-- How to Apply for Aid --
Step 3: Receive Your Aid
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Financial Aid Disbursement
The Office of Student Financial Services bills you for on-campus charges through your
University account. Your financial aid is disbursed directly into your student account.
The account is a part of an automated system that Student Financial Services uses to
manage the billing and payment of tuition and fees, on campus housing, and other
miscellaneous charges.
Before your aid is disbursed to your account, you must meet all eligibility
requirements. You can check on the web to confirm that your aid has been disbursed
to your account. Charges are billed to your account each semester. Some charges,
such as parking fees, are not eligible to be paid automatically with financial aid. If
charges to your account are not paid in full the Office of Student Financial Services
will mail you a statement for the balance due. DO NOT IGNORE THESE STATEMENTS!
If you cannot pay your balance due, you may be able to pay on an installment plan. For
additional information, contact the Office of Student Financial Services.
Note: Aid is disbursed for use in a specific term. If your account has charges from a
prior term, and you receive aid for the current term, only eligible charges for the current term are paid automatically.
Credit Balances
Any credit balance (surplus) in your account after all charges owed to the University
have been paid will be disbursed to you. Charges added to your account after a
credit balance check (refund) is issued to you will appear on your next billing
statement. You should be sure that the University receives your payment by the due
date to avoid late fees.
Check Payments
A few private scholarship and loan programs disburse checks instead of crediting
funds to your account. The check is usually made payable to both you and the
University. The Office of Student Financial Services will notify you by mail that the
check has been received and is ready for your endorsement. You must endorse your
check before it can be credited to your account. Student Financial Services holds
checks for 45 days before returning them to the sender. Take your Scholarship checks
to the Office of Student Financial Services.
You must notify Financial Aid of any scholarships you will receive from outside sources.
You must submit all scholarship checks that you receive to have the funds deposited
into your student account. When you submit the check, attach a copy of all letters,
memos, or other printed materials that came with
it. If the check is made payable to both you and
Howard University, you must endorse it. If the
name of the donor is not on the check, you should
attach the information to the check. Outside
scholarships are disbursed in two installments;
one-half each term, unless the donor gives
specific disbursement instructions.
Refunds and Repayments
Changing your registration may reduce or cancel your financial aid eligibility. Before
making any changes, you should consult with your Academic Advisor and your
Financial Aid Officer. If you reduce the number of credit hours for which you are
registered, you may be required to repay financial aid that you have already received.
In this case, you will receive a repayment notice, have a hold placed on your transcript
and registration records and a late fee assessed to your account.
Federal Verification Procedures
Your application may be randomly selected for review as part of the Federal
verification process. The University is required by the Federal
Government to screen a sampling of applications to ensure that
aid delivery is completed accurately,
expediently, and with integrity. You may be required to provide
additional documentation, such as Federal tax returns and W-2
forms. Use income records for
the calendar year before the academic year for which you
are applying for aid. For example, use 2009 Federal Tax returns
and W-2 forms to complete the 2010-2011
FAFSA. If you are selected for verification, you will not be awarded
financial aid until all of the requested documentation is
received and reviewed. The
Office of Financial Aid must receive your documents by the
last date of eligible enrollment or the date
that corresponds with your last term of enrollment, whichever
comes first.
Notification of Award Changes
If any changes to your financial aid package occur because of the verification process,
the Office of Financial Aid, Scholarships and Student Employment will send you a
revised Financial Aid Award Package, which will detail the new award amounts. This
revision supersedes all previous award packages for this award year.
ISIR Correction Procedures
If it is deemed necessary that corrections to your Student Aid Report (SAR) are
necessary, you will receive written notification from the Office of Financial Aid.
Corrections may be made as follows:
- By making the corrections on Part II of the SAR and returning it directly to the
FAFSA processor at the address provided at the end of the SAR document.
- By visiting www.fafsa.ed.gov. (Note: Students cannot update their social security
number or their date of birth electronically. Students must have a PIN, assigned
by the Department of Education to make changes on this site).
- By seeking the advice of a financial aid representative at Howard University, the
correction will be transmitted electronically to the Department of Education
through the Electronic Data Exchange (EDE) system. It is our recommendation
that you speak with a financial aid representative at Howard University before you
make any corrections to your original SAR document.
Overpayments
If a financial aid overpayment is made as a result of a student’s error or failure to
report requested information, the student is responsible for repaying the amount of
the overpayment. The amount of the overpayment may be satisfied by reducing the
student’s federal award(s) in a subsequent enrollment period during the same award
year as the overpayment was created. If the overpayment amount cannot be satisfied
by deducting the amount from a future disbursement, the student is responsible for
making direct restitution. As required by federal regulations, the Office of Financial
Aid, Scholarships and Student Employment will report the overpayment to the
Department of Education via the National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) within
30 days from the date when the overpayment was created. Indication of an
outstanding overpayment will be recorded on future output documents generated by
the Department of Education, and may prevent the student from receiving certain
types of financial aid funding.
Budgeting and Loan Debt Management
At this point in your life, you may have had little or no personal experience with loans,
credit cards, living expenses, or budgeting. However, understanding and practicing
effective money management now will help you manage your money more efficiently
after you leave school. Budgeting is the process of planning the most effective use of
your financial resources by defining your expected monthly expenses (such as rent,
food, telephone bills and student loan payments) and the resources you expect to
have available (income) to pay these expenses. Your goal is to balance your income
and expenses. To get started, photocopy the worksheet on page 35 and fill in your
monthly and yearly cost estimates in each of the categories under “Budgeted.” Make
a photocopy for each month of the year. Then each month during the coming year
track your actual costs. By comparing your actual expenses with the amounts you
budgeted, you can create a realistic guide for managing your expenses.
If you borrow from the Direct Loan Program, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) is
your lender and will remain your lender until the loan is paid in full. ED provides
information at its website and in their publications to help you manage and repay your
loans. Copies are available on the direct loan website or by calling their toll free
number.
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