Step 3: Get Paid

2025-26 Disbursement Schedule

• *If you are a first time borrower at Lane CC, Federal Regulations require that the first disbursement of Federal Direct Stafford Loans not be released until 30 days after the term begins.
• **Summer term students – Summer term offers will be added once you are enrolled beginning mid-June.
• ***This date applies to students receiving the Parent Plus Loan funds. If funds are chosen to be disbursed to the parent, expect processing delays of 2-3 weeks.

After you have been offered your financial aid and you have reviewed your offer letter, you may not have enough money to live on and go to school. In most cases, there are a few things that may be able to help you.

Adjust My Financial Aid Information

Your financial aid is based on your tax information from two years ago. A lot can happen in that time. If your financial situation has changed significantly, then you can petition the financial aid office to consider a more recent tax year. You will need to file a special circumstances appeal, and provide new 1040s and W2s for the requested year. Contact the financial aid office for more information.

Additional Expenses

Not every student has the same expenses. In some cases, we can provide additional funding for childcare, special tools and equipment and/or a laptop computer. Please know that if your additional expenses are approved it will result in an increase in student loans.

Additional Funding

At Lane we do not package Federal Direct Unsubsidized or Federal Parent loans upfront. If you need additional funding student loans can be a great way to cover your expenses. This is a relatively fast way to get additional funding. See our Student Loans section under Watch Your Email for more information on the kinds of loans that may be available to you.

Scholarships can also be a great way to fund your education, but they take a little more work and are not a great solution for immediate need. The typical scholarship cycle is between six and nine months. These are a great long-term strategy! See our Scholarships section below for more information.

Scholarships are a great resource for students because they are free money. In many ways they are like a federal Pell Grant. Perhaps the biggest difference between scholarships and grants is that grants are need based, while scholarships are often merit based. Merit based means that the student has demonstrated they are good student and community member. Scholarships always require an additional application. Below are the typical components of a scholarship application.

Application and GPA

Not every scholarship cares about your GPA, but most of them will require it on the application. That doesn’t mean that you have to have a perfect 4.0. There are plenty of great scholarships out there for students with a 3.0 or in some cases even a 2.5

Letters of Recommendation

Letters of recommendation are sometimes tricky to get. You want to ask for a letter of recommendation at or near the end of a class that you have done well in. Ask for letters of recommendation from instructors when you're fresh in their mind, and the letters will always be better than letters that are terms or years later. Try to target instructors who teach in your major. They will be more compelling.

Telling Your Story: The Essay

Many scholarships will ask you to write a short essay response to a question. The question is almost always a version of, “tell us about a challenge you’ve had in your life and how you over came it.” Learning how to tell your story is so very important and is often overlooked by scholarship applicants. What the scholarship donor wants to determine is if you are worth the investment. Get good at writing your story and make sure to get it edited and proofread by at least one other person. 

Finding Scholarships

Beware! There are a lot of scam scholarships out there that will just take your money and never intend to give you a scholarship. Four great resources for safe scholarships are:

• LCC Foundation
• Oregon Student Access and Completion Commission
• Fastweb
• Lanes’ Welcome Center - Scholarship Office - located in Building 1, room 101

If you have been offered a student loan you must first accept the loan in ExpressLane.

If this is the first time you are taking out a student loan there are a few extra steps that you must complete to access the loan. They only need to be done the first time that you borrow a student loan. Lane Community College exhausts all federal loan options before presenting students with information about private loans.

Entrance Counseling

Entrance counseling is series of webpages and budgeting exercises to help you understand the terms of your loan and what you can expect to repay. You can complete entrance counseling by logging into studentaid.gov with the FSA ID that you used to sign your FAFSA.

Master Promissory Note (MPN)

The master promissory note is the contract that underwrites your student loans. It authorizes the federal government to collect on the loan if you default. It will require you to list several references and is good for any loan you take out in the next ten years. You can complete your MPN by logging into studentaid.gov with the FSA ID that you used to sign your FAFSA.

30 Day Delay

If this is your first time taking out a student loan, be aware that it will be delayed by 30 days. This is a federal requirement for first time borrowers. Please plan ahead so you don’t get caught waiting on a loan that will be late. After your first term, all of your loans will disburse on the standard disbursement schedule. If you have a 1-term loan it must be disburse in 2 payments. (see the disbursement schedule section above).

Exit Counseling

If you take out a loan you are required to complete exit counseling when you leave Lane Community College. Exit counseling will have all the information that you need to be able to manage your loan and have a successful repayment. You can complete exit counseling at studentaid.gov.