I called the financial aid office about 3 weeks ago and was told my daughter’s aid was all in order (she had been chosen for verification) and they gave me the total amount I could deduct from the bursar bill. However, there is still nothing under pending financial aid and I’m starting to freak out a little. Is that normal? Does the financial aid not apply to the account until the due date (it’s all grants)? I don’t really want to call and bother them again if it’s not necessary.
We also requested a student loan to cover the student contribution a couple of weeks ago and have heard nothing about that either. Should I plan on using a credit card to pay the amount that should be covered by the loan and have her reimburse me when she gets her refund just in case?
@dedex13 Yes, go ahead and deduct like they told you and pay the balance. Financial aid is not set to be disbursed until the end of August.
For the loans, are you talking about Federal Subsidized/Unsubsized and/or Perkins Loans? Or are you talking about a private loan? Government loans are also disbursed at the end of August.
@TiggyB62, thank you. I’ve been expecting to see the grants in pending financial aid. It’s very confusing! I’m assuming she will be offered a Federal Subsidized loan for the $2700 student contribution (we filled out the request form a couple of weeks ago). Our family income is under $60,000 so no loans were included in her financial aid package.
I ended up calling the Financial Aid office today. The woman I spoke with was very pleasant and reassuring. She told me that my daughter’s financial aid is all there and just needs to be “verified”. I’m not sure if this is normal procedure or only necessary because she was selected for fafsa verification (we sent in the verification documents in May). She told me to subtract the amount of the award and just pay the balance. I then asked her about the loan, they have received the request and it needs to be verified as well before being applied to her account. She also told me that it may still take a few days for the financial aid to show up, but as long as the balance will be covered my daughter is good to go.
Very nerve wracking! And, no, I also don’t think they take credit cards.
If you do get hit with late fees, make sure you contest them.
My financial aid was disbursed late last year due to some issues with my SSN. I was automatically hit with a ~$185 late fee, but a phone call to the aid office got that charge removed.