When looking at colleges (financial aid)

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I am in an accelerated 2nd bachelor's program. Many students, like myself, must take out student loans.

I chose a (somewhat) more prestigious private school - not realizing that the biggest egos there reside. Now I wish I had chosen a school where more of the student body was working class. Something I wish I had known to consider when applying to programs is the date that the school releases funds to the students. I had to come up with thousands of dollars for living expenses and books and did not see a refund until the 3rd week of classes. (I guess they assume that their students don't need to factor in money). When I expressed my dissatisfaction with not being warned in advance - they said basically "everybody's doing it". However, when I recently looked at a different program's website - they listed that funds were paid on accounts 4 weeks before classes begin.

Definitely check with a school's bursar's office and find out when the funds are actually are put into student direct deposit accounts. (At first they used the term "dispersed" and gave me an earlier date - apparently "disperse" doesn't mean to your bank account). It made for a very stressful beginning to an already stressful program.

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Specializes in PACU.

I've been 2 colleges so far and it's been the same system. One school I did not receive dispersement for the remainder of the loan until 6 weeks after classes started.

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Specializes in Med/surg, Onc.

I've only been in systems that disburse after 5-6 weeks of school. It's pretty common.

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

It's very common to not disperse funds until at lest 2 weeks into school starting. I have actually yet to find a school that disperses before school starts until you posted this (except for book advances). There is a date that the federal government requires final aid need by and they will not disperse funds to the school until then. Since schools do not always know the total aid needed until after classes start (adds, drops, and such by students) this is usually not completed until AFTER the full refund drop date by the campus. This is also because if they issue you your funds, and you later drop out, they will want part or all of the aid reward back. What if you have already spent it? Then the school is out the money waiting for you to pay it. I could go on with reasons why the school does not disperse money before the semester starts, and none of them have anything to do with them withholding funds just because they feel like it to screw students. All you had to do was ask the FA office when their dispersement date was and this could have all been avoided. Also YOU chose this school, which makes it YOUR job to gather the info needed beforehand. Lastly, dispersement date will NEVER mean that its the date it will be available in your accnt. The FA office doesn't go down to each students bank with their financial info to deposit directly into the accnt. They fund transfer. This takes anywhere from a day or two, to a week or two. Their is no way for the FA office to know when exactly the funds will be available in your accnt. Only when they will be transferring it.

I make it a point to plan for my school expenses ahead of time. This includes finding out dispersement dates of funds so I canome out of my pocket while I'm waiting for my refund. GL in the future.

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I go to a community college, and no funds are dispersed until week 5 for any financial aid. And starting this current semester, those who have student loans get half of their refund week 5 and the other half week 10, which made tons of people really happy (not). The financial aid department at our school is a hot mess; I've had semesters in which I never got my refund until after the semester was over...after numerous emails, phone calls, and extra trips to the FA department. The only "monies" that are ever given out early are to the bookstore as vouchers. Monies may in fact be paid on accounts early, but that doesn't necessarily mean you'll have that money in hand at the time it's applied to your account.

Good luck to you!

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Specializes in PACU.
All you had to do was ask the FA office when their dispersement date was and this could have all been avoided. Also YOU chose this school, which makes it YOUR job to gather the info needed beforehand. Lastly, dispersement date will NEVER mean that its the date it will be available in your accnt. The FA office doesn't go down to each students bank with their financial info to deposit directly into the accnt. They fund transfer. This takes anywhere from a day or two, to a week or two. Their is no way for the FA office to know when exactly the funds will be available in your accnt. Only when they will be transferring it.

Also, dispersement can mean that they DISPERSE the amount to cover your tuition and it takes a while to get the REFUND of the amount that exceeds your tuition. You want to know the refund date in the future, not the date of dispersion.

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Specializes in ICU/ Surgery/ Nursing Education.
I've been 2 colleges so far and it's been the same system. One school I did not receive dispersement for the remainder of the loan until 6 weeks after classes started.

Same here. It worked out to be 4 weeks after census. It prevented people from signing up for classes, getting their financial aid and then dropping classes. My financial aid office was very open about this and the reasoning. It was a bummer, but just roll with it. Next semester budget for this and keep money free from this semester.

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the school I started at dispersed and refunded about 7-10 days before the start of school. I honestly didn't even think about being any different when I transferred. The school I'm at now refunds several weeks into the semester. I can honestly say I hate this method. It pretty much forces you to buy your books from their book store (they don't do book advances but they do allow you to spend your FA in their book store before the refund date). Luckily I found the rest of my books used for very cheap from local students and only ended up buying one from their store.

I don't love this system at all....but it is what it is. I'm not using my loans to cover every day expenses though so it wasn't a terrible thing. Just annoying :D

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I agree there are schools that do it sooner. For instance, I now live in Nebraska bc the school I started my BS at was here and relocated here before school started using my disbursement. But the schools I later transferred to(online) didnt do it until after the start date. It definitely depends on the school.

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As I stated in my post, the date that they gave me was not the actual date. I asked more than once and it was not accurate. They did not give me the correct time frame. I understand that the policy has changed since I graduated in 2004. They could have been up front about it and more accurate when I inquired. But this wasn't the only problem I had at Loyola. More than one of the instructors was outright confrontational and ignored my legal right to accommodations. I was having health problems and instead of working with me, one of the people in charge of the ABSN program was horribly rude and another wouldn't allow me to make up a quiz in spite of a doctor's note. I have nothing good to say about this school and I have attended many schools over the years - having lived in several parts of the U.S.

Also, what the schools don't want to tell you is that they could technically disperse sooner but they do not. They want to make sure that they get paid. Why should they get 1/4 or 1/2 of the full cost if a student withdraws after a month of class? They are supposedly an "institution of higher learning" not a for-profit company. How is that fare to students? Can we really continue to call this country "the land of opportunity?" as the costs to go to college continue to put us further and further into debt? Germany has a very strong economy and offers free tuition to everyone - everyone. A bill was just passed in the U.S. congress to cut grants to in-need students and give that money instead to the loan processing companies - Because none of us have any say in the matter.

The instructors at Loyola had no idea why 10 - 12 students weren't logged in to one of the costly online homework programs we were to pay for. Many other students didn't have textbooks, hadn't done reading assignments and didn't have required supplies, because they were too embarrassed to admit that they didn't have the funds. The school library did not have a single copy of many of the books for use. When I posted a comment on the online forum we were to use - stating that lack of funding was the most likely reason for the missing assignments - I was reprimanded - given a stern lecture about it.

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The school library did not have a single copy of many of the necessary textbooks for students to use.

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Specializes in Neuro, Telemetry.

While the instructor didn't have to be so rude, it is still the students responsibility to research the out of pocket cost and how they would pay. It is not the instructors responsibility to allow late assignments or change their method of delivery because students can't afford to pay for the required materials. Yes, it sucks and is hard for most people who don't just have extra money lying around to pay for school costs. But it is very possible to plan ahead for costs and save money to be able to pay for these things. And when you drop after a month or whatever, your FA is prorated for what is due back to the school based on how many weeks were completed. Yes, you still have to pay for the whole course, but that is laid out in the school policies and applies to everyone at just about every school. I'm sorry you are upset about this. But at the same time, everything you are upset about is usually laid out for you to find if you read your schools policies and your student syllabus for your classes.

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