Financial Aid Disbursements
Once the student has completed his/her financial aid, how long should it take for funds to be disbursed to the student?
Pell grant should be requested 1 week after they begin classes and Direct Loans 30 days after their first day is when you should request those funds.
Kim,
Based on your answer to the FA Disbursement process at your campus it appears you have a schedule to insure the timely and accurate delivery of FA to your studnets. It is important to have a schedule for evaluation of the students' eligibility.
Sincerely. Chyrl Ayers
30 days after the school year start
Are all of your disbursements held for 30 days or only your first time borrowers? What about the disbursement of your Federal Pell Grants or Campus Based Funding? Do you delay all funds in order for a trial period of enrollment? The answer is so brief that it is difficult to tell why your campus delays the student funding.
Some additional comments would be beneficial to the discussion process.
Sincerely,
Chyrl
We wait 30 days on all programs to allow a trail period.
I know at our school they have a process in place and no pre pull. How long should it take from the point the loans are certified for COD to reflect pending and then disbursed then how long from that point for it to hit the account?
Also I am running into a lot of students from other colleges that have pending disbursements in COD. What is the process a school should take and the timeline when a student graduates or withdrawals? How should one go about getting the disbursements cancelled so they may enroll with another campus?
My college has a 2 week drop/add period where students may or may not enter all of their classes. After that period when course load has been identified, grants are pulled. Loans are pulled on day 1 for continuing students, day 31 for first year, first time borrowers. All disbursements are checked for eligibility to ensure that students became at least half time students. Having a process to receive funds timely and confirm eligiblity has helped my college avoid findings and get students their funds.
Trudy,
Based on your response it appears that your registrar, business office and financial aid teams are working in harmony to insure timely processing of all TIV funds. It is great to have a schedule with internal controls to make sure students are eligible for their funds and deliver timely.
Chyrl Ayers
Federal Pell grants can be processed for disbursement during the first week of class. I process Federal Pell at the end of the first week of class. Federal Loan disbursements are processed after students have completed entrance couseling and have been in school 30 days.
Regina, The timely receipt of a student's financial aid is so important both to the student and the school. Although students that are first time borrowers have to wait for 30 days from the date their term begins, you also have to be cognisant of the students that are not first time borrowers since their loan disbursements may occur the same time as their Pell disbursement. Thanks, David McGuffee
David McGuffee
STUDENT LOAN CAN BE SENT OFF AFTER 30 DAY AND WE GENERALLY WILL REQUEST PELL AFTER THE FIRST WEEK OF CLASS.
sharita, You are correct that all frst time borrowers must wait 30 days to receive their first disbursement of a loan, however, also remember that if a student is not a first time borrower (you can find this informaton on the NSLDS page of the SAR/ISIR), you can make the first disbursement of loans the same time as you make the Pell disbursement. Good luck in your online studies.
Regards,
David McGuffee
I have worked in 3 different institution and all 3 have done it differently. Currenlty I am a Regional Director and I take Pell the first week and the loans I do wait for the 30 day mark. I like to wait the 1st week on the Pell just because you get some students that drop with in the 1st couple of days. Since we can always pull the Pell down after R2T4 it seems easier that way for my institution.
Marjie,
It is important that you handle your disbursements in a manner that is compliant and works for your student process. Based on your answer it appears that you have a found a method that is compliant and meets the necessary requirements at your institution for your student population. I completely understand you waiting to insure that your students have settled into the process.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
We generally disburse the first Pell Grant within 1 week of the start of programs. The first loan disbursement is 30 days from the start of programs.
I have always wondered if first-time borrowers can receive their loan on day 30 or day 31? can you comment.
Linda,
The 30 day delay requirement for first time borrowers requires the funds to not be delivered until 30 days after the begin date of the pay period. The funds may be disbursed on day 31 in order to meet this requirement.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
Our school waits 30 days from the day the student started since we are just a 7 month program. I think its great to wait this time just in case anyone drops.
Laura,
Do you hold all of your disbursements for 30-days or just your first-time TIV loan borrowers? If the student is not subject to the 30-day hold do you release or hold all students to this criteria. If you hold all disbursements for 30-days, do not consider the students to be started until after the 30 days. These items should be considered since it may have an impact to the handling of return of TIV calculations if the student drops in the first 30-days.
Sincerely,
Chyrl Ayers
