SMC Promise Cheat Sheet

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Students who can join SMC Promise must:

• be a California resident or an AB540 student
• be a first-time college student
• have graduated from any California high school in 2020 or 2021
• be enrolled in at least 12 units in the Fall and Spring semesters
• completed a FAFSA or DREAM Act application before the start of the first semester.

All students who are eligible should have received an email inviting them to join the program. This email would have been sent to the email address that was entered on the SMC application. 

Additionally, qualifying students can also join in their Corsair Connect portal, under the Enrollment tab, in the left-side navigation.

For more information on joining SMC Promise, please visit smc.edu/freetuition.

SMC Promise students who also qualify for the California College Promise Grant (CCPG) fee waiver ALSO qualify for the SMC Promise book voucher. To use it for purchasing required books and materials in the online SMC Bookstore, students  just need to create an account with the online SMC Bookstore website and then select A/R Charge at checkout as the payment method.

SMC Promise book vouchers can be used from August 17 - October 30, 2020. After this deadline has passed, the Fall 2020 book voucher is no longer valid and any books/materials must be purchased out-of-pocket.

If SMC Promise students have already purchased books before using their book voucher, they can contact the SMC Bookstore (bookstore@smc.edu) with their SMC Bookstore receipt to request a refund. 

For more information about the SMC Promise book voucher, please visit smc.edu/freetuition.

SMC Promise students who submitted a FAFSA must be eligible for the California College Promise Grant (CCPG) fee waiver in order to be eligible for the SMCP book voucher. If a student can not use the book voucher on the SMC Bookstore website (and the deadline hasn't passed), but the student's financial aid portal in Corsair Connect shows that they are receiving the CCPG fee waiver for 2020-2021, please contact the Financial Aid office. 

Please note: ONLY the Financial Aid office can see student financial aid records and make changes to profiles. Welcome Center staff can only view general information that students already have access to.

Students who have questions about completing their FAFSA or need additional information about what documents they may need to submit (after viewing their financial aid portal in Corsair Connect) can contact the Financial Aid office. 

Please note: ONLY the Financial Aid office can see student financial aid records and make changes to profiles. Welcome Center staff can only view general information that students already have access to.

Since SMC Promise requires students to complete 12+ units during the Fall and Spring semesters, counselors are available to help students remain at full-time status. SMC Promise students can work with an academic counselor to make sure they are taking the correct classes for their educational goal and their correct skill level, to ensure successful completion.

Students can connect with a counselor by visiting the General Counseling webpage.

ALTERNATIVE ELIGIBILITY

• Starting Fall 2020, SMC Promise students who do not complete 12 units in Fall (either withdrew from a class with a W, or received a Failing/NP grade), may become eligible for Spring if you make-up the unit deficiency during Winter session. Class fees for Fall 2020 will still be due if students don't qualify for the CCPG fee waiver.
• Student must have a minimum of 12 units completed with grades of A, B, C, D or P (W, I, IP, SP NP grades do not count) between Fall and Winter. 

• Eligibility will be updated once final grades for the “make-up” class/units are posted to the student’s transcript.

• Funding eligibility for inter-session courses (i.e., Winter and Summer) is unchanged. Most students making up units will generally need to pay out-of-pocket, unless they are receiving the CCPG fee waiver.