Financial Aid Offer Information

Financial Aid Offer Amounts

To view your individual educational cost and financial aid award, please follow the steps below:

  1. Log into myCNM
  2. Click the "Financial Aid" tab
  3. In the "My Financial Aid" box, select the "Click here" link
  4. Click on "Award" under My Financial Aid
  5. Click on "Award for Aid Year"
  6. Under "Select Aid Year", use the drop-down menu to select the correct aid year
  7. Click "Submit"

Some offers require further action. Some important information contained in this letter includes:

For more information, visit the General Requirements Page.

Your award has been calculated based on full-time enrollment (12 credit hours or more). Your actual award will be based on the number of financial aid-eligible credit hours you are enrolled in. Financial Aid is available for part-time (one - 11 credits) enrollment for students who qualify.

Pell Grant awards are prorated and are based on one or more financial aid-eligible credit hours. Students enrolled less than half-time may be subject to a reduced Pell based on a high Expected Family Contribution. Most CNM students with a bachelor’s degree are not eligible for Pell Grant awards. There may be some exceptions for students enrolled in the Alternative Teacher Licensure program. Grants are “gift aid” and do not require repayment.

To qualify for loans and student employment (work study), you must be enrolled in six financial aid-eligible credit hours. Awards are offered on a first come first serve basis.

To receive an award, students must:

Financial Aid Disbursement Information

Students have two options for receiving their financial aid funds:

  1. By direct deposit into their bank account
  2. By mail.

Students who choose direct deposit will receive their financial aid funds earlier than those who opt for a mailed check. All students who want to receive their financial aid funds through direct deposit must enter their bank account information in myCNM. Students who choose not to use direct deposit will have their financial aid funds mailed to them and need to make sure their address on file with CNM is correct.

To enter your bank account information for direct deposit, log on to myCNM and click on the “Registration/Grades” tab at the top of the page. Then click on the “Pay Here/View Account Details” link in the top right corner of the page. Read important information on the page and then click on the “Student Account Center” button. Then click on the “eRefunds” link in the menu bar across the top of the page and set up your account.

Financial Aid Funds Release for Students in Term II Classes

Students who are financial aid eligible and are enrolled in Term II classes can expect disbursement of most funds approximately three weeks after the class begins. Only student loans will be disbursed prior to the beginning of a Term II class. Student loans will be disbursed upon enrollment of six eligible hours, beginning with the first disbursement for the term.

Funds affected by this policy include Pell, SEOG, SSIG, NMCAG, General, and Daycare scholarships. Student loans are not affected, but you must be enrolled in six eligible hours to receive a student loan. 

Your financial aid funds release will not be affected if all your classes begin the first week of the term.

Lifetime Eligibility Used

Students are limited to six full-time years of Pell Grant. If you receive the full amount of your scheduled award for the academic year, you will have used 100%. Since the maximum amount of Pell Grant a student can receive per year equals 100%, the six-year equivalent is 600%. Some students do not receive their entire scheduled award because they were not enrolled for the full year, were not enrolled full-time, or both. 

Repeat Coursework Announcement

Students may repeat previously passed coursework once. This means that you may take the course twice and receive financial aid at CNM. All coursework on your CNM transcript is subject to this rule, whether you received aid or not. Repeated courses do affect financial aid satisfactory academic progress calculations. A repeated course along with the original attempt must be counted as attempted credits.

Bookstore Deferments

Bookstore deferment allows a student to charge educational costs (books and supplies) against any financial aid the student is scheduled to receive approximately three weeks before the term starts until a week after the start of the term. On the day financial aid funds are released, the amount owed to the bookstore is taken out of your financial aid funds. CNM offers deferments because financial aid checks are released after the term begins. Short-term classes also have a period of time for charging at the bookstore. Students can purchase their books for short-term classes during the full-time bookstore deferment. Bookstore deferments are for student use only. Anyone purchasing for others will be reported to the Dean of Students for disciplinary action and possible suspension of financial aid. Read more about how to request bookstore deferment and see the bookstore dates for when you can use the deferment.

Maintaining Satisfactory Academic Progress

Federal regulations require all terms of attendance to be reviewed, including terms in which the student did not receive financial aid. In order to meet Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), students must

  • Maintain a cumulative grade point average of 2.0,
  • Complete at least 66.67 percent of all attempted credit hours, and
  • Complete their program within 150 percent of the hours required to graduate from that program.

Developmental Prep Courses

Students can receive financial aid for up to 30 credit hours of developmental courses. Any class with a course number below 1000 is a developmental course. This limit applies to grants, loans, and student employment.

Ineligible Courses and Majors

Some courses and majors are ineligible for any federal financial aid. For a list of these programs visit the General Requirements page, or you may visit the Financial Aid offices at Main, Montoya, or Westside campuses.

Complete Withdrawal from School

Financial aid recipients who completely withdraw, drop out, or are dismissed from school before completing 60 percent of the term may be required to repay, to the U.S. Department of Education, a portion of the funds they received. Students who earn no passing grades in a given term are assumed to have unofficially withdrawn. Officially and unofficially withdrawn students may be required to repay a portion of the financial aid received.

Dropping and Adding Classes

Students who add classes may be paid for additional hours. Students who drop a class before the census date (or the Last Day to Drop Without a W) may have to repay a portion of the funds they received for that class. See “Important Dates-Course Deadlines and Dates” in the Schedule of Classes.

Direct Loan Awards

Students who have been offered Direct Loans must complete the following steps:

  1. Complete a Loan Entrance Counseling Session.
  2. Sign a Master Promissory Note (MPN). New borrowers must apply and complete this MPN. The MPN is good for 10 years from the date of signature.
  3. Accept their loans online by accessing myCNM.

To be eligible for a Direct Loan, a student must be enrolled in at least 6 eligible credit hours in a financial-aid eligible program

Dependent students have the option of applying for Federal Parent Loans for Under Graduate Students (PLUS loans) to help parents pay for their children’s education. 

Student Employment Awards

For instructions on how to request student employment awards, please visit student employment.