Financial aid disbursement changes prompt long lines

"It's so bad, you could get fired from your job just waiting in line," psychology freshman Eve Treter said Wednesday as she waited in the long line outside of the financial aid office in Room 101 of Fletcher Administration Center.

She was one of many who experienced delays with ACES in receiving a financial aid refund.

Treter depends on the financial aid checks for more than just tuition and books; she also needs it to pay her utility bill.

"I only received half this year of what I got last year, and I'm still the same poor person I was then," Treter said.

Treter's application was supposed to be mailed Aug. 13 but was delayed until Aug. 18, which caused her to barely meet several bill payments.

Treter is among students adjusting to the new ACES portal system as well as the new Banner student registration system, which was implemented this semester.

Banner works just as Passport, the previous registration system, did by displaying a student's awarded financial aid as determined by the federal government for the semester.

Students first have to register for courses and meet the requirements for receiving financial aid on a full-time basis for a minimum of 12 hours or on a part-time basis.

If registered for nine to 11 hours, two-thirds of the semester's financial aid is refunded to the student.

If registered for six to eight hours, half of the semester's financial aid is refunded.

And if registered for fewer than six hours, less than half of the semester's financial aid is refunded.

In Banner, however, once classes are chosen, awarded money moves into what the system calls a memo.

Memo is a hold on financial aid until the college sends the student's name and records to the federal government for confirmation and approval.

"The process of memoing the information is slick," Thomas Campos, director of student financial services at this campus, said Wednesday. "Financial aid is affected almost immediately by how many hours you choose before you're approved."

Only after the federal government approves the student is the semester award displayed in the virtual business office through ACES.

"We've always had to report and approve payments," Campos said.

The Banner registration system impacts students more than the old Passport registration system did because they have to wait through the approval process even though they don't see it.

In the previous system, this college sent information to the federal government for approval after award money paid for registered courses and was refunded to students.

"Before, this college took the liability of collecting awarded money if a student was not approved by the federal government," Campos said.

He added that students need to verify name, Social Security number, tax data and other information on the application.

For more information on financial aid, call student financial services at 486-0200 for this college. For student financial services at the other district colleges, call 486-4600 at Northwest Vista, 486-3600 at Palo Alto, 486-2600 at St. Philip's and 486-5401 at Northeast Lakeview.