Kristyn James needed to pay her $450 July rent. The Syracuse University bursar’s office owed her $2,050 from her student loans.

“I need to pay my rent. I’m depending on this money,” she said.

Fortunately for her, her parents were able to help with the bills.

As classes begin for the fall semester and students start looking for their refund checks, be warned that the wait may be seven to 10 days. However, summer refund checks didn’t come quickly enough for some students.

Cynthia Cappuccilli, Bursar for Syracuse University, said the slow refund checks could be the result of a new computer program the bursar’s office started using in May.

James, a graduate student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, had a $750 refund due to her this summer from her Federal Stafford Loans and another $1,300 refund due from a private student loan. She went to the bursar’s office and filed a refund request on July 1 for both loans. She went back to the bursar’s office July 10 to check the status of her refunds and saw that the $750 refund request hadn’t moved since the day she put it in.

She also asked about her $1,300 refund and found out it wasn’t even in the system. James then personally went into the financial aid office to straighten out her private loan and return to the bursar’s office to fill out another refund request. She received her $750 refund in the mail on July 15. She didn’t get her $1,300 refund until the week of July 29.

Caroline Kooshoian, also a Newhouse graduate student, filled out a refund request July 2 for $1,500, yet received her refund check July 26, she said. She went to the bursar’s office on July 15 to check on her refund and an account representative told her they had no idea where her money was, she said.

Her loans had paid for her tuition, but there was no credit on her account and her refund request was missing. After filling out another request, the bursar’s office told Kooshoian that it would be another two weeks until she would receive her refund, she said.

“I’m broke,” Kooshoian said.

When a student submits a refund request, an account representative in the bursar’s office takes the refund and enters the information onto the new computer system. Once all the refunds for the day are entered onto the system, Cappuccilli and another supervisor must review all of the refunds for the day before the money can be released, Cappucilli said.

With the old computer system in the bursar’s office, account representatives could continuously work on refunds and enter them into the computer system. With the new system, account representatives have to finish data entry by noon to allow time for review by staff members.

While the new computer system requires less manual work than the previous one, Cappuccilli said they still need to make improvements to the process. She said they are continuing to monitor turnaround times.

Cappuccilli also said that peak times at the beginning of the semester can contribute to delays in refunds. The first priority in the bursar’s office is to answer the phones and meet with students who come in, Cappuccilli said.

Refunds can be done in 24 hours, but only under special circumstances that the bursar’s office determines, she said. The best way to get refunds quickly is to fill out a request form as soon as possible, she added. Students can also request a refund before loan funds are actually credited to an account if there will be a credit coming in.

Federal loans can be used for tuition, room and board, health and activity fees, books and supplies, and transportation and personal expenses, according to “Your Financial Aid Award Notice 2002-2003.” Loans are the primary source of financial aid for most graduate students, said James Ryan, Senior Associate Director for the Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Programs. Since off-campus housing is less expensive than on-campus housing, most graduate students live off campus and need the loan money to pay rent and other expenses, Ryan said.

Once the loan funds reach the school, they goes directly to the bursar’s office. If there is a credit on the account, students can request a refund online, by phone or in to the bursar’s office, Cappuccilli said. The bursar’s office sends an e-mail to the disbursements office and then a check is made for the student, at which point it is ready for pick-up at Schine Student Center, or can be mailed directly to the student. If the credit is a result of Title VI funds, which include Federal Stafford Loans, students don’t have to request a refund. After 21 days, a refund will automatically be generated.

If a student never requests a refund and there is a credit on their account that isn’t the result of Title VI funds, the money will be refunded to the student after the Spring semester in late May or early June.

When students don’t pick up refunds, the money eventually ends up in the university’s general operating account, said Barbara Wells, Treasurer. However, the operating account only covers the university’s day-to-day operating expenses, Wells said. The other money is swept into the university’s investment vehicles, she added. These investments earn interest.

However, Kooshoian had to deal with a different sort of interest. She received a bill in mid-July that showed the interest she was accumulating on her student loan.

“I’m paying interest on money I don’t even have,” Kooshoian said.

This semester Kooshian is only expecting a $100 refund.

“I’m not planning on living off my refund now.”

Published on August 29, 2002 at 12:00 pm