confused about who exactly disburses Pell/grant aid?

Paying for College
1

My school was supposed to disburse my summer aid (since I’m half time) on May 17. Since the system still thought I was at 9 hours instead of 6, it didn’t disburse my aid, and they told me TODAY that my aid will disburse this week.

When I asked them when my Pell and other Grant aid (not getting loans) will be disbursed, they said “we don’t know.”

But they know when aid disburses according to half-time enrollment census dates, per their Summer Aid request form:

Session 1: May 14 - June 22, earliest date your aid will disburse is May 17
Session 2: May 29 - June 29, earliest date your aid will disburse is June 1
Session 3: July 2 - August 10, earliest date your aid will disburse is July 6
Session 4: July 9 - August 10, earliest date your aid will disburse is July 12
Session 5: May 14 - August 10, earliest date your aid will disburse is May 21

I’m in Session 1:
If you are enrolled in 6 undergraduate credit hours Session 1 beginning May 14, aid disbursement will begin May 17th.

So I was enrolled for 9 hours for Session 1, dropped to 6, which is still half-time, and the system JUST verified that I’m at 6 instead of 9…but they can’t tell me when my aid will disburse? Doesn’t the school disburse the aid?

How can they know when aid will disburse according to their established dates, but not when their own system, which they went into and made sure was correct for me today, will disburse my aid this week?

2

I don’t see the problem. The EARLIEST date it will disburse is 5/17. It doesn’t way what the latest date is. At both my daughters’ schools, disbursements are made on Wednesdays, so if the FA office released the overage on a Thursday or Friday, it wouldn’t be processed through the billing office until the next Wednesday. D1 got disbursements into a checking account by ACH, so the money was there either Wed or Thurs. D2 got her money by check, and the school sent the directions to a payment company and then it cut a check. It took weeks.

I can easily see how someone in the FA office would have no idea when you’d receive your refund as the billing office has to process the refund.

3

I only asked the aid office when my disbursement of aid toward my balance would happen…not when I’d receive my refund.

4

But the chart told you - sometime after the 17th. Believe it or not, employers don’t share everything with lower level employees. Often the workers don’t know any more than you can find out on the website.

5

I think they have to wait until after the add/drop date, to make sure the Pell and other aid is only awarded for the amount of credits the student is actually taking.

Do you have a job? If you are taking 6 credits you should have some time to work as well.