Hi all,
The deadline for my Fall 2019 bill is August 1st, but my student portal says that the earliest disbursement date for my financial aid is August 16th. Obviously, this makes me a bit anxious and I wanted to see if I could get some advice before reaching out to the financial aid office. Has anyone dealt with financial aid being disbursed after the deadline before? Do you still get charged a late fee?
Our FA folks never did it on time. In our case, we had an extra grant and they just waited for it all to be in front of them. No late fee, for us.
Do call. Be nice. If the phone receptionist doesn’t have a reasonable official answer, talk to an actual FA officer.
That does make me feel a bit better. Thanks.
You will be fine. You’ll probably see a pending credit or expected amount for any grant, loan, or scholarship going through the school. Outside scholarships will probably not be there unless the school has received them.
The school can’t ‘disburse’ federal aid until 10 days before school starts but they can note it on the portal.
My D’s school had the bill due before the disbursement date. Federal and state aid can’t be disbursed earlier than 10 days before the term starts I believe.
Her school treated this aid as anticipated aid so that the balance was $0 once it posted to the account upon disbursement.
As long as we paid the billed amounts minus any anticipated aid, we were good.
Make sure to reach out and ask the FA office if you aren’t sure how much you need to pay.
Work study for example won’t be available to pay your first bill, as it is earned later as a paycheck once you get a work study job.
And make sure any outside scholarships are sent to the school.