Some students have grown an acute fear the financial aid office. The hours of waiting beneath the buzzing office lights with angry sneers and comments from students waiting for their one question to be answered can take its toll on you. Since the big move, the financial aid office, cramped with its small hallway and excessive foot-traffic, has been stressful not only for students but office personnel. Through all the much arises an easier way to work the labyrinth we call Financial Aid.

Instead of waiting in line, they’re different resources people are unaware of when it comes to financial aid. First, hanging near the office entrance, is a large sign explaining Frequently Asked Questions the financial aid experts face on a regular basis. The most frequently asked question, according to Financial Aid Specialist Jyll Beller, is, “When is my money coming in?” The answer varies from student to student but it helps to know the process of the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) takes. “It’s taking us three weeks to award a student from the time they turn their status letter in. If questions are left blank then the pending review date never comes up for the file,” Beller says.

The people at Financial Aid must review every application that comes in and estimate what they see fit to award. Because of the amount of applications financial aid sees yearly, the time it takes to review each file grows longer and longer.

For the best results, students must get the FAFSA form filled out entirely and get it in as soon as they can. The academic year begins in January and the sooner a student can get your information in, the sooner they’ll know how much money they’re going to get and when they’re going to get it.

As always, when reviewing a FAFSA application, the people at financial aid are careful to weed out the lies. Beller says, “[For example], if your tax returns are turned in and you’re making $3,000 and claims to be married and supporting somebody else. We’re going to question that.” The guidelines does not set up by the government and they say if a student is under the age of 24, not married, no children, they don’t support another person, they’re not a veteran of war and/or a ward of the state they will be dependent on your parents salary until so.

The student’s estimated family contribution, EFC, is greatly dependent on how much money the student made the previous year. If they are a full time student and their EFC is between zero and $3850, your Pell Grant, a government grant that doesn’t have to be paid back, will increase. For some students, their previous year’s salary will decrease because of their school schedule. In this case, they can make an appeal to Financial Aid, claiming they are not working the hours like before. Pending consideration, they can give more aid.

For example, a student’s financial aid this year is based on their 2004 taxes. If there is a change of more than 20 percent in their income, or, if they’re a dependent, the student and their parents’ combined income, there can be an appeal and may receive more financial aid. If this is the case, the student must re-fill out a new FAFSA form with their newest tax forms and have it in my March 1.

The criteria explains to claim independent includes if parents are unable due to “incapacitation, institutionalization, or disappearance, to participate in the application process” or the student is unable “based on fear of physical and violent confrontation or because of past abuse issues, to obtain parental information.” For special cases like this the student must submit a letter to financial aid explaining why they can’t get their parent’s information and two letters of recommendation to verify their statements.

Once the FAFSA form and documents are sent in, they will receive a postcard from MHCC explaining the process to get their financial aid set up at the school. The Status Letter is due next, which provides MHCC more information about the student’s salary and their parent’s salary. The awards letter will come in the mail a few weeks later outlining what their estimated cost of books, tuition, and living expenses will be and offering what financial aid they are eligible for. The next step will be to visit the MHCC website and choose what financial aid they want to accept. After processing the information and filling out an attendance verification form, a form signed by the student’s have teacher within the first two weeks of school to confirm they’re are attending classes, the financial aid check will become available soon.

Students who drop 0-7 credit hours, have a GPA is below 2.0 and are taking 8-11 credit hours or have a GPA less than 1.5 will have their aid denied and be put on probation. According to MHCC guidelines, a satisfactory student is a full time student (12 credit hours or more) who has 2.0 or higher GPA.

If government financial aid is not right for a student, there are several scholarships available in different departments. Students do not have to have a declared major to have scholarships to meet the requirements for some scholarships. Whether it’s a student in childcare, industrial technology or transitions, search http://mhcc.edu/scholarships, and find different scholarships for all walks of life.

“There are alternative loans out there but I strongly recommend that students don’t borrow those, only for the fact that the interest rates are quite a bit higher, payment options are worse, you don’t have your grace period,” Beller said.

Affording college is not completely hopeless. Following the correct procedure, filling out the forms entirely and truthfully, and getting the documents in early will help speed along the process. For more information students can face the line or visit http://mhcc.edu for links to MHCC specific financial aid questions, FAFSA, student loans, and several other helpful websites.

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Financial aid can be a confusing thing to many college students. And with the numerous amounts of deadlines and extra information required of them, they tend to warrant these feelings of doubt and frustration.

But Joe Fischer, associate vice president of student life, said it’s really not all that complicated. “The three biggest complaints that students have are usually about food service, parking and financial aid. It’s really all about convenience. But with the new resources we have added to the system, students can become more involved in the process,” he said. “We have created these processes to help identify with and empower them more.”

These processes are mainly the addition of more links to the financial aid website to help students better understand the act of applying for and receiving financial aid (including links to award letters and information on how to file.) Financial aid has also been developing an idea about mailing checks following the initial check pick-up during fall term (unless a student decides to pick up their check for both winter and spring terms.)

Another new development is the allotment for buying books on credit in the bookstore for summer term before aid checks are actually made available to students (the financial aid year begins annually on July 1 and checks aren’t distributed until then, weeks after the beginning of summer term, so the financial aid office has collaborated with the bookstore on a student credit system for the purchase of summer textbooks until students receive their checks sometime in July.)

The masterminds behind financial aid are also looking to take out the wait in lines by making everything available online. Instead of faxing or handing in forms, students can e-mail them to the office. For Rod Boettcher, director of financial aid, this will make things run smoother, citing problems like student’s personal information being overheard and the lines that form quickly in the small student services area.

This year also marks the first year that a full staff is working in the department. In years past, many staff members have been either out sick or on maternity leave, further depleting the financial aid staff. With a full staff and Boettcher, the department has become more efficient and time-oriented, said Fischer. They are looking forward to using student e-mail accounts as another way to improve their service and create another outlet for scholarship advertisements.

“There is always more work to do than people to do it because the amount of actual financial aid applications we receive has increased over 100 percent in the last few years,” said Fischer. “But the slow time period between files being filed and then being actually completed has almost been resolved. Four years ago, it used to take us about eight to 10 weeks to get this done, but now it can take only 10 days.”

Fischer thinks that some of the reasons why students wait so long to get financial aid are partially because of misunderstanding deadlines. “Once students begin to realize why the system works the way it does, they begin to adapt to it more,” he said.

Each year, the college is allotted a certain amount of financial aid money to be distributed among students, and once it’s gone, it’s gone, so the earlier an application is sent in, the earlier a student can be placed in line for an award. Though there are dozens of small, local scholarships available to several students, the financial aid office has noted that the Stafford Loan and Pell Grant is where most of the money is. However, the college budget also allows money for talent grants (a three, six or 12-credit tuition waiver), which a student may receive at any point in the year if eligible, Talent grants are usually awarded to students who are athletes or hold leadership positions throughout the campus, etc.

Three years ago, there was a reduction in the budget and many of the talent grants on campus were eliminated, but this year, more money was allotted ($30 to 40,000 dollars more) and many of the grants were restored, including some for the growing college radio station, KDOX (X58) and Rho Theta. Fischer thinks the restoration of the KDOX grants is very important to the program.

“KDOX has grown dramatically in the last few years and the talent grants have not grown with them. Now they can get some more money to reflect their growth.”

Plans for the future of financial aid and the education of the actual process include an addition of more financial aid information and links to actual scholarships on the MHCC website and at least a couple quick reminders about financial aid to counselors in the local high schools.

Fischer is assured that financial aid will only continue to get better and more efficient.

“The realist in me knows that there will always be complaints, but the complaints have slowed down quite a bit in the last few years. The light will go on for students when we fully explain the process and they finally learn it.”