Payment periods are similar to semesters.
Undergraduate students: The payment period for undergraduate students is 12 credit hours and 20 weeks of instruction. Undergraduate students must pass the first 6 hours and begin attendance in 9 hours (third class in payment period) to be eligible for the second disbursement in the payment period. Undergraduate students are charged with 6 hours at a time: Graduate students: The payment period for graduate students is 9 credit hours and 18 weeks of instruction. Graduate students must pass the first 6 hours and begin attendance in 9 hours (third class in payment period) to be eligible for the second disbursement in the payment period. Graduate students are charged for 6 hours and then for 3 hours (total of 9 hours for each payment period).  Note: Graduate students also receive two equal disbursements per payment period. This means that the refund (if any) created by the second loan disbursement of your payment period will generally be larger than the first.