EVERETT — Summer classes are long done for Tim Gott. Paying for them is not.
The student is still waiting for his financial aid to arrive, two weeks after summer quarter ended.
He’s got plenty of company.
Just under half of the 1,700 students who applied for financial aid for t
he summer quarter at Everett Community College haven’t received it.
That’s a serious problem for cash-strapped students.
Gott, a 33-year-old father of two, left a construction career last year to pursue a two-year degree in computer information services. His savings long ago dried up.
When his financial aid didn’t arrive this summer, he had to move in with his parents. He tried looking for work, sending out nearly 200 applications in a three-month period. He’s still searching.
He’s been a frequent visitor at the financial aid counter, asking again and again about his check.
“They seem like they don’t even care,” he said.
Late delivery of financial aid is a problem to some degree for community colleges statewide, said Laurie Franklin, the college’s dean of enrollment and student financial services.
Most of the problem can be traced to the down economy. More students are applying for financial aid, and processing all those claims is a massive undertaking for college staff.
That’s certainly true at Everett, which has received a deluge of 9,000 financial aid applications so far, Franklin said. Four out of five students in programs that could qualify for financial aid applied for it.
Rules and systems the college can’t control also are part of the problem.
Students can begin applying for federal aid Jan. 1. Everett can’t begin processing those applications until March.
A state board sets up the system EvCC and other community colleges must work through.
When that first batch finally comes in, it contains thousands of applications. On average, it takes 20 minutes to process an application, she said. She called the glut “a pig in a python.”
Sometimes students themselves inadvertently set back their applications by not filling out forms completely or making mistakes.
The staff prioritizes students who say they plan to take summer classes. Savvy students have figured that out. The college has an uptick in students who say they plan to take summer classes but don’t. This practice further backlogs students who need aid in the summer.
Yes, the staff does care, Franklin said. Her employees are working at least eight hours of mandatory overtime weekly. Franklin said she puts in at least an extra 15 hours of work weekly she isn’t paid for. They’ve tried to improve communication with students about when aid might arrive.
Gott, the student, wondered why the college didn’t hire more workers earlier. Last year, he also received his financial aid late during the summer.
The answer, Franklin said, is a state hiring freeze. Once that freeze was lifted in July, the college moved to hire two new workers to process applications and two others to handle calls, emails and the walk-up counter. Part of the challenge with hiring staff, too, is that it can take up to five months to train someone to work in the financial aid office.
Even with the new employees, Franklin expects that some students signed up for classes fall quarter may have to wait, too.
A handful of students, including Gott, have volunteered to help the financial aid office.
Those volunteers, after completing confidentiality training, will help staff with contacting students who have asked for financial aid for the fall quarter but have not yet signed up.
Friday afternoon, Gott learned his financial aid money should arrive shortly.
“Now that I know my check is coming, it’s a huge relief,” he said.
Debra Smith: 425-339-3197 or dsmith@heraldnet.com
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