Man you CA folk. $11 per credit. Now at $22, you're more in line with the rest of the country. CCs in TX are about $28-33 per credit hour, in district, $60ish out of district, out of state forget about it, its the same cost as a 4 year public uni's instate cost.
They will only give you what you need per semester. They may grant you a loan for $XXXXX but you're only going to get whatever you need per semester but you probably already knew that. They send the money for each semester to the school, and the school sends the rest of the money to your bank.