Where’s my Refund?”

“Instead of coming in angry, students can just simply check their banners,” says Towanda Jefferson, a supervisor in the Bursar’s office. Each year students complain about a number of things, but the delay on refund checks seem to always be number one on the list. In last year’s investigative report, staff and representatives said that students weren’t as educated as they needed to be regarding the process of processing refund checks. Financial Aid and the Bursar’s office work side by side yearly ensuring that students have a smooth semester, however they do differ.
Each year FAFSA opens up by October 1st. The key to getting loans and aid packages processed fast and on time is to stay ahead of everything. Many students fall short by not checking their SUS emails, missing important documents and dates, causing a delay in the processing process. Logging into banner and clicking the tab “eligibility” allows students to see if they need an appeal or any other requirements in order for their aid to be processed.
Christopher Levy, a Scholarship coordinator in financial aid says that it is important for students to know that processing takes time. “If you come into the office and your classes purge two days from now, we can’t guarantee that everything will be processed before the purge day.”
Refunds can only be processed after a credit is put in the account. There is no certain order or time for each package to be complete. Students can keep up with all information in dated order on their self-service banners. Refunds are processed on Thursdays.
Bankmobile plays a big part by being a placeholder for refund checks. It takes a total of 3-5 business days for a refund to completely process onto Bank Mobile, and a full 5 days if a student has set up direct deposit. Tawanda Jefferson says after they verify information the process is still ongoing beyond them. “Once we process our refunds on each Thursday we have to verify it as well. Once we do our verification part, it does not stop with us, it goes to the comptroller’s office. After they verify the paperwork and everything is even, then they send everything over to bank mobile. Bank mobile then receives it and starts their process, so they’re going to receive it within 5-10 business days. The Bank mobile card helps students get their money faster”.
Each month, Hanna Webb, a Comptroller associate, sends students their balance in the form of a billing statement that shows a balance located in the SUS or SUBR email.
Jayla Coleman, a sophomore majoring in Agriculture says getting things done ahead of time is the way to go. “Since my freshman year, I’ve been on it with FAFSA. I heard about how bad the processing was when I got here, so that motivated me to always be ahead.”
While frustration is understandable from a student perspective, it’s important to understand that no one department is over everything at Southern, and each department can only do as much as their role requires. By having a better understanding of tbe process, students will be able to more closely monitor the status of their refunds and financial aid as a whole.