Many UH students are speaking out about how their student loans are not being disbursed in the time frame that was initially promised by the University because of file conversion problems to PeopleSoft 8.9.
"I filled out all my paperwork and did all my footwork – going to financial aid, waiting in long lines and everything else," creative writing junior Alia Mohamed said. "UH should just give me my … money so I can eat."
Students were told through their PeopleSoft account that all financial aid awards would be released and financial aid refunds would be deposited into CougarOne accounts Tuesday. But by Wednesday, nothing had changed.
"We had to clean up some files, and there were several different issues that came up. We’ve seen a lot of different issues – some students have received their money, but some have not," Interim Director of Scholarships and Financial Aid Sal Loria said.
Loria said he was aware of the issues and is sympathetic to students.
"It’s just a new process. People are trying to get used to a new system," he said.
Although Loria said that kinks needed to be ironed out in PeopleSoft 8.9, he did stress student responsibility and accountability.
"Having a way to communicate with students is mandatory, whether it be e-mail, cell phone or home address. We need to be able to get in touch with students to let them know what is going on," he said. "Students really do need to take some responsibility for themselves and make sure everything they needed was done. We had students who hadn’t guaranteed their loans, which is mandatory in receiving the funds."
Guaranteeing the loan through the "Loans by Web" Web site was a necessary step in processing the paperwork for the student loans, and if students did not do that, the discrepancy is on their part, Loria said.
Regardless, students, such as communication senior Erica Johnson, are frustrated.
"UH just needs to get their stuff together," she said.
Students who have financial aid that either matched or exceeded the tuition and fee amount will not be dropped from classes, Loria said.
Unfortunately, the deadline has passed for students who still have an unpaid balance, and they will be dropped if their financial aid doesn’t cover the remaining amount, he said.
The number of students who were still waiting on processing was unknown on Wednesday, but $16 million in loans still needed to be disbursed, Loria said.
If funds have not been received by this morning, students will need to go to the financial aid office and make sure that they have already guaranteed their loans.
Another complaint from students is miscommunication.
Art education senior Danielle Smith said she was dropped from her classes and went to the Welcome Center, where representatives told her to go to different locations whenever asked.
"This is outrageous," she said. "I can’t get into any classes. There’s money there, but they don’t have it processed, so I’m not in any classes. I’ve been dropped from all of them, and I took care of what I was supposed to take care of."
Loria said he is aware of the problems and hopes to remedy them immediately.
"We’re going to definitely improve things for next fall forums will be held, and focus groups from all over the college will be used to aid us in making the scholarship and financial aid process more efficient," he said.
Additional reporting by
Sheree Granger
