Question about financial aid?

Page 7 of the attached publication from the Dept of Ed says this:

How will I be paid?

Your school can:

• Credit your grant funds to your school account;

• Pay you directly (usually by check);

• Combine these methods; or

• With your permission, credit your bank account.

NOTE the "YOUR SCHOOL" reference. This means the school gets your money first.... then they give it to you if you have no outstanding balances and there are no other problems. I would also look at the flow chart on page xii. Applying for fin aid is a process that takes quite a while. Sometimes months depending on if there are any errors on your FAFSA, if you are selected for verification, how fast the school processes them.

It is NOT true that you can't apply for fin aid until after you register for classes. You can apply for fin aid 6 even 7 MONTHS in advance and you should..... so you don't end up in the same situation you are now.

You will need to go to www.fafsa.ed.gov as soon after Jan 1st as possible and apply for fin aid for NEXT year so you aren't in the same situation next year.

One more thing.... many people "have no doubt" they will qualify for fin aid.... but then accidently forgot they defaulted on a past student loan, or didn't consider a "loan" fin aid and were upset they didn't qualify for grant, or one of about a million other things that could go wrong do. Just beware, unless you have a fin aid "Award Letter" in your hand with the amounts in your hand... you have no guarantee.

Good luck... email me if you have more questions.

I just graduated last year, so my guess is that not a lot has changed since then. The way they did it with me was that it depended completely on what you asked to be done with it. Some people, like you, used their credit card to pay their tuition and then got reimbursed for it. I elected to have my financial aid go directly to the school first for tuition and fees, and I received a check for what was left over.

If you qualify for student aid, you shouldn't HAVE to put it on a credit card. Speak to one of the financial aid counselors at the college you will be attending - they will be able to answer more questions about that particular school's policies.

For my school, the school gets the money directly from the aid foundation, but now they've changed to credit into my account. My school are notified when the aid is credited into my account and they will make a call to tell me about it and ask me to pay them. Since my aid is disbursed late 1 semester (I get the money for the 1st semester when I finished my 2nd semester), the school lets us owe the money for 2 whole semesters due to the nature of the system. Maybe you can ask your school financial department whether you can owe or not. Owing the bank is a bad thing as the interest are very high.

I have never heard of financial aid going straight to a student's checking. Now, financial aid will go to their student account and then a refund check will be mailed to the student. Besides, I think the latter is better. What will happen if the school over award you and the money will sent to your account, I will assume they have the ability withdraw as well. In addition, have you giving anyone the permission to deposit funds into your account and the ability to withdraw for a possible over award. I strongly suggest talking to a financial aid advisor to be sure. Thank you.

first your tuition is deducted then the rest you get choices on how to receive your aid. by check, or transferred automatically to your bank account. And YOU get the money not the school.

At my college...

The financial aid is directly applied to your tuition. If you have already paid it, they will issue a refund of your money after classes have started and they can verify attendance.

fin aid reciepients usually have their school fin aid office pay their tuition + educational fees directly to the school's bus office/cashier...since fin aid also may comprise room & board + cost of books + living expenses, that usually goes straight to your checking acct. if you get fin aid for room & board, its paid directly from fin aid to campus housing if you stay in dorms or o any on-campus housing. if you rent outside the campus, and u get fin aid to pay for room & board, they credit u $ and you in turn are responsible for paying rent...a lot of variables come into play...get the details on your fin aid package...know your fafsa efc. understand what the fin aid you are getting is for ??? tuition only ??? tuition + room/board + books + living xpenses ???? if tuition fin aid office in your school pays directly to school...internal pymt...you dont get involved...that's how it is with my kids...important: understand your fin aid award package and all will be clear to u.

my financial aid goes straight to my school. they take out what i owe them and then the rest appears in my bank account a week later or so.

no. they dont give you money. They just deduct it from your tuition when you pay.

Yes, you get the money, not the school.