It’s been two weeks since midterm week here at GSU and everything seems to be going smoothly. But for many students, the duration of the fall 2006 semester has been a rough road.
This is because many of the students have not received their refunds as of the 10th week of school. Senior Gernard Hill said, “It makes no sense for me to go this long without my refund. I don’t understand what is the holdup.”
Due to the delay in the refund process, many students have had to drop classes because of no money for books. Many students rely on their refunds to survive on during their duration of college and without the funds available, it is hard for the typical Gramblinite to survive.
Although a majority of students on campus said they have received their money, there are still a significant number of students who have yet to receive anything.
Students who have not received their refunds say there must be some serious flaw within the refund process.
According to Valencia Bradley of the Office of Student Accounts, the money has to go through a seven- to 10-day process before students can receive any type of funds. Financial Aid has to send the money request to Sallie Mae, which then has to give the approval for the funds. This takes around three days.
After the approval, the Office of Student Accounts receives the go-ahead from Financial Aid and creates a refund report. The refund report is usually dozens and dozens of pages for every student attending GSU.
Normally three people complete the reports and then the information is sent to be placed on the refund card through the bank, which is also an extra two days. This entire process is normally completed within one week.
But no one seems to be able to explain the delay for those students still waiting.
“It seems like I go through the same thing every year,” said band member Broderick Eggins. “I never get my money on time, and I always register on time. I don’t know what else to do.”