Hi, I am new here. This site was recomended to me by a fellow student and I have a question. I would like to note that I am not in a distance learning situation, even though I considered one. My question is, when does FAFSA forward the funds that we receive as loans? I have been at colleges that dispurse their funds in August and others that wait till November/December. I don't have to say how much the latter disturbs me. I am a single mother and want to know why some colleges wait so long to dispurse funds so that I can argue this process at my newest college. I will be the one who has to repay the loan, this is not a loan so that I can buy better Christmas presents, but rather this is how I am going to make it through college. I think this practice stinks... but if the college doesn't get the funds until Nov. then I understand.
To add insult to injury, if you have an unsubsidized loan, you accrue interest once the loans are distbursed; not when you receive your refund. As far as your question, it is either the schools policy or they are required to by HEA regulation. I do not know the specfic regulation, but in certain situations (I believe it depends on the percentage of the institution's revenue is through federal aid programs) the university is required to withhold any refund for a specific amiunt of time. Either way, though, they are receiving the funds beforehand and you are paying interest on them. BTW, if you want to see your federal loan history here's a link. http://www.nslds.ed.gov/
I can tell you that each school is different. I use Sallie Mae as my lender and when I go online, I see that they disburse the amount to my school say June 24 and I would sometimes get the refund from my school approx. one week later (in my bank account) and sometimes less. That's from Nova and I'm an online student. From my experience at previous schools (undergrad online and B&M) it was usually two weeks or more but that was years ago. Best thing to do is check online and call the school for a status and bug them as often as possible. You may even see if they have short term emergency loans that will be deducted from your disbursed refund amount to get you by until the full funds come in.
Thank you... I know I may have to bug them, I just wanted to know the facts before I do. I need that money desperately. I would not take a loan if I were not desperate! My school is in the next state, so I will plan a day to camp out at the Aid office until I get what I need. Thanks for the link too... I tried to get on last night, but my pin was not working. I may have been too tired to remember it correctly.
Cool, do they list scholarships or discuss them, I am a member of a yahoo group, so it will be easy to add.
FAFSA doesn't forward any funds at all -- it's simply a process of funding qualification produced by the USDoEd. Dept of Ed does fund some things but it's not exactly FAFSA that's funding. FAFSA is simply the application for federal aid. Your financial aid comes from one of three possible sources -- state/fed money, the college, or a lender. The college gets money from Uncle Sam (and usually has it in hand or the amount promised before they award it to you). They also get money from lenders (they don't always have that before they award it). Some funding is internal -- in the form of scholarships (which are really usually nothing more than a discount on tuition). Some colleges manage loan funds as well but most often it's a matter of dealing with the lender through the college. The rules for managing all this money are mind-boggling to say the least. And, a single mistake on the part of the financial aid or accounting office can cost them a program. Generally, if your financial aid account shows you are expecting a reliable source of funding through the college, you are not required to pay the bill for amounts under that financial aid. As for dispursment of excess financial aid (what some call financial aid Christmas) -- some colleges let money go as soon as the semester begins -- others wait until mid-point. Those that let it go early are generally more trusting (and often smaller) than those that wait. I don't think I've ever heard of anyone releasing before a semester began. Sometimes, it's nothing more than the fact that it takes a little time to process the billing accounts on 15,000 students, verify enrollment, then to get checks written, then to get the money out. Much more time than it would for say 1500 students. One trend I've noticed of late is a delay because some students are drawing excess financial aid awards early (for those that release in August) and then dropping classes to a level that doesn't support the financial aid award that was made. For this reason, many colleges won't release until after the drop/add date. For some of these programs the college doesn't get the money until the semester is over and you didn't quit. Often, the lender specifies when you may draw an excess. For others, they have the money before you even applied -- they were given a certain amount to disburse and that's all they have (hence the need for very early financial aid applications). For some forms of financial aid there is no money -- departmental scholarships for example are nothing more than "money" moving from one accounting group to another within the university. Your best option is to simply ask what date financial aid is released on. That's the date that the accounting office will release it. It is most often the case that this date is not set by a financial aid or loan counselor, it's set by the VP accounting, the president of the college, or even the Board of Trustees. You can complain to the FA office all day -- and they might sympathize with your needs, but when you try to argue about a policy of the university that is sent down from the tower, you need to argue in the tower. You probably don't want to stand on the argument that the college is somehow responsible for your finances or lack of funding. These type folk hear everything -- all day, every day. I've seen more than a few people make an enemy in financial aid because they took the approach that the univerisity owed them some sort of entitlement to a free education or special consideration in loan processing -- enemies in financial aid are not something you want. I say this then to point out that the fact that you're a single mom is not relevant to your argument. There are other single parents at that college I'm sure. I bet there are some disabled veterans, there are probably some war orphans too. There may be more than a few income restricted senior citizens. There are probably some people (like myself) that elected to leave the corporate world in favor of full-time study (the temporary poor). I hope there are some people from the very dredges of poverty going there in hopes of improving their lot in life... If you try to argue that your situation is somehow more dire than that of many others, you may find yourself faced with the suggestion that "maybe it's not a good time in your life to go back to school." Now, I don't buy that statement but, you may well here it. Take a relaxed, no demands, please help me if you can approach. Accept that if the university has rules -- FA is going to follow them to the letter. That being the case, if the financial aid process doesn't fit your financial schedules, you will have to seek out and employ other options. best of luck to you... make a friend in the financial aid office.
Thanks everyone. I now know much more about the process (you would think undergrad would have been enough to learn from), and I feel much better about the whole thing. Your right, schools get all sorts of pity stories and have become immune to some extent. But when you are working so hard, you feel that you are special. As far as my situation goes, it seems I was worried for nothing. If I get all my ducks in a row, they disburse as soon as school starts... (found out after approaching the financial aid counselor durring a quiet moment) I finally got all the paperwork and am ready to fly. Grad school is scary, but I am excited.
I have working in financial aid for 10 years, and have been at an online school for the past 18 months. The basic answer to your question is that the lender will send the funds whenever the school requests that they do so. The lender will ask the school to "certify" the loan, meaning that the school must certify that you are a student (or intend to be one), your grade level, how much you are eligible to borrow, etc. They also ask the school when they should send the money. The school can request the funds as early as 10 days before they beginning of the term. Some choose to get the funds that early (generally at four year traditional schools). Some schools will choose to wait to see who really shows up for school, and will ask that the lender sends the funds later - like 3 weeks after school begins. This happens a lot at community colleges and online schools, where students frequently sign up for classes, but then don't show up. Regardless of when the school receives the money, if you have borrowed money over the cost of what is owed to the school, the school MUST cut a check and refund the excess funds to you within THREE DAYS after the school receives the funds. This is the law, and it's a place where a lot of schools get in trouble because they don't get it done. Ask your school when they will request disbursement, and when you should expect to receive your check. They should be able to give you very explicit information.
Regardless of when the school receives the money, if you have borrowed money over the cost of what is owed to the school, the school MUST cut a check and refund the excess funds to you within THREE DAYS after the school receives the funds. This is the law, and it's a place where a lot of schools get in trouble because they don't get it done. Ask your school when they will request disbursement, and when you should expect to receive your check. They should be able to give you very explicit information. I know this is an older post but does this still apply?
