College is a very frustrating time. You have test on top of test. You have roommates that you have to adjust to. You are growing up and maturing as a person. You know what shouldn’t be so frustrating? Financial Aid.
Georgia State knew the consolidation was going to happen for more than a year. The Board of Regents (BOR) set this plan into motion when it decided to increase the Georgia State student population to more than 50,000 on Jan. 6, 2015 with the addition of Georgia Perimeter College. At that same BOR meeting, all parties involved were forewarned that the consolidation would be finalized a year later.
Now as planned, Georgia State started its first semester post consolidation. However, the administration has quite frankly missed the mark when actually processing this influx of students’ financial aid for them to be able to pay for their classes.
Georgia State Vice President for Enrollment Management & Student Success Timothy Renick said the financial aid issue is the student’s fault, because some didn’t submit their paperwork in on time. But he also conceded that they “have had wait times for help on the phones and in person that were far too long.”
The same old tactics were used when addressing students’ financial aid issues. Georgia State held a “One Stop Shop” event to address students financial aid, student accounts and enrollment services issues during the first few weeks of school. But there seemed to be not enough staff members working or when they were “working” they could be seen doing on break behavior like eating.
The wait times for students were inaccurate and daunting as the number climbed as the amount of students increased. During that event, students could be seen standing in winding lines and sitting in crowded waiting areas for hours just to get their questions answered or problems fixed.
Any student would have rather called financial aid from the comfort of their own home. But if they weren’t calling at 8:30 a.m. when the office opens up, they would definitely have to wait for more than 20 minutes or might even get hung up on due to the high volume of callers.
For students who are paying thousands of dollars a semester towards their Georgia State education on tuition, student fees, housing and textbooks, this run around to get their financial aid processed is unacceptable.
Renick said that they are working to fix this issue by hiring 80 new employees for financial aid, admissions, registration and advising. To be honest, it’s a little too late. School has already started. Some students have already been dropped from their classes. And expected refund money has already been issued late. All of this due to financial aid being processed improperly.
The university needs to learn from its mistakes with this financial aid debacle and fix problems while they begin bubbling to the surface, instead of waiting until the last minute. This should be done in consideration of the hardworking students who attend, and because it is your job to, Georgia State.
