Business Office FAQs

Transcription

1 Business Office FAQs What are the business hours and where are you located? o Our hours are from 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. o We are located on the first floor of Payne Hall on the Summerville Campus. When are tuition and fees due? o Tuition and fees are due before the first day of classes. Deadlines are published in POUNCE for the term and on the Business Office main web page. o On each payment deadline, students may pay until 5:00 p.m. o After 5:00 p.m. on the deadline date, you may be dropped for non payment. o Attendance without payment for tuition and fees is not allowed under BOR Policy. How do I authorize my parent or significant other to pay my bill in POUNCE? o From the main menu, select: Pay Your Bill/View Student Account/Set up erefund Deposit Information o Click the button Connect to Student Account Center o A new window will open o Click the tab for My Account o Click Authorized Users o Enter the address of the Authorized User, then make three choices on the statements that are presented to you o The Agreement to Add Authorized Users appears on the screen o Click the box stating I Agree and you may also print this agreement o You will see a confirmation that the authorized user you set up has been provided with access to your account. When are late fees placed onto my account? o There are multiple ways an account can be charged a late fee. Below are some scenarios: Late payment of outstanding charge Late registration Late health insurance waiver request Do you have payment plans? o Payment plans through Nelnet are available Payment plans are available to students only through the end of the add/drop period of each term and open at the same time as registration. The only payment plan option that is available is through Nelnet Payment plans are not available for prior term balances o To sign up, log into POUNCE and complete the steps below: Click on the main menu: Pay Your Bill/View Student Account/Set up erefund Deposit Information/View 1098 T

2 Click Setup Payment Plan Choose a term Follow the setup steps on the Nelnet web site Review the Nelnet FAQ on the Business Office web site I was billed as an out of state student but I live in Georgia, so I should have in state. Why? o The coding of your enrollment record begins with your admissions application. The coding on your student account determines the tuition rate you will pay. o Once you are enrolled, you will need to contact the Registrar s Office to submit documentation if you believe your residency for tuition purposes is inaccurate. I am a parent, guardian, spouse or significant other. My GRU student has provided me with access to make a payment on their student account. How do I do this? o You will receive two notifications if your student has provided your address in POUNCE for you to have access to pay their account. o One will notify you that they have provided you with access. Your username is included in this and it will list the address to be used in the welcome message. o The other will contain your password for the login. o Once you log in, you will be able to review your student s bill and make payment by electronic check or credit card. o Electronic check is simply an electronic payment from your bank account. You enter this by using the routing and account number from the bottom of your check. o Credit cards are accepted for a 2.75% convenience fee. o If you have any trouble making payments, please contact the Business Office at What does financial aid in memo status mean? o Financial aid that is in memo status has not yet been received by GRU from the lender. If your financial aid memo amount is equal to or greater than the total balance for the semester due to GRU, no other payment is needed prior to the first day of class. However, if your memo amount of financial aid does not cover your outstanding semester balance in full, you will need to make payment to cover the remaining balance prior to the first day of class by the published payment deadline. You can view your financial aid award status on the Financial Aid link in POUNCE. What forms of payment does GRU accept for tuition and fees? o Electronic check online is available through POUNCE at no cost. Invalid entry of the routing or account number will incur a $30 fine after one incorrect offense. All returned electronic and paper check items due to insufficient funds incur a $30 fine or 5% of the total cost for payment exceeding $600. Three returned items will result in returned item fines and your student account will be placed on cash only hold. o Credit card payment is available online for 2.75% of the balance due. o Cash, checks, money orders or traveler s checks are accepted at the Business Office in person.

3 o You may wire funds for tuition and fees ahead of the payment deadline. The payment must be received by the deadline. Contact the Business Office to find out how to wire a payment. o Nelnet payment plans are available to help students defer a portion of the cost of tuition and fees, or to help defer the cost of tuition and fees after a partial financial aid award. Nelnet information is on the Business Office web pages in the side menu and can also be found within POUNCE. How do I pay my bill online through POUNCE? o Click on Pay Your Bill/View Student Account/Set up erefund Deposit Information o Click Connect to Student Account Center o Click Payments tab o Click Make a Payment o Follow the prompts to choose the method of payment When can I expect to receive my financial aid overage refund? o Your financial aid refund for each semester will be processed after attendance verification has ended and after financial aid is verified. The refund amount will be for any balance remaining after all institutional charges for the semester have been paid. o If you signed up for erefunds, please allow hours for the funds to credit your designated bank account. Note, if your bank does not process on weekends, it may be Monday or Tuesday of the following week before funds are received in your account. Be sure to maintain your banking information in POUNCE to ensure your refunds are not delayed. o If you have not signed up for direct deposit (edeposit), your refund can take up to 10 days by mail to your most current mailing address on file. If your address becomes invalid at any time, you may change it on POUNCE. What if I have a Business Office or Accounts Receivable hold on my student account? o First, log onto POUNCE to see if you have a balance due to GRU and pay the balance. Most holds are due to an outstanding balance. Once the balance is paid, the hold will be released. o Holds will keep you from registering for classes and from receiving your transcripts. All balances are due immediately or upon registration if they are related to enrollment. o If your account reflects a cash only hold, you will need to pay your outstanding balances with a cash type payment in the Business Office. These holds are rare, but they are placed against your account due to excessive returned checks. o Holds are released daily by the Business Office as they are cleared by payments. How do I sign up for direct deposit for erefunds? o Choose the menu item: Pay Your Bill/View Student Account/Set up erefund Deposit Information o Click Connect to Student Account Center (you may need to disable pop up blockers in your browser settings) o Once you are in the Student Account Center, click the tab labeled erefunds at the top of the screen

4 o Click Set up Account o Complete your banking information (checking or savings account information) o Click I Agree when presented with the agreement o You will see a page confirming Your new ACH refund account has been saved o You may change your refund account designation at any time if it becomes invalid or if you want to change the account for refunds. Remember to first inactivate your current account information before entering a new account designation. If my financial aid is not ready at the time of registration, and I must pay my student account balance out of pocket, how will I become refunded once my financial aid has been applied to my account? o Refunds are processed bi weekly outside of the scheduled semester refund dates o If you have signed up for edeposit on POUNCE this is the most reliable and most efficient way to receive refunds If I incur a parking fine or other institutional charges, where should I make my payment? o All parking fines and most other institutional charges are posted to your POUNCE account and should be paid as soon as they are available on POUNCE. They are due when billed. You can pay online on POUNCE or in the Business Office located in Payne Hall on Summerville Campus. o You should check your POUNCE account periodically through the term to pay any outstanding balances and to avoid end of term holds. o You will receive notifications from the Business_Office@gru.edu account notifying you of your outstanding obligations. o Unpaid amounts will result in your student account being placed on hold. Holds will not be removed until your balances are paid in full. Must I pay outstanding balances due to GRU before I register for the next semester? o Yes, account balances must be paid in full to be eligible to register for the next semester. o All institutional balances must be paid in full to attend class. o Any outstanding balance on or after the first day of class may result in being dropped from your classes due to non payment. o Non attendance in your scheduled classes will result in being dropped from classes due to non attendance. o Late fines may be assessed due to unpaid balances. Why is my tuition higher this fall? o Undergraduate rates are determined by the Georgia Board of Regents for each USG Institution. While they may increase a small percentage each fall, GRU maintains the most competitive tuition rates in the state for our programs of study. o Graduate and professional rates are reviewed and researched each year including an indepth peer analysis by the GRU Colleges. Budgetary requirements are finalized and peer competitor analysis is performed to ensure GRU is offering the most competitive rate possible for the graduate and professional programs. GRU has very competitive graduate and professional rates.

5 I was supposed to receive an out of state tuition waiver. Why is my waiver not on my student bill? o Out of state tuition waivers must be applied for through the Registrar s Office your first term of enrollment if you did not apply for the waiver during your Admissions process. o The waiver application should be submitted a minimum of 8 weeks prior to the start of the semester to ensure your application and any supporting documents can be reviewed and processed before the payment deadline of the upcoming semester. o If you are not able to get your waiver finalized before the payment deadline, you should plan to make payment in full for the semester by the payment deadline. If your waiver is approved, any overage will be refunded to you once the waiver has been applied to your student account to offset a portion of your balance. o Tuition Assistant Program (TAP) waivers have their own strict deadlines for application and processing that must be adhered to. There is also a course provided by Human Resources on TAP that is very beneficial to TAP waiver participants. TAP is a benefit of employment, and there are tax implications for tap waivers exceeding $5,250 in a tax year. o Most waivers require an application and submission of supporting documentation each and every semester. Be sure to take care of this in a timely manner to avoid having to pay for unnecessary out of pocket costs that would otherwise have been waived. o Waivers are included in your account details on POUNCE.