Subscribe in a reader06.04.09 | Why is YOUR Aid Controlled By the School?
More often than not I am asked questions about how much control a school’s financial aid office has over Federal aid 
awarded to the student. Many students argue that it is their aid and the school should not have a right to withhold it from them at any point in time. Unfortunately it is not as cut and dry as it sounds. Recently I received an email about a student who insisted on handling her own financial aid; this email was sent from an employee at a college who was concerned about how to deal with this student and her requests. Her argument was as follows:
She says the financial aid should not be going to the school, that it should be going directly to her since it is HER aid and not the school’s. She says she worked in the business office of a school for a short time, and she has also spoken to a financial aid person in California who told her that she should have control of her financial aid and that it should not go to the school first with her getting whatever is left over. She wants the aid to all go to her and she would then pay the school what she owes for tuition and fees.
While the student is correct that the aid is hers and not the school’s, she is probably not aware that while it may be Federal aid, it is still very heavily mandated by each school that participates in the Federal loan program. A school cannot just participate in the program, have no controls over the aid being disbursed, and expect that they will maintain their eligibly to participate in the program. If a certain amount of students from a college default on their loan, the college can (and will) lose their eligibility to certify Stafford loans for all students. My point is this: while yes, it is your aid, you are not entitled to it unless you follow the school’s rules. You must maintain a certain GPA, and you must be at least a part time students. School’s have all these measures in place to make sure that the people who get the aid, not only deserve it, but do not abuse it because there are consequences. A Stafford loan cannot become a loan until the school certifies it as such; plain and simple. A pell grant is money you don’t have to pay back, so if you get a grant for Fall semester and you flunk out or you get below a 2.0 GPA you will have to pay that grant back and pay the school back the money for the tuition the grant covered. The biggest mistake a student can make is believing that once you get the aid, it’s yours to keep. You have to be deserving of the aid, and if you are not…then there is without a doubt someone standing behind you who is.
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