Traditional Undergrad News, August 13, 2013
Student Financial Services Newsletter
Table of Contents
Payment for Fall Semester and Holds
Financial Aid for Fall
Article Headline
Wait-listed Classes and Your Student Account
Health Insurance Charges
Join Our Mailing List
Brief Alerts

OFFICE MOVE - Your Financial Aid Counselor has moved to the second floor of the Stevens Center. When you visit us, you will need to go upstairs and turn right to find the Financial Aid Office.  

 

The Student Accounts Office continues to be located on the first floor of the Stevens Center. That is where you will find your Student Account Specialist and for students who have VA Benefits, your Veterans Coordinator.

 

Did you receive an outside scholarship that is not showing up in your aid package?  Please go online to myGFU and report the award to us.  In Student Center, scroll down to "report other financial aid"  choose 2014 and enter the donor and dollar amount.  Your FA Counselor will pick this up and add it to your aid package. 

  

Save time and expedite payment processing for SFS by paying online! Visit our  Payment Information web page to find out how to maximize your online payment options including creating guest permissions for those who help pay your bill.  

 

Please remember that your GFU Email is your official email for all university communication, notifications, and updates. Please be sure you check your mailbox frequently and if your mail is forwarded, make sure those rules are not disrupted or reset without your knowledge!

 

Please make sure your phone number, mailing, billing and home addresses are current in myGFU

Greetings!

 Here are some Student Financial Services updates specifically for our Traditional Undergraduate Students!

 

Traditional Undergraduate Payment Due Date and Holds

Payment for fall semester is due August 26th. Beginning August 27th "holds" will be automatically placed to indicate that a balance is owed and action is required for you to be cleared by Student Accounts for attendance this fall.

 

We strongly urge you to make payment early so that your transition this fall is without any clearance delays. 

Beginning August 27th, to view holds in myGFU, navigate to your Student Center and look in the upper right hand corner, just above your "To Do" list. If you have a hold, you can make payment online via myGFU and your hold should be lifted within two hours. If it's not lifted, it's possible you may also have financial aid requirements that are incomplete or were recently completed. To be cleared with financial aid still pending or to set up a payment plan, you will need to complete a Payment Estimator which includes printing it, the student must sign it and then you can fax it to our office fax, 503-554-3880. Next, allow time for your request to be processed and for your hold to be lifted. It currently takes about 72 hours to review your Payment Estimator but it will take longer as the semester draws near so please do not delay! 

Financial Aid Clearance Requirements  for Fall
Did you know that timely payment for fall semester includes financial aid disbursement to the student account? Our first disbursement is scheduled for August 26th. Please take note of the following: 

3 reasons your financial aid disbursement could be delayed:

  1. ALL STUDENTS: Your enrollment confirmation "form" must be completed. It became available in MyGFU last week and by now you should have received an email asking you to complete it. (See "University Forms" in myGFU student center).
  2. You must be fully registered. Wait-listed courses do not count toward aid eligibility. Traditional undergraduate students receiving George Fox financial aid must be registered for 12 credits. 
  3. You may have financial aid documents and, or enrollment confirmation to complete. Please visit "To Do" list in myGFU student center and revisit frequently until aid has disbursed.

Once aid has disbursed, if it overpays the account, excess funds checks are mailed about a week after the credit balance is created. (We are very sorry but refund checks are not available to pick-up in person.) 

 

Still No Financial Aid Award?

If you have not heard from our office about financial aid for Fall, there is something wrong or missing and action is needed!  Take a look at the most common reasons why there would be no aid award this late in the summer:

 

1. Not registered fulltime (12+ credit) in both Fall and Spring semesters. We need to know if this is intentional.

 

2. No FAFSA filed yet.

 

3. FAFSA filed but verification is not complete - In myGFU, look at your "To Do" list to see what documents may need to be sent to Financial Aid and get it to us ASAP.

 

4. FAFSA is rejected due to missing signatures or FAFSA PIN number. 

 

After considering the above, if you remain unsure why you have not been awarded financial aid, please contact Financial Aid at 503-554-2302.

 

Under "Block" / Over "Block" and Student Finances

Have you ever wondered how wait-listed classes impact your student account and financial aid? How about the reverse? Do financial holds stop you from being added to a class when your name reaches the top of the list? What about being over block? 

Here are answers to some of the Frequently Asked Questions about hours enrolled and Student Financials:

What is the "Block"?  12 - 18 credits.

What if I am under block? Students who are registered for fewer than 12 credits are ineligible for GFU Institutional aid and Federal Aid is reduced as well. When classes are added to bring you into block, eligibility for aid is restored but you may be significantly delayed in being ready for your aid to disburse on time.

What does it cost to be over-block? The cost per credit over 18 is $930. To avoid the additional cost you must be registered for fewer than 18 credits by the end of the add/drop period. (September 13th.)

What if I get added to a wait listed class and it puts me over the "block"? Regardless of how you end up over "block", you are obligated financially unless you reduce your load by September 13th. For that reason we urge you to watch your GFU email for notifications about course enrollment changes and also watch your total hours enrolled in myGFU so you will know when you need to make a change. 

Will a financial hold block me from being added to a class I'm wait-listed for? Yes, a financial hold can block you depending on the type of hold it is. If your hold says, "1 to 30 days past due" you will not be blocked from being added from a wait-list.
  
Health Insurance Charges

If you have been charged for Health Insurance and believe this is in error, please be aware of the following:

Saying you do not need insurance on your Payment Estimator, does not waive coverage. You must waive coverage by completing the required Health Insurance form in myGFU. Once you complete this form, your charges will be updated within 24 hours.

If you completed the waiver and 24 hours has passed and you are are still being charged...it is possible you did not complete the form fully. If you left any of the fields blank, your form will not be processed properly. A common mistake is to not furnish the address for your insurance policy. To correct a previously submitted form you must go again to the university forms area but this time you need to select the completed form at the bottom.  (It doesn't look like a hyper link but it is one!) Then simply re-open the form you submitted previously and add the needed information. 24 hours later your charges should be updated.

For additional help or information, email Molly Hickok at [email protected].

 


All of us in Student Financial Services wish you well. Let us know if we can assist you. We are here to help!

Sincerely,

Your George Fox University Student Financial Services Office