Whenever I mention the University of Montana, I’m probably in rant mode. But this time, I’d like to take a moment to give them some mad props. What’s the opposite of a rant? That’s what this is.
First, a little history. I’m starting my twelfth semester here at UM, and for ten of those semesters, I’ve had trouble with the financial aid office. Now, sometimes the trouble has turned out to be my fault: late FAFSA, reaching my credit cap, and s on. But most other times, something’s gone wrong on the University’s end. I don’t know how it works, but each explanation in those instances has sound unnecessary to me.
But this year, they got it right. By the spring ’06 semester, I had learned to be a hardass about getting my financial aid done — including visiting the line and asking if everything was going okay. No exception this year. My RTA room award, Pell grant, and SMART grant left me with a refund coming. I even finalized in December, way ahead of time. But when I checked my account around the new year, CyberBear told me (surprise, surprise) that I owed the full amount.
I guess it turns out that once you finalize your bill, all the financial aid on it disappears until the money really comes in. This is strange behavior and bad design, but I’m really trying to be appreciative here so I’ll avoid pressing the issue further. So I hit up financial aid, and they explained it. I got a little worried because I was told that the aid would come in after the deadline for payment, but they reassured me that I had finalized so my classes were locked in. This is my last semester (and I’m taking some low-level requirements like Technical Writing), so I need all the classes I’ve registered for. The day rolled around, and my registration stuck.
Then I worried about the aforementioned refund. I’m not complaining about my financial state by any means, but I’ve definately been scraping by since New Year’s Day. Once the financial aid appeared (just yesterday), I clicked the ‘request a refund’ link, only to be rudely told that I can’t request one. So I called the cashier and they told me that it would be handled automatically. Suffering from the ‘fool me once, shame on you…’ mindset, I worried. But today I checked my account and it was at a $0 balance, with the refund check listed as a ‘charge.’ It might even get here on time on Friday, so I can have some popcorn while watching Cloverfield. All in all, a good alternative to the usual drama I must deal with to continue for another semester here.
So I did a lot of poking and prodding, but it was all needless. Everything went off without a hitch this semester, and I’m glad, because now I’m leaving the school on a high note. This definitely makes me feel better about maybe taking Grad School here someday.
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