After disbursement debacle last year, aid goes out in record time

After being millions of dollars behind in financial aid distribution last fall, the Office of Student Financial Aid made a dramatic turn this year, already distributing over $50 million in aid to an estimated 15,000 students.

John Nametz, OSFA director, said the figures are not even comparable to those of last year, when the new computer program Matrix caused delays. Because the OSFA was behind by about $8 million in financial aid and scholarships, the tuition deadline was extended last year.

However, this year the financial aid office had posted $40.3 million to over 12,600 students after only a day, the largest ever single fall disbursement at the UA. The amount is almost double the $21.7 million that was distributed at the same time last year.

Nametz credited the achievement to planning ahead and beginning to distribute money early.

"We sent out (funds) on the earliest possible day," he said. "Legally, it's no more than 10 days before classes start and it actually hit the first day we were allowed."

However, Nametz pointed out that in order for the office to quickly distribute money, it had to defer questions students have sent by e-mail.

The biggest difference this year is not the speed of disbursements we make, but the accuracy. - John Nametz, director of the office of financial aid

"We used to be able to answer e-mail responses in 48 hours; can't do that anymore," he said. "The most critical thing is to get the cash out."

According to the OSFA, funds were also available last week for more than 3,000 students who opted for electronic transfers to their bank accounts and 4,700 who preferred mailed checks.

Nametz said half the aid money is sent through electronic transfer, which makes the process faster and more accurate since errors can be corrected the next day.

"The biggest difference this year is not the speed of disbursements we make, but the accuracy," he said. "We're not having hundreds of lost or returned checks."

Suellyn Hull, the bursar, said that $13.2 million has been banked through electronic transfer while $11.3 million in checks were sent out.

"Students who request refunds be sent directly to their bank will receive their refunds one to three days sooner than those who wait for a check to be sent through the mail," added Hull.

The OSFA is a day ahead of the Bursar's Office in order to verify that money is sent out properly, Nametz said. After the authorization it sent out, the Bursar's Office can put money in an account the next day.

Nametz projected $54 million would be distributed by today. Roughly $10 million will be distributed over the next few weeks as students enroll in classes, claim loans and meet the requirements for aid.

For students who have yet to receive financial aid by next week, Nametz said the most important thing they can do is check their Student Link account.

"It tells (you) if somebody put a hold out there if you didn't get a measles shot or something," said Nametz. "Even though it's not related to our office, all those things can stop aid."