Clearing Up One Parent's Concern

This actually happens more often than you might think it would. A parent wonders why their application has not been processed or if the school has made a decision yet on their financial aid award. When you check the status of their application if shows, "awaiting verification." This typically happens because we are still awaiting one of more requested documents.

DELAYS CAUSED BY MAILING DOCUMENTS

• Documents sent by mail often slow the processing down by several days. On occasion, mailed items do not have enough postage (which we have to cover), the item is too large to fit in our box and has to be retrieved during another trip to the post office, or might require our signature to obtain because it was sent as certified mail. Please note that the fastest and most SECURE way for parents to send documents to us is via email or fax.

OTHER POTENTIAL REASONS FOR DELAY

• It is also possible that missing documentation has not been sent to us at all, even though the parent thinks otherwise. They may have completely forgot about it, or perhaps did not read the instructions precisely and only sent us a portion of what was requested (such as sending federal taxes, but did not send state returns - for applicable states).
• Sometimes parents forget where they are in the application process, or may have misplaced email requests for documentation.
• We made a mistake. It doesn't happen often, but a couple times every year we are the problem!

If you have parents asking questions, you can possibly help them. Access your admin portal and then select "View Fact Reports > View Reports > (select proper year All Reports) > find the applicant name, then "View Requested Items" from the drop down options. A list will pop up indicating the requested items. If an item is unchecked, we have either not received it or have yet to add it to their file. Reminder: If an icon next to the family name is green, their application has been processed, and verified.

If you or the parent have concerns regarding the timeliness of the processing, never hesitate to contact us so we figure out what might be holding up the process.