This Fall many Palo Alto College students had problems with Financial Aid, which caused a delay in receiving their aid, which caused them to be dropped from their classes.

Some students at Palo Alto found themselves in line at the Financial Aid Office more than once at the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester. Issues with processing Financial Aid applications and the new Banner system seem to have been the cause.

Vidal Salas, a freshman Criminal Justice major at Palo Alto College, said he submitted his FAFSA in June. When he went to follow up on his application, he was told he had been chosen for verification. Salas explained that he had already been verified, but the Financial Aid Department did not have record of this.

After resubmitting the information for verification, Salas began to receive letters stating that his social security number on file was inaccurate.

When Salas went to the Financial Aid Department to clarify the issue, he was told to disregard the letters. The clerk explained that the new Banner system was being put into place and may have been what caused the letter to go out.

Salas was told that his Financial Aid check should be received by August 14. When he did not receive the check by this day, he went to the Bursar’s Office to see what was causing the delay. Salas was told to give the check until the following Tuesday to arrive.

By August 26, Salas decided to pay another visit to the Bursar’s Office to see why he still had not received his check. The clerk looked up his information and located his check in the office.

Salas was not able to purchase his books before classes began because of these issues.

"…in the end, all is well that ends well, but it was nerve-racking to have to go through all that," said Salas.

Other students faced similar issues as well. Timothy Aguilera, a freshman at Palo Alto College, said he was told that if his information was not received, his tuition would not be paid. Aguilera said he submitted his information to Financial Aid for the first time in early July.

Aguilera resubmitted the information requested by the Financial Aid Department, and was relieved that the issues were resolved.

This is not the first time Palo Alto students have had problems with Financial Aid.

In student satisfaction surveys conducted in April 2008 and in March 2010, students expressed their dissatisfaction with the Financial Aid Department.

In this survey, students were given the opportunity to rate the strengths and the weaknesses of the college. Twenty five percent of the weaknesses identified were from the Financial Aid Department. Students rated them low for helpfulness of financial aid counselors, adequate financial aid availability and timeliness of awards.

"Transition is never easy…" said Lamar Duarte, the Student Financial Services Director, she explained that Palo Alto switched from an SIS Plus system that had been in place for 20 years, to the new Banner System in May 2010.

Duarte said that 40 percent of students who apply for financial aid are chosen for verification. These students have to bring in additional information. Students who applied late were asked to bring in documents a second time in an effort to expedite the process.

Duarte explained that normally files are sent to the district office for processing. As a result of the large volume of files being received, files were taking six to eight weeks to be processed, so Palo Alto’s Department chose to start processing them in house.

When asked about the high dissatisfaction rate students had for with the Financial Aid Department in the last two student satisfaction survey, Duarte said that long lines are usually encountered by students who apply after the priority date of July 1.

During the peak time of the year, Duarte explained that there can be anywhere between 60 to 100 students in line at a time. Six people are staffed in the Palo Alto Financial Aid Department, and there are no plans to hire any additional support at this time.

The Financial Aid Department provided some tips to help minimize the inconveniences faced by students:

1) Apply Early- To ensure all issues are taken care of quickly and before the semester begins.

2) Keep Copies of Documents- This will allow you to quickly turn in any documents that need to be resubmitted.

3) Follow Up- Follow Up with the Financial Aid Department/check ACES three to four weeks after applying.