According to federal regulations, federal student aid (loans and grants) must be applied directly to your bill to pay outstanding university charges (tuition and fees, room and board, and other eligible educational charges). When the federal student aid exceeds the bill, a credit balance is created. The credit balance is refunded to you within 14 days of the disbursement date.*
All first-time financial aid recipients must answer the Financial Aid Authorization questions in Banner. Read the information carefully before making your decision and then select either authorize or do not authorize in response to each question. (See the instructions below.)
Failure to answer these questions will delay the processing of your financial aid.
What Are The Questions?
- Prior Term Charges Authorization: If you have any excess financial aid, do you authorize the university to hold up to $200 for a previous semester balance within the academic year?
- Current Term Charges Authorization: Do you want to use your excess financial aid to transfer funds to your Hoot Loot card to purchase books, and for other charges such as parking fines, prescriptions, transcripts, graduation fees, health insurance, etc.?
What Do These Questions Mean?
Basically, these questions are asking what you want the university to do with any excess financial aid. So, after the financial aid is used to pay your bill, if you have a credit balance, do you want the university to hold the funds for other educational charges?
Who Is Required To Answer These Questions?
All financial aid recipients must answer the questions—even if there will not be a credit balance.
Can I Change My Answer(s)?
You may modify your answers at any time. The change is effective as of the date of the revision; it is not retroactive. If you withdraw your authorization to hold the credit balance, SCSU will refund any remaining credit balance within 14 days (assuming the money has been disbursed to the university and is being held in your account).
What Happens To The Remaining Credit Balance?
Each semester any remaining credit balance will be refunded by the Student Accounts Office.
Follow these instructions to access the questions:
- Go to https://login.southernct.edu
- Enter your Username and Password
- Click Sign In
- Select Banner Student
- Select Financial Aid
- Select View Questions on the Home tab
- Scroll past the first empty box (do not type in this box)
- Answer the two questions
- Click Submit the Information (You may see the answers revert back to being blank)
- Go to the Resources tab to verify your answers
If you wish to move excess financial aid funds onto your Hoot Loot card, contact the University Card Office
The disbursement date is the date the money is scheduled to come into the university, not the date refunds are processed.