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| Direct deposits to speed
financial aid delivery |
Grayson Mendenhall
Chancellor | Student Development Beat
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The Office
of Student Accounts is offering a quicker and more efficient way
for students to receive financial aid refunds.
The direct deposit program was developed by the Office of Student
Accounts as a way to decrease the number of business days required
to issue financial aid refund checks to students.
Director of Student Accounts Cindy K. Shelton said that besides
financial aid from the government, money from grants and scholarships
could also be refunded.
“If the check isn’t from mom and dad, we consider it financial
aid … students getting loans, grants or scholarships from multiple
sources are all eligible for financial aid refunds,” Shelton
said.
Some of the methods for issuing refunds to students can prolong
the time before students can actually access the money from their
refunds, Shelton said.
“Currently, we give students four options: The check can be
written and then sent to their ASU post office box, we can print
the check and mail it to their permanent address, they can pick
the check up from the Student Accounts Cashier’s Office or
they can use the direct deposit system,” Shelton said.
Simply issuing a check to the student can take days, which may be
inconvenient for students who need the money.
“When we write a refund check to a student, there are four
business days before the student can have the money; it just takes
time to process,” Shelton said.
The direct deposit system allows the Office of Student Accounts
to deposit the money from the refunds directly into the student’s
bank account.
“One of the reasons that we want to persuade students to use
direct deposit is to help them out by getting them their money sooner
… depending on who they bank with, we can get them their money
in about two business days,” Shelton said.
There is a significant number of students at Appalachian that receives
financial aid in some form or another.
Many students who receive financial aid live off campus.
“At this point, I believe over 50 percent of Appalachian students
live off campus,” Shelton said.
The amount of money from refunds can be quite high.
“The average refund at Appalachian is approximately $1,400
and off campus students need that money to pay rent or other bills
they have,” Shelton said.
Direct deposit not only benefits students, but the whole university
as well, since the administrative and clerical requirements of issuing
checks cost Appalachian money.
“It costs money to print checks and to pass those checks along
to the right people in order to get it to the student,” Shelton
said.
“The university can save a lot of money through the campaign,”
Shelton said.
Direct deposit can save the university a significant amount of money,
as much as over $100,000 a year, she said.
Adjunct professor Jeff Cloninger said both students and the university
can benefit from direct deposit.
“It’s a proverbial win-win situation; you’ve got
the university saving money and the students getting their money
back,” Cloninger said. |
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