The disbursement notification/acknowledgement process is enlightening for me as it helps me to identify which students need further guidance in and explanation of their financial aid. Often times, a student will have no idea what to make of the information I give them on their disbursement notification form [FRIGHTENING!]. This gives me the opportunity to go over the basics with the student maybe in a different way than it was originally explained to them: this and this are loans that you are going to have to pay back, this is a grant which you will not have to pay back, this is only a piece of your financial aid package, further disbursements will come as you progress in the program, at the very end of the program X is the total amount that you will responsible for paying back, etc. I definitely recommend requiring student acknowledgements of the disbursement notification- true, it can be laborious and time consuming but it requires interacting with students one and one to go over their disbursements and thus gives the chance to see exactly who needs a little extra clarification. If students have a clear understanding of their loans, they'll be less overwhelmed and better equipped to handle the responsibility of repaying the loans in the end!