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Thursday, May 17, 2018

System Student Finance Council (SSFC) updates (May 2018)

Still able to use credit cards
We had an unsettling few weeks as we prepared to disable the option to use credit cards to pay current bills due, due a change by Nelnet. However, we were able to convince Nelnet to put in a stop-gap using another processor until the new payment processor’s terms and conditions can be negotiated. We anticipate that the stop-gap will need to be in place for about one month; the user experience should remain the same. We have had no issues reported by users. When the new credit card processor, PaymentSpring, is in place, the user experience should not change.

Uncashed credit balance checks
We are now canceling aid and reversing credit balance checks for students/parents who have uncashed checks (induced by financial aid disbursements) nearing 240 days in age. Thus far, we have seen a couple for Duluth and about ten for the Twin Cities. For some student accounts, this may create a small owing balance (all less than $1) due to rounding on loans. If the outstanding balance is not paid after the allotted amount of time, the balance will be added to the University’s accounts that are written off as bad debt.

The Twin Cities will take the lead on reversing checks as needed for all campuses and will contact the appropriate financial aid staff at campuses where financial aid needs to be adjusted. Procedures are still being adjusted and Twin Cities will conduct an analysis of the model and the resulting aftermath to assess if any changes for improvement should be made. This is an ongoing process as uncashed checks near the 240 day mark. Students/parents are sent a series of three communications encouraging them to cash the checks well in advance of any cancellation.

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