Timing of tuition payment for Scholarship

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Bluepit

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My son is a 4 yr army scholarship recipient and starts college in August. He has done/passed all the requirements except the final fitness test which I understand he takes when he gets to college. It is also my understanding his scholarship money/payment will not kick in until he has passed the fitness - this hopefully, should not be an issue but I'm just covering all aspects.

However, the college requires payment the week before classes start which is before he will do his fitness so I don't know if there will be a delay in scholarship payment.

So I guess I am asking if there is a week or two lag with payment is that something the AROTC handles with the college or should I be proactive and find out now in case we need to make a payment before the scholarship tuition money is paid. Then, if we pay it do I get reimbursed from AROTC?
 
I would contact the school and talk to the finance office. My son's school credits the account of the scholarship cadets so it reflects our owed balance ( room & board) knowing the scholarship money is coming from the army.
 
I agree with Turtle, except you may want to contact the Bursar instead. The Bursar will be the one handling the payments, thus they will be able to pull up his account to see if they are going to apply the money or not.

Beware, I know with all 3 of my kids at 3 different colleges the financial operations will not talk to the parent unless the child is under 18 or the child has given approval to view their account. That was always a pet peeve of mine...let me get this correct you see the checking account you are taking money out of monthly belongs to my DH and I, and not my child (student), but you will not discuss any financial aspects with me unless my kid allows it in writing?

I would advise you to do at least what we did if the school allows it. Set up a payment account for the just in case scenario. For our DS AFROTC that is what we did. We typically paid the Aug. payment, and by mid Sept./early Oct. received a check cut back to us from the college because when they did the billing (merit and ROTC) they could see we already over paid. At that point we would cancel the payment program. Again, this was with us working with the Bursar's office. All of my kids colleges did the payment plan with 0% int. , it was the safety net to make sure they would not be dropped from courses or have their account locked.
~ We did have a problem with DS his freshmen year, but it was quickly resolved. DS went to their NCOIC got a letter from the det. with letter head, stating he was indeed on scholarship. He walked it over to the Bursars, they called over to the det. BOOM, within 15 minutes his account was unlocked. However, HQAFROTC did not get that bill settled until sometime in Oct./early Nov. Just saying he may need to be on top of this from a paperwork aspect.
~~ Again, you will see threads littered across this forum of posters stating they have not had their tuition paid yet, or their child has not received their stipend. It is not uncommon, but it is also at the same time common too. It really depends impo on both the det. and the Bursar.
 
At Clemson we were told they credit the account pending payment of the scholarship, so that we don't have to pay out upfront. Info from the bursars office.
 
I think this is so idiosyncratic to the individual school that you will have to talk to them. My son's school seems very casual about it - I've received verbal and email assurances that everything is fine, the AFROTC and AROTC send their lists over and that is sufficient even without the payment, but the 'official' bulk email to parents says he's not enrolled until it's paid. Very nerve-wracking for a control freak who likes to have plans B and C in place in case there is a Charlie Foxtrot with plan A. And as Pima says - at this point all communication has to go through my student, even though if there is a situation, it won't be him putting college on a credit card.
 
One thing to keep in mind when speaking with the Bursar is that the ROTC unit may NOT have sent over the list of names yet. Keep that in mind if they tell you "Well, he's not on our list".
 
Thank you all for your replies.

My son had to fill out a form giving me access to his financial accounts which is why I can see a payment pending. I will call the Bursar and get the answers as I do not want to start off on the wrong foot. It seems each college has their own way of doing things - hopefully it works out so we don't have to outlay too much and wait for a reimbursement.

Thank you once again
 
I would advise parents to require their children to sign those FERPA forms giving parents access to everything. Otherwise, you cannot see the bills and payments from bursar office, their midterm or final grades, their progress towards degree, semester and cumulative GPA, transcripts, nor can you speak to healthcare office if they have a medical need that arises.
 
At my son's University, the scholarship was never paid before the end of the "drop add" period, that could be because if you fall below full time student status, you get dropped. This may be battalion or college specific.
 
Contact the school. Someone from the school familiar with ROTC contacted us and indicated ROTC would pay after successful completion of the PFT. I believe my DD was going to take the PFT this fall, probably September. The school indicated they would waive the late fee.
 
Just an update - I contacted the school and they work with ROTC and we have to option of paying at deadline or waiting to see is he passes the PFT and then his account is adjusted. The school will waive any late fee. He just got notified his PFT is the day before fees are due so I assume we should know and the timing all falls into place. Very accommodating. Thanks again
 
Timeliness of payment is also very much determined by the efficiency of the administrative people in the ROTC office at each school as well. Your child will also be instructed how to get their own online Army account set up, as this is required for monthly stipend payments.
 
Bluepit said:
My son is a 4 yr army scholarship recipient and starts college in August. He has done/passed all the requirements except the final fitness test which I understand he takes when he gets to college. It is also my understanding his scholarship money/payment will not kick in until he has passed the fitness - this hopefully, should not be an issue but I'm just covering all aspects.

However, the college requires payment the week before classes start which is before he will do his fitness so I don't know if there will be a delay in scholarship payment.

So I guess I am asking if there is a week or two lag with payment is that something the AROTC handles with the college or should I be proactive and find out now in case we need to make a payment before the scholarship tuition money is paid. Then, if we pay it do I get reimbursed from AROTC?
Click to expand...

I just received my DD's bill for fall tuition and fees yesterday. She is a 4 yr. AROTC scholarship winner, but hasn't medically qualified yet; however, bursar has listed the $$$ credits that (we hope!) will be awarded for tuition, fees, room & board, once she is qualified. At this point, for the fall semester, we have a credit of $30.00 - this is due to having paid an deposit of $300.00 to confirm her attendance.
We met with financial aid in the spring and were told they will let that bill ride until end of fall semester - then, if she still has not qualified, we will owe for the tuition and fees. School has said they will still honor her room & board scholarship (offered to all ROTC winners), and will reinstate her merit scholarship in order to help with tuition! We thought that was extremely understanding and generous. Just a note to let you know all schools handle this differently.
 
My son has a 4 yr scholarship and will be taking his PFT the week before school starts. He was told from someone (not sure who) -that the money is paid directly to the student. Is that true, or is it paid to the school?
 
Pamela said:
My son has a 4 yr scholarship and will be taking his PFT the week before school starts. He was told from someone (not sure who) -that the money is paid directly to the student. Is that true, or is it paid to the school?
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My DS's battalion pays the tuition and fees directly to the college. Stipends and book allowances are direct deposited to him through his individual bank account.

If the college has an overpayment, the school refunds that to the student. (This varies by college).
 
Pamela said:
My son has a 4 yr scholarship and will be taking his PFT the week before school starts. He was told from someone (not sure who) -that the money is paid directly to the student. Is that true, or is it paid to the school?
Click to expand...

If you choose The scholarship to pay room and board, $5,000 is deposited in cadet's account. Tuition is paid to the school.
 
wisbang35 said:
Pamela said:
My son has a 4 yr scholarship and will be taking his PFT the week before school starts. He was told from someone (not sure who) -that the money is paid directly to the student. Is that true, or is it paid to the school?
Click to expand...

If you choose The scholarship to pay room and board, $5,000 is deposited in cadet's account. Tuition is paid to the school.
Click to expand...
Note that the IRS treats room and board scholarships as taxable income. Tuition and fees are tax free.
 
Bluepit said:
Thank you all for your replies.

My son had to fill out a form giving me access to his financial accounts which is why I can see a payment pending. I will call the Bursar and get the answers as I do not want to start off on the wrong foot. It seems each college has their own way of doing things - hopefully it works out so we don't have to outlay too much and wait for a reimbursement.

Thank you once again
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Ok - who is the Bursar and how do we contact them concerning scholarship questions with funds being dropped. My son's school is requesting all kinds of payments for dorm, meal plan- etc. Who do we contact to find out when funds will be available ??
 
The university cashiers office will usually encompass the bursar.

Also ask your ROO.
 
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