36° OVERCAST, Students protest late checks, say they can't buy books, food
Last Modified: Thursday, August 28, 2008 at 10:41 p.m.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA - A handful of students gathered around the Harrison Fountain on Thursday afternoon at the University of North Alabama to protest what they said were unnecessary delays in the processing of residual checks from their student loans.
Students who have loans or scholarships receive the checks for the money that's left after tuition has been paid.
Thomas Beane, a radio/television/film major at UNA, organized the event because he said the delays in receiving the checks have kept some students from buying books or food.
It's the first time in the university's history that students have assembled in protest of the delays.
"(UNA) has not responded to us as consumers and, without that money, we as students suffer," Beane said. "It hurts the reputation of the university. The students need to be heard."
Donna Tipps, controller at UNA, estimates that about 2,000 of the university's 7,000 students receive residual checks, but students who may have experienced delays were notified weeks before classes began in a series of four e-mails, the first of which was dated July 17.
In each e-mail, she said the university advised students that they could be affected by delays and should make contingency plans about buying books or other items, adding that an emergency loan of $200 by the university was available.
"The checks aren't required to be delivered on the first day of class, but it's a practice the students have gotten used to, and now we know how much they look forward to it," Tipps said.
Tipps said the protest came as a surprise to her because "we had very few calls after we sent out the e-mails. Once we notified people, we felt we were preparing them for what might happen as a result of this system change."
During the past year, UNA had adopted a new operating system which administrators say is designed to make registering, bill paying and scheduling easier for both the university and students.
Despite the potential for delays, Tipps said the system proved to work fine. Processing checks, however, can take between two and three days from the time money is deposited into a student's account to when the check is issued, mailed and received.
Samantha Southwell, a junior from Iuka, Miss., said she's still waiting on her $4,000.
She attended the protest as part of her speech class.
"I've had delays in getting the money before, but nothing like this," she said. "They've told us to make other arrangements, but I come from a family of five kids, so my parents don't have the money to send me to buy books or food or pay rent until this (refund) comes."
Southwell said she has already lost a lease on one apartment because she was unable to make the rent payment and is depending on the generosity of friends and her fiancee's mother to get by.
The story sounds all too familiar to Amber McConnell.
The single mother has had to quit her job, move back in with her parents in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., and commute the hour to school each day to finish her education.
"I'm lucky; my parents can help me," she said. "But I haven't been able to buy my books, and I've got two tests coming up. I don't want to start the semester behind on my classes."
In addition to the protest, Beane asked participants to bring canned food, which he will deliver to students who've been unable to buy groceries.
Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@TimesDaily.com.
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Comments
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August 29, 2008 7:14:48 am
RE: http://www.timesdaily.com/arti...9/articles/808290328
This sounds too familiar. My daughter is attending Northwest and applied for a Stafford loan. She was never told that she would have to be in school for 30 days until they even applied for the loan. We don't know how much or when the check will come. This forced us to take money from our retirement account to pay her tuition and her books. I think it's sad that the colleges have total control over a loan that you will be repaying. Loans are to help get into school and the college officials just think you can pull the money from the sky until they decide they want to get it for you. Students and parents should be told in advance that they will not receive the money for new students until after 30 days of attendance. My daughter had to register late, so we could get the funds from our retirement account. It takes a while to do that and the college offered no help to get her in and she lost all the classes she had hoped to get in. I think the colleges need more helpful and knowledgeable staff to help students. It's just a job to most of them, but it's the future of these students!!
Thanks,
Frustrated Mom
August 29, 2008 7:55:48 am
What does this say about our university to bring all these children hundreds and even thousands of miles away from home and then tell them so sorry we are going to keep your money tied up for a few weeks so you are left to the wolfs and by the way you figure out how to come up with all this extra money till we decide to do something we should have done alone time ago and how they should stand up and take responsibility for their own mistake like they would expect the these young adults to do .I am sure that they would not wait on them if the situation was reversed so I am asking U.N.A.to stand up and make the citizens of Florence to be proud of you ,You have enough to make this right and should do so immediately.We are not to think you don't have enough to make sure that these young people are taken care of like you were suppose to.
August 29, 2008 9:29:01 am
Something I haven't been able to tell from the article/reports is, when did they apply for financial aid? Many types of aid require application before March 1 of the preceding year. We filed all the forms last year, and our son had no problem having his Stafford loan applied to his account at Alabama well in advance of when the tuition was due.
And, this might not be the case here. They may be applying for some other type of financial aid that I am not familiar with. I was just curious.
August 29, 2008 10:09:16 am
Maybe they could try a signature loan from a credit union. I did that a time or two when I was in college.
August 29, 2008 11:19:35 am
Students can charge books in the on campus bookstore to their financial aid-pell grants, loans, etc. I attended NWSCC as well as another university and at both schools I received the remainder of my funds in the form of a check one week after add/drop was over. School always started on a Monday and the check was in my mailbox no later than Friday of the following week.
August 29, 2008 3:08:00 pm
It is in the paper work you sign at UNA. Also, the financial aide officer told us to be prepared for the delay. It is only for first time loan borrowers because enrollment and attendance have to be verified before the school receives the loan money.
We used savings too.
August 29, 2008 6:24:13 pm
When all else fails, read the directions.
August 30, 2008 8:46:20 pm
This is not about when the loans were applied for and it isn't just 1st time students that are being affected. I have friends who have had the same lenders and applied well in advance for the past 3 years and their money has come in in plenty of time every year. Now, the college is trying to tell them that, even though their money has come through from lenders, it could still be another 2 weeks before any money is given out. This would be ok if they even offered an explanation as to why their money is being withheld.Clarifications need to be made and the students need to be kept better informed than and e-mail or two warning us that our aide may be late for some mysterious reason.
August 31, 2008 11:06:17 am
As one of the Students mentioned above, let me say a few things.
One, they got one piece of information wrong, i'm from a family of five (two parents, three kids). Not five kids. I think my mom would go crazy with five kids.
Now let me comment on a few of the remarks left here. 1) I am not a first time student, this is my third year at UNA. 2) I applied for all of my financial aid and stafford loans before Feb. 31 because my taxes were done. 3) The money owed to me has been sitting in my account for a week and I still do not have it in my hand (we can see our accounts online). 4) I would also like to point out that even though the finicial aid office has been exceptionally nice through all of this (though I am sure they are tired of seeing me), the business office is where most of the rude behavior is stemming from.As of today, Aug 31, I still do not have my books.
August 31, 2008 11:51:41 am
I think most of the Birmingham schools do this. They make the students wait till after drop/add to give them the remainder of their financial aid. And the students have to get signed attendance notes from all their instructors in all their classes. If they don't a lot of the "students" just don't show up for any of the classes. The schools gets a charge back for this someway, I am supposed to know this, but I can't remember exactly how it works.
Isn't that pitiful? To be so sorry you get loans for an education that would better your life, and you're too lazy to even go - you just get the little bit of money left over after tuition so you can do whatever with it? (I mean You, as in the people who do this, not you as in YOU.)
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