How We Deliver Your Financial Aid

We Call It Disbursement

After you’ve completed all of the tasks required to receive financial aid and gotten an award offer from OCC , you probably have one question: “How do I get my money?” It’s basically a three-step process:

  1. We apply your financial aid toward your tuition and fees.

  2. If you have money left, you receive an electronic book voucher for the OCC Bookstore so you can buy books and supplies.

  3. If you still have money left, we refund it to you by direct deposit or paper check.

Read on to learn how the process works.

Financial Aid for Tuition and Fees

When you receive a financial aid award offer from OCC, the amount is for the whole school year. You get half for fall semester and half for winter semester. Each semester, we start by applying your financial aid toward your tuition and fees. This happens automatically. You can figure out how much financial aid remains with simple math. Let’s say you:

  • Receive $5,000 in financial aid ($2,500 per semester)
  • Qualify for OCC’s in-district tuition rate of $103 per credit hour because you live in Oakland County
  • Take a full load of 12 credit hours

Your tuition calculation is: 12 credit hours x $103 in-district tuition=$1,236

Your tuition calculation is: 12 credit hours x $103 in-district tuition=$1,236

Subtract that number – your total charge for tuition and fees – from your financial aid to see how much you have left: $2,500 sample financial aid-$1,346 total tuition and fees=$1,154 excess financial aid

Financial Aid for Books and Supplies

If you have financial aid remaining after paying your tuition and fees, as in the example, you receive an electronic book voucher for the OCC Bookstore. It’s an online, real-time account that you can use to buy books and supplies. You can spend up to $1,200 in financial aid money at the bookstore each semester. Besides using the money to buy books and supplies, you can buy one laptop computer or other electronic device each academic year.

Subtract that number – your total charge for tuition and fees – from your financial aid to see how much you have left: $2,500 sample financial aid-$1,346 total tuition and fees=$1,154 excess financial aid

Your Financial Aid Refund

In our example, you have $554 in financial aid left after you pay for tuition, fees, books, and supplies. You get this money to spend on other educational expenses: gas for your car, rent for your apartment, and so forth.

You receive this money – called a financial aid refund – about three weeks after the semester begins. To get it fastest, sign up for direct deposit in MyOCC. After you log in, click on Banking Information and enter details for your checking or savings account. Otherwise, we send a paper check to the address we have for you. An exception occurs if you take courses that start after the semester begins and last less than 15 weeks. Since refunds are based on course start dates, if you take a full-semester course and one that lasts less than 15 weeks, your refund may be divided into two payments that you receive at different times.

To get your refund fastest, sign up for direct deposit in MyOCC. After you log in, click on Banking Information and enter details for your checking or savings account. Otherwise, we send a paper check to the address we have for you.