Aid questions answered for displaced students

Now that displaced college students have found institutions to continue their education, financial aid and disbursement issues have become an issue for them.
“We were allowing students from affected schools to initially enroll with deferred fees,” said Flandis McClinton, Southern University vice chancellor for finance and administration.
In order for displaced students to acquire financial aid, they must have qualified for it at the institution that they previously attended.
Once the student is enrolled, all financial aid information is sent to their respective financial aid office they have chosen.
All visiting students will be regarded as regular Southern University students, McClinton said. All financial aid awarded to the students at their home institution will be honored to SU.
The amount of aid awarded to a visiting student of SU is determined by the students’ home institution’s cost of attendance. If a student is awarded more aid than needed to cover Southern’s tuition and miscellaneous fees, they will be awarded a refund check in the amount of the overpayment.
“It easier knowing that my cost of school is taken care of,” said Alexis Davis, a sophomore from Xavier University.
Aid in the form of TOPS, Pell grants and loans will be transferred directly to Southern, for displaced students.
Aid received from Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants, work-study, and Leveraging Educational Assistance Partnership Program cannot be transferred to Southern.
Since each individual school raises funds to cover their private scholarships, those scholarships cannot be honored. Such aid includes academic or athletic scholarships.
Scholarships offered from private organizations will not be honored at SU since those funds were made payable to the students’ home institutions.
“We have no way of subsidizing what is giving from other universities,” said Phillip Rogers Sr., director of The Office of Student Financial Aid.
In light of the recent hurricane, Congress has passed two bills to aid displaced students.
Recently, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the Pell Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act (HR 3169) to students with aid who are eligible for Pell Grants that were affected by a natural disaster. The House also passed the Student Grant Hurricane and Disaster Relief Act (HR 3668) to provide students who are eligible for federal student grant assistance. Both bills were passed on Sept. 15.
“Bills are a win-win situation for the students,” Rogers said. “It gives them a chance to start fresh.”
All federal awarded aid will be honored at Southern. When a student decides to return back to their home institution, all financial aid will be transferred back to that school.