Students still may not be informed about the situation with federal aid reimbursement, while the college attempts to calculate needed aid and adjust to newer federal requirements regarding the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid).
In an Oct. 4 informational memo sent to Grossmont faculty, Dr. Joan Ahrens, the senior dean of College Planning and Institutional Effectiveness, and Algustin Albarran, the interim vice present of Academic Affairs, explained adjustments in response to new guidelines received during a Federal Financial Aid Program Review.
Because a student’s financial aid depends on when they enroll in a class – and if they withdraw from that class – the changes address the activity of students at the college. For example, if a student is not officially enrolled in a class prior to census deadline, which is the official day the college notes the semester’s enrollment, they will not receive financial aid for that class.
Similarly, if a student withdraws from a course, they need to “immediately” return any financial aid they received for that class; however, the college is “ultimately liable for any unreturned funds,” according to the memo.
To mitigate this issue, the memo asks faculty to “complete an submit their census rosters by the stated due date,” adding that “not doing so is detrimental to students” because “it negatively impacts their financial aid status.”
Faculty are also expected to keep their course attendance up to date throughout the semester and to drop students who no longer attend class. According to the memo, if a student fails a class or stops attending, the Financial Aid Office must recalculate that student’s financial aid and request money back. Because of this, faculty will now be asked to keep track of these students’ LDA, or “last date of academic activity.” The memo expects this process will begin automatically next term, when implementation of a new software system will enables automatic collection.
Until then, faculty members will collect the LDA manually for students who fail or stop attending at the time that fall grades are due. In this current semester, Grossmont faculty members have verified the LDA of thousands of students through excel spreadsheets, going as far back as 2022.
These changes have also affected Cuyamaca College. The oddity with reimbursement this semester may be caused by the Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College District’s attempts to adjust to these new federal requirements.
And while it’s looking like this will continue to affect students though the end of the Fall 2024 semester, communicating this to stundents seems to be another story.
Cashier Melissa Murphey, who has also been approached by confused students asking about their financial aid, said, “If they do I would send them to Financial Aid.”
Hopefully, some announcement or explanation is offered to students soon.