Disbursement Acknowledgement
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!
Alex,
Very well said! I agree that the process can be a bit time consuming but the benefit of having your students successfully repaying their loans is worth the extra time.
Cheryl Kesson
I use the disbursement time as a time to educate student again where they stand in their loan balance and the benefit of returning funding if it is not needed to lower their loan debt.
Nichelle,
This is a great practice. Disbursement time is perfect for reviewing loan balances and repayment information so there are no surprises at the end.
Cheryl Kesson
This is a great suggestion that we should all be using. FA offices that focus most of their effort on exit counseling miss the opportunity to prevent mistakes a student may make during enrollment, such as borrowing too much. First-time borrowers are naïve to how quickly debt can accumulate, and do not realize how much easier monthly payments will be if they make good choices while in school.
