The form to authorize this process is found at http://www.sc.edu/bursar/EDebit.pdf. Information concerning this option may be obtained from the Office of Financial Services.

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Please note that the Student Loan Accounting Office, 207 Petigru, makes all financial aid and scholarship disbursements. We (the Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships at 1714 College Street) are not permitted to disburse any type of financial aid or scholarship money. Questions or problems related to the disbursement of financial aid awards should be directed to the Student Loan Accounting Office.

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