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Traditional Undergrad News, July 19, 2016
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| IMPORTANT Alerts |
If you were registered on or before July 17th, 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 reflected on the bill by opening your bill PDF as often as aid changes come available. Unfortunately, charges on the bill do not refresh in the same way.
If you intend to sign up for a monthly payment plan, you will save $50 for Fall and $100 for a full year plan if you make your payment plan request (via a completed and submitted Payment Estimator) by July 31st.
If you have an "outside" or "external" 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 2017, 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 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. 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.
Access Frequently Asked Questions Here!
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Here are some Student Financial Services updates specifically for our Traditional Undergraduate Students! At this time of year, the need for information increases so please read thoroughly.
We also strongly recommend that, in addition to the "To Do" items in myGFU, you access the Student Account checklist. Our office gets very busy at this time of year and this tool will help you with information and timelines.
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Traditional Undergraduate Payment Due Date and Holds
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Payment for Fall semester is due August 22nd. Beginning August 23rd "holds" will be automatically placed to indicate that a balance is owed and action is required for you to be financially cleared 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 23rd, 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 emailing an electronic copy to us so we will know your intentions and can make clearance decisions. The second requirement is a Payment Agreement. This requirement includes having a "guarantor" involved and is intended to be completed once while at GFU. The agreement must be completed, signed and returned to us. You may fax, email or mail to Student Accounts, 414 N. Meridian #6129, Newberg 97132. Our office fax is 503-554-3880. If you do not have a guarantor, please contact our office about your situation.
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 payment plan requests made and you will see the amount due change in myGFU. Please hurry because returning these documents in August will likely 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 Clearance Requirements for Fall | |
Did you know that students are "financially cleared" to attend each semester? It's not as scary as it sounds. It just means timely payment, which includes financial aid disbursement to the student account by August 22nd. If you make payment but your aid does not disburse, there will be a balance due that we will be trying to sort out in order to clear the account.
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 8th 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 and we do not have an automatic deposit option.)
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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 full-time (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 22nd. If filed, but it was rejected, 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," Wait-listed Classes 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 impact 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 22nd, you need to be registered for at least 12 credits and, unless you are withdrawing completely, you need to stay there until either your aid disburses or September 13th (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 always remain above 12. If you are intentionally under or over "block" and will remain so, please email studentaccounts@georgefox.edu to let us know how many hours you will be taking.
What does it cost to be over-block? The cost per credit over 18 is $1010. 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 the end of the drop period, September 11th. 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.
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| Health Insurance Waivers |
If you have been charged for health insurance and already have coverage, please be aware that indicating you do not need insurance on your Payment Estimator does not waive the charge. You must waive insurance by fully completing the required form in myGFU. Once you complete the form, 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. |
| Financial Aid Permission Form | |
The Title IV Financial Aid Permission Form is new this year and it is important that you understand what it is.
In brief, Federal Aid rules changed so that Student Accounts can no longer allow your federal aid to pay for course fees. We have always been restricted from applying these payments to non-allowable costs, but now the definition has changed to include course fees. Visit our FAQ at this link for more information.
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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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