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Traditional Undergrad News, July 28, 2014
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| IMPORTANT Alerts |
If you were registered before July 22nd, your bill can be viewed in mygfu and a paper copy is in the mail. If you complete needed aid requirements before the next bill is run, you can refresh your anticipated aid by opening your bill pdf again, and again, and again.
If you intend to sign up for a monthly payment plan, you will save $35 for fall and $70 for a full year plan if you sign up before August 1st. See information to the right for how to sign up.
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 Financial Aid. In your Student Center, scroll down to "report other financial aid" choose 2015 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 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. You need to 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 numbers and addresses are current in myGFU. You do not need to enter a billing address unless you need your bill to be sent to a unique address. Otherwise, bills are sent in the student's name to the "Mailing" address, if it exists, and home, if no Billing or Mailing address is present.
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Here are some Student Financial Services updates specifically for our Traditional Undergraduate Students!
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Traditional Undergraduate Payment Due Date and Holds
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Payment for fall semester is due August 18th. Beginning August 19th "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 19th, 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 a few 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 pending or to set up a payment plan, you will need to complete two documents, both which can be found on our Forms page. The first requirement is a Payment Estimator which includes printing it, student signature, and then fax, email or mail to Student Accounts, 414 N. Meridian #6129, Newberg 97132. Our office fax is 503-554-3880. The second requirement is a Payment Agreement. This is a new requirement and is intended to be completed once while at GFU. After getting these forms to us, please allow 72 hours for us to review and process your information. Once completed, we will either email you, (the student), for more information or we will process your payment plan request and you will see the amount due change in mygfu. Please hurry because returning these documents after mid-August will result in clearance delays. If you know that you have an outside scholarship that will be delayed due to enrollment or grade verification requirements, please download a third form, " External Scholarship Deferral Request Form" and get that to us along with the other two forms. We will need all three. Without this third form, the amount short will need to be paid by you, pending receipt of the scholarship.
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| 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 18th which is also the payment due date for most charges. Please take note:
3 reasons your financial aid disbursement could be delayed:
- ALL STUDENTS: Your enrollment confirmation "form" must be completed. It will become available in MyGFU on or near the 5th of August. When it's time, you will receive an email asking you to complete it. (See "University Forms" in myGFU student center).
- 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.
- You may have financial aid documents to complete. Please visit your "To Do" list in your 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. If you have a prior semester debt, your excess funds check will be delayed. (Regretfully, refund checks are not available to pick-up in person.)
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| Still No Financial Aid Award? |
If you have not heard from Financial Aid about your awards 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 at this time in the summer: Perhaps you can resolve these issues on your end.
1. Not registered fulltime (12+ credit) in both Fall and Spring semesters. Financial aid needs to know if this is intentional. Please email your Financial Aid Counselor and copy your Student Account Specialist. Be sure to tell them how many hours you will take.
2. No FAFSA filed yet or it's been rejected? If you delay filing any longer, you are not likely to have time to clear your account by August 18th. IF filed but it was rejected due to missing signatures or PIN number issues, hurry and resolve this!
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 them submitted ASAP.
After considering the above, if you remain unsure why you have not been awarded financial aid, please contact Financial Aid at 503-554-2302.
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| 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 as they imapct your aid and student account.
What is the "Block"? 12 minimum - 18 maximum credits, without wait listed courses included.
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 may still be restored but it is not guaranteed once the term begins. The bottom line is, by August 18th, you need to be registered for at least 12 credits and, unless you are withdrawing completely, you need to stay there until your aid disburses or September 9th (census day), whichever is latest. You can make changes that don't take you below 12 or by swapping classes, but you should not drop until the replacement credits are available to be added so you can remain always above 12.
What does it cost to be over-block? The cost per credit over 18 is $954. To avoid the additional cost you must be registered for 18 or fewer credits by the end of the add/drop period (September 5th).
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 5th. 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 if I'm wait-listed? 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. Our goal is to get you to 12 so your aid will be secured.
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| Health Insurance and Parking Charges |
If you have been charged for health insurance or parking and do not need them please be aware that indicating you do not need insurance or a parking permit on your Payment Estimator, does not waive these charges. You must waive them by fully completing the required forms in myGFU. Once you complete the forms, your charges will generally be updated within 24 hours.
If 24 hours has passed and you 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. 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 about insurance, email Molly Hickok at mhickok@georgefox.edu. For help with parking, email nkincaid@georgefox.edu.
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All of us in Student Accounts and Financial Aid wish you well. Let us know if we can assist you. We are here to help!
Sincerely,
Your George Fox University Student Financial Service Teams
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