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Distribution of Financial Aid Residuals
Revised: 03/07
FSS/PPS No. 03.03.01
Issue No. 2
Reviewer: Director, Student Business Services
Effective Date: 04/10/01 (E5Y)
Review Date: 06/11
01. PURPOSE
| 01.01 | To establish responsibility and policy regarding distribution of financial aid residuals to recipients. This policy does not apply to amounts credited to a student's account in SARS. |
02. POLICY
| 02.01 | Background - Financial Aid residuals arise as the result of awarded aid exceeding the amount(s) owed on a student's account. |
| 02.02 | Applicability - This policy applies to all Texas State students receiving financial assistance through the Texas State Office of Student Financial Assistance. |
| 02.03 | Responsibility - The Office of Student Financial Assistance (OSFA) determines eligibility for receipt of financial aid residuals and notifies students when these amounts are available. The Cashier's Office distributes financial aid residuals to eligible recipients. |
| 02.04 | Payment Methodology - Payments are made in the form of (a) electronic funds transfer (EFT) or (b) checks issued by Texas State. |
| 02.05 | Distribution via EFT - Students are required to receive financial aid residual payments via electronic means (per May 2006 Regents Rules). Students must provide their required information for electronic funds transfer (EFT) by completing an on-line EFT Authorization Form via CATSWeb. Funds will be deposited to any financial institution in the United States participating in the national ACH system. EFT authorizations remain in effect until changed or cancelled. Students are responsible for assuring the accuracy of the data entered onto the EFT Authorization Form. Financial aid residuals will be deposited via EFT to the designated financial institution based on processing and other deadlines, as established by the university. Students must be certain to keep their financial account open until EFT payments are received. The University is not responsible for delays in payments caused by students' errors or closing of accounts. |
| 02.06 | Payment by Check - Students may request that financial aid residual payments be made via check, rather than electronically (per May 2006 Regents Rules). However, such a request must be made in writing to the Office of Student Financial Assistance. The student is responsible for assuring that their request for payment via check is received by the University in a timely manner. Failure to do so may result in delayed payment. |
| 02.07 | Distribution of Residual Checks - Checks prepared by the General Accounting Office will be mailed to the local address on file with the Registrar. Exceptions to this policy include checks for athletic housing scholarships and checks for students having financial aid overawards or unpaid short-term loans. Checks returned undelivered from the local address will be mailed to the permanent address on file with the Registrar. Checks returned undelivered from both addresses will be filed in the the Cashier's Office and released to the student upon the presentation of a valid check release form obtained from the OSFA. Checks will not be mailed to any address other than the local or permanent address unless the student is enrolled in study abroad. For study abroad students, the Cashier's Office will work with OSFA to determine the correct mailing address. |
| 02.08 | Cancellation and Collection of Erroneous Residual Payments - The university reserves the right to cancel checks or EFT transactions for financial aid residuals found to be in error. Recipients of erroneous amounts are liable for repayment immediately. Failure to make repayment will result in the university placing holds on students' records, reporting unpaid balances to collection agencies (which will result in additional costs for the student), reporting to credit bureaus, and may result in criminal prosecution. The university is not responsible for financial institution fees incurred by the recipient due to the cancellation of erroneous financial aid residual payments. |
| 02.09 | Third Party Checks - Checks from third parties payable to the student will be held at the Cashier's Office for release to students upon presentation by the student of a valid check release form obtained from the OSFA. |
03. PROCEDURES
| 03.01 | Authorization of Residual Payments- OSFA will authorize the release of financial aid through the automated processes available. OSFA will initial and note the earliest release date for the disbursements on the Check Disbursement Worklist and deliver the list to General Accounting for processing. Prior to authorization, OSFA will electronically flag any disbursements that should be checks and not mailed. |
| 03.02 | Crediting of Financial Aid to outstanding debts - The General Accounting Office will review the printed copy of the disbursement authorization for accuracy of interface transactions between FAMS/SARS/SAP. After review, the Accounting Office will schedule financial aid credits to run overnight. Outstanding installment balances and ETLPs will be credited to the extent financial aid has been authorized. |
| 03.03 | Preparation of Disbursements - The following day, General Accounting will review the Financial Aid Credit Worklist after credits are applied, note the release date on the printout and deliver the printout to Accounts Payable for processing. Accounts Payable will schedule the program to verify enrollment and the program that creates the EFT/check, check register, notification letters (to be mailed to students by OSFA), and check releases. This program also creates an entry on the F/A Disbursement Check inquiry screen. |
| 03.04 | Distribution of Disbursements - The OSFA will email the notification letters as soon as they are available. Accounts Payable will deliver the checks to the Cashier's Office along with a copy of the check register with the release date noted. EFT will be sent by Accounts Payable. The Cashier's Office will mail the checks to the local address printed on the check no earlier than 10 days prior to the first day of classes and no later than the release date. The Cashier's Office will schedule the update program for the batch to create an entry in the activity screen of the on-line F/A Disbursement Check Inquiry screen on the same day the checks are mailed. Checks will be mailed in an envelope with appropriate security features and the return address will be the post office box maintained by the Accounting Office. Checks that are not to be mailed will be filed in the Cashier's Office and released to students upon presentation of a valid check release form obtained from OSFA. |
| 03.05 | Undeliverable Mail - Any returned mail will go to the Cashier's Office box at the San Marcos Post Office. The Cashier's Office will pick up mail daily. Checks returned from the local address will be mailed to the permanent address within 24 hours of receipt by the Cashier's Office. Checks returned from the permanent address will be filed in the Cashier's Office and OSFA will be notified the same day. The check will be released to the student upon presentation of a valid check release form obtained from OSFA. Any action taken on a check will be logged in the F/A Disbursement Check Inquiry screen. |
| 03.06 | Rejected EFTs -The Cashiers Office will notify Accounts Payable of any EFT rejected and a check will be processed. Cashiers will notify OSFA and the student of the rejected EFT and the availability of the check. |
| 03.07 | Duplicate Checks - Duplicate Checks may be requested if at least seven business days have elapsed from the date the check was mailed. The Cashier's Office will complete a duplicate check request form and forward it to General Accounting for processing. General Accounting will verify the check has not cleared the bank and process a stop payment before issuing a duplicate check. The duplicate check will be forwarded to Cashiers. Cashiers will file the check and notify OSFA the check is available. The check will be released to the student upon presentation of a valid check release form obtained from OSFA. |
| 03.08 | EFT Payments - Residuals processed via EFT will follow the same procedures as described above except that payment will be made via EFT. |
04. ACCESS TO INFORMATION
| 04.01 | Student disbursements information will be available through an on-line program, F/A Disbursement Check Inquiry. Both the Cashier's Office and OSFA will have access to the screen and can provide information to students regarding the disbursement of funds. |
05. MAJOR RESPONSIBILITIES ASSOCIATED WITH THIS PPS
| Major responsibilities for routine assignments associated with this PPS include the following:
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06. CERTIFICATION OF STATEMENT
This FSS/PPS has been approved by the following individuals in their official capacities, and represents FSS policy and procedure from the date of this document until superseded.
Director of Student Business Services, Reviewer
Director of Accounting, Reviewer
Associate Vice President for Financial Services
Vice President for Finance and Support Services
| Approved: | ____________________________ Reviewer |
| Approved: | ____________________________ Reviewer |
| Approved: | ____________________________ Reviewer |
| Approved: | ____________________________ Vice President for Finance and Support Services |