ctcLink Help Resources for Students

The basics for students to get up and running with ctcLink. Also, please refer to the menu items.

Where do I log in?

Seattle Colleges students can find links to all systems and tools they need, including ctcLink, on the Student page of their college's website:

Students can log in to ctcLink by clicking the:

ctcLink icon on the Students webpage to access ctcLink classic.
Class Schedule icon on the Students page to access ctcLink HCX,
1. Select the term you want to see (North and South Seattle Colleges)
2. Click the login icon at the bottom of the left navigation menu.

South Seattle College's Student webpage with pink boxes around the ctcLink icon and the Class Schedule icon. — South Seattle College's Student webpage highlighting two icons that can be used to access ctcLink.

ctcLink mobile (HCX) expanded left navigation menu with pink arrow pointing to login icon. — ctcLink mobile (HCX) expanded left navigation menu highlighting login icon.

More Resources Available

In addition to the guides and resources on this page, the ctcLink Reference Center's Student Homepage has guides for all WA state community and technical college students about:

Admissions
Managing Classes
Academic Progress
Academic Records
Profile
Tasks
Financial Account
Message Center
Okta Account Information
and more!

Managing your ctcLink Account

Students manage their ctcLink accounts, including signing financial responsibility agreements, adding preferred names, updating contact information, changing passwords, and setting other security and privacy preferences. Most importantly, all new students must activate their ctcLink account to get started and set up multi-factor authentication. Please review the resources below for the basics of managing your ctcLink account.

If you received your ctcLink ID number via email, you still need to activate your ctcLink account. You only need to do this once for all WA state community and technical colleges.

Please review this guide to Activating your ctcLink Account (language translations available via browser translation tools).

ctcLink login page. Screenshot of ctcLink login page with an arrow pointing to the activate account link below the ctclink login fields.

More tips:

Go to gateway.ctclink.us and select "Activate Account" to get started, or click the ctcLink icon on any of the Students pages: North | Central | South.
Be sure to write down your new ctcLink ID number when you get it and keep it in a safe place. It's your student ID, and you will need it to manage your student account and access various systems and tools while you're a student at Seattle Colleges and all WA state community and technical colleges).

If you encounter problems activating your account, contact the IT HelpDesk.

The SFRA is an important agreement that outlines financial obligations and responsibilities for attendance at any of our Seattle Colleges. You will be asked to review and accept the SFRA once each academic year before registering for classes. By signing it, you acknowledge that you understand your financial responsibilities.

Note: Students who are under the age of 18, as well as Department of Corrections and Continuing Education students, are excluded from this requirement.

The SFRA is located in your student account in ctcLink, where you manage your college-related tasks.

How to complete your SFRA (opens in new tab to instructions in the ctcLink Reference Center)

Learn more about the SFRA at the links below:

FERPA Block: Update Privacy Restrictions

Step 1. Open a browser and go to your campus website. Click on Students.

Step 3. Enter your ctcLink ID and password. Then click Sign In.

Step 4. If you are, or have been, a student at more than one Washington state community college, click the college you want to log in to. If you have only been admitted to, or attend, one college, you will not see this page. Go to the next step.

Step 8. For an explanation of FERPA and what a FERPA Block means, click Explain and read the informational pop-up page. Click OK when you’re done.

Impacts of FERPA Block: contact Enrollment Services with questions or concerns about applying the FERPA block on your account.

Step 9. To restrict your information, click FERPA Block.

Step 11. Confirm that you see the check mark under Restricted. Then, click Save.

Step 12. Done! The changes have been saved. To change the restriction, click Clear All and save your update.

pdf guide to FERPA Block: Update Privacy Restrictions

Resetting your ctcLink Password
Update your Contact Details: Name, Phone, and Email
Update Privacy Restrictions (FERPA Block)
Update your Name: Preferred/Chosen and Degree/Diploma
- All Seattle Colleges students are bound to generally recognized ethical and professional practices outlined in Seattle Colleges' Student Activities, Rights and Discipline chapter of Washington Administrative Code. When students set their preferred/chosen name, they agree that:
  - They are not using a preferred/chosen name to impersonate someone else, deceive, or defraud.
  - They are not using a preferred/chosen name to promote hate speech or inappropriate or offensive language.
  - Seattle Colleges has the right to remove a preferred/chosen name if it does not follow these standards.

Registration and Enrollment

The resources in this section are related to searching for, enrolling in, and managing classes.

Academic Records and Progress

Funding and Financial Aid

Step 1: Open a browser and go to your campus website. Click on Students or Current Students. www.seattlecentral.edu , www.southseattle.edu , or www.northseattle.edu.

Step 3: Log in to your account. a) Enter your ctcLink ID and click Next. b) Enter your ctcLink password and click Verify.

Step 6: Click on the Financial Aid tile.

Step 7: Click on the Aid Year. Note: Financial Aid awards students for the academic year, so from Fall quarter to Summer quarter. In the example above, we see "2021-2022 Financial Aid Year" - this means the award is for Fall 2021 through Summer 2022.

Step 8: Review your Award Summary. You can see the aid amount offered and the aid amount accepted. To accept or decline Financial Aid funding, click Accept/Decline Awards.

Step 9: Check the box next to each award to Accept or Decline the funds. Click Submit to save your selection. Click Return to Award Summary to go back to summary.

Step 10: Click Yes to save your submission. Click No to go back to the Accept/Decline Award screen.

Step 11: Your submission was successful! Click OK to return.

Step 12: Your Award Summary now displays the accepted awards. If you have questions about your Financial Aid, please contact the Financial Aid Office at your college. North Seattle Financial Aid, Seattle Central Financial Aid, South Seattle Financial Aid.

Accept or Decline Financial Aid Award

Open a browser and go to your campus website. Click on Students or Current Students. www.seattlecentral.edu , www.southseattle.edu , or www.northseattle.edu.

If you are or have been a student at more than one Washington state community college, click the college you want to log in to. If you have only been admitted to or attend one college, go to Step 5.

Your balance is shown on the sidebar and in the main window.

To view your account balance details, click on Charges and then Charges Due.

View what you owe by clicking “Summary By Due Date” or “Detail Of Charges Due”.

Check your Account Balance

Open a browser and find your college website

Click on the college you want to login to

Click the button on the right to enroll in a plan through Nelnet. Yes, the little gray unlabeled button on the right.

Complete the form with your information and then click Submit.

Click Begin to start setting up your payment information. Please read carefully as you go through the payment set-up process.

pdf guide to Enroll in a Nelnet Payment Plan

Find all the information about signing up and target dates to enroll by at Seattle Colleges MyPaymentPlan webpage or visit the individual college payment plan webpages for more information.

Nelnet Payment Plans at: