These words have slightly different meanings for Financial Aid Staff, but the difference is generally not relevant to students.
A term is any one of the periods of enrollment. At Solano, there are three terms: fall, spring, and summer. Breaks are not terms. A semester refers to one of two primary terms. At Solano, there are two semesters: fall and spring.
There are a few important differences between terms and semesters for financial aid purposes:
- Some financial aid programs, such as the Solano Promise and Cal Grant, are not available in summer.
- Pell awards assume students are only enrolled for the primary terms (fall and spring semesters). If you enroll in summer, your award will increase if necessary. This is called year-round Pell.
- Enrollment intensity rules do not change for summer.
- Most students who enroll in summer classes do not enroll full-time (12 or more units). However, for Pell, the enrollment intensity thresholds do not change. You would still need 12 units to get the maximum Pell award for the summer term.
Additionally, students should be aware that other departments on campus may refer to summer as being part of the trailing year, rather than the leading year. That is, for financial aid purposes, an aid year begins in fall, goes through spring, and ends at the end of summer. To use a concrete example, the 25–26 aid year begin in Fall 2025, runs through Spring 2026, and ends at the end of Summer 2026 (June 30th, 2026). Other departments on campus may do the opposite: they may view the year as beginning in summer, running through fall, and ending at the end of spring. This is due to reporting requirements and is not relevant to students.