What is a deferment?
A deferment extends the fee payment due date based on expected aid. It holds the student's schedule in place after the fees due date so classes don't drop for non-payment. A deferment is not a payment. It delays the due date until the funding source disburses or the deferment expires.
How does a deferment keep my classes from dropping?
After the fee payment deadline, SF drops any class not paid for or covered by an approved funding source. A deferment marks the fees as covered on a provisional basis. The student keeps their schedule and avoids the drop even though no money has actually been paid.
How does a deferment get on my account?
Deferments post after a funding source is recognized on the student's account. They are not immediate. Different aid types have different requirements before the deferment can appear:
- Outstanding requirements. Any item in the Documents section of the Financial Aid Portal [WEB LINK: eSantaFe login] prevents the award from posting in the first place. Complete the requirement, the award posts, and the deferment follows.
- Grants and scholarships (institutional, foundation, state). Once eligibility is established and any outstanding requirements are cleared, the deferment follows automatically when the award posts.
- Bright Futures. The student must confirm Santa Fe College is listed as the attending institution in their state scholarship account. Without that, Florida Shines will not transmit the award and no deferment posts.
- Federal loans. The loan offer must be accepted and all loan documents (entrance counseling and the Master Promissory Note) completed. Until the loan is ready to pay, no loan-based deferment posts.
Two timing rules apply once the award is in process:
- Aid information from federal, state, and institutional processing has to reach eSantaFe before any deferment can generate. This step takes time depending on the aid type and where it originates. Once an award shows in the Financial Aid Portal, the deferment typically takes 3 or more business days to post.
- When a student adjusts enrollment after a deferment has posted, the amount takes 3 or more business days to reflect the change. A student who recently added or dropped classes may see a temporary mismatch between schedule and deferment amount during processing.
My schedule shows a balance even with a deferment. Why?
The deferment reduces the account balance by the amount of aid expected to pay. If aid is less than tuition and fees, a balance remains after the deferment applies. That balance is the student's to pay, in eSantaFe under Finances > View and Pay Fees.
Bright Futures is the most common case. Bright Futures pays a per-credit-hour rate that typically doesn't cover the full cost of a standard load. A student whose only funding source is Bright Futures will have a balance due after the deferment applies.
A deferment is not applied course by course. It applies to the account balance as a whole. If any balance stays unpaid by the fee due date, all coursework for the semester drops, not just the unpaid portion. Partial payment does not protect partial enrollment.
Even when a student's schedule shows a $0.00 balance due, the deferment isn't a payment. It's an extension of the due date until aid disburses.
What if my deferment is reduced or canceled?
A deferment is based on expected aid. If expected aid changes (an award amount adjusted, enrollment changed, eligibility affected), the deferment changes with it.
The student has two options:
- Pay the remaining balance to cover the gap.
- Drop the affected classes before the drop with refund date to avoid the charge. Current dates are published on the SF academic calendar on sfcollege.edu [WEB LINK: SF academic calendar].
After the drop with refund date, tuition and fees are owed whether or not the student attends. A deferment reduced or canceled after that date leaves the student responsible for the balance.
Is a deferment the same as my aid disbursing?
No. A deferment is an estimate that holds the schedule in place before aid pays. A disbursement is the actual release of aid funds to the student's account. A student with a deferment has not been paid. A student whose aid has disbursed has been paid. The deferment disappears once disbursement happens, because the aid now covers the charges outright rather than provisionally.
I'm a transient student from another school. How does my deferment work?
A non-SF transient student (one whose home institution is not SF but who is taking classes at SF) doesn't have a financial aid account at SF that would automatically generate a deferment. The SF Financial Aid Office posts a manual deferment based on documentation from the home school's financial aid office. The student submits the home school's aid offer through the Financial Aid inquiry form [WEB LINK: Financial Aid Inquiry form, student] or brings it to One Stop.