A growing trend within the student body of Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) seems to be having a negative outlook on the Financial Aid Office and its protocols.
Out of 25 students asked, 12 had negative things to say, seven of them did not go through financial aid to pay for their education and six students remained happy with their experiences. Out of the twelve students that had complaints about financial aid, 11 of them asked to remain anonymous.
The financial aid Web site on the newly introduced NEIUport states their mission: “To provide services and programs to all NEIU students in support of their education. Through the services provided, it is the department’s intent to assist students in identifying funding suitable for their educational objectives.”
A female sophomore, 21, who wished to remain anonymous, disagrees with that mission statement. She was a transfer student from Richard Daley College and said that once she arrived at NEIU to pursue her education, her financial aid problems started. She said that she checked in the office to see if “the money she was promised” had gone through on her account. She said that two weeks before classes started, the front desk person told her that her loan was denied and she would have to pay out of pocket.
“I had to borrow money from my family, something that I didn’t want to do,” she said. She was then told that she would receive a letter stating the reason for her loan denial, a letter, she said, that never came.
Mike Hendzel, a NEIU senior, said of his Fall 2008 semester, “I was dropped from all my classes because I didn’t confirm my registration with a payment. I didn’t think I had to since I applied for financial aid and was approved”. There was a miscommunication between the financial aid department and the cashiers in his situation.
“There is no reason financial aid can’t send a simple list of applicants to the cashier’s office. Because of them I had to pick all new classes, don’t they have email?” Hendzel asked.
J. Marshall Jennings, the Financial Aid Director at NEIU, said that most of the problems students face in regards to getting their money on time is because they are filing late. “I would say that would be the primary thing – not leaving long enough time for the process to take care of itself,” said Jennings.
Another female, 24, who is now pursuing her second BA at NEIU, said that in her experience with financial aid, time was not on her side. She said, “I went to see if my money was in yet, and they told me that there was a hold on my account, but I didn’t fail any classes.”
Confused about why a hold was placed on her account, she was told by the front desk representative in financial aid to talk to her advisor. Her advisor looked up her file and said that she didn’t see any hold on her account.
“I was ping-ponged around for about three weeks, just to find out that it was a computer error,” she said. That three-week game of “ping-ponging” put her past the deadline to confirm her classes, and she too was dropped.
“I had to wait until the next semester to try again,” she said, “and that wasn’t the only bad experience I had.” While telling her story of horror, she suddenly became quiet. She didn’t want to talk any longer.
“We have to keep it down,” she said while looking over her shoulder, “she works in the office.” A lady that was approaching was one that sits behind the front desk in the financial aid department. Once the lady had passed the student felt comfortable again to tell her story.
When asked why students seemed to be in fear of the financial aid department, not only because of the aforementioned situation, but also because so many students didn’t want to give their names. Mr. Jennings said, “I don’t know why, we’re here to help people. We even have a suggestion box, and it doesn’t require people to put down their names. We have that so w can get feedback about our services and can then take action accordingly.”
Jennings said that for students to avoid problems they should “file early, give us enough time and them enough time to figure out what they’re going to get, and to pursue alternative options.”
In response to getting the wrong information from certain people, he said that students should see a financial advisor.
“Normally the people that we have at the front counter, they can give general information, they know how the processes run in the office. They can provide students with forms and take in forms that students bring into the office and check the accuracy of those forms,” said Jennings.
A senior at NEIU, Dan Dziedzic, 26, who is hoping to graduate in May is staying optimistic about his financial aid. “I was approved for a Stafford loan at the end of last year. The office said my loan is supposed to go through on March 17, 2009,” he said.
If a problem occurs, Dan plans on putting the payment on his credit card. Let’s hope he doesn’t have to.