Students waiting by their mailboxes for financial aid award notices this summer are wasting their time.
The Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid entered the Internet age with a new paperless financial aid program July 1.
The financial aid award notices will be online sometime between July 16 and August 13. Students can check their University e-mail accounts for a notice that their financial aid packages are posted on the Web. The e-mail will give students instructions on how to accept their financial aid award notices online.
Nancy Sinsabaugh, interim director of the Office of Scholarships and Financial Aid, said all students should not expect to receive their award on July 16 because the financial aid office will be unable to post all 30,000 award notices at once.
“Students shouldn’t go on the Web July 16 and panic because their award notice isn’t there,” Sinsabaugh said. “They should start checking their e-mail the week of July 16.”
Award notices are coming out later than usual this year because the Board of Regents voted on the budget late. Students usually receive award notices in May.
Sinsabaugh said the Web version of financial aid will be faster than the paper version. If students accept their financial aid online, it only takes about four days for the financial aid office to disburse it.
However, students need to check their e-mail and not their mailboxes if they want to receive their aid on time.
“If students don’t check their e-mail and don’t go on and accept their aid,” Sinsabaugh said, “we cannot give them aid until they accept their aid.”
The program is a part of the PeopleSoft software program and has been tested as much as possible, Sinsabaugh said. Two consultants will be available to fix any problems once the award notices are posted, she said.
Students who applied for financial aid using the Free Application for Federal Student Aid and have not received any information about their award notice by mid-August should contact the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships for more information.