Whether a student needs to pay a bill or look ‘fly’ in a new outfit with matching shoes, one thing remains the same; students have expenses.
With their net checks in the mail or in their accounts, it won’t be too hard to keep that cell phone.
A net check is remaining money after a financial aid disbursement. The money is disbursed to the student either through postal mail or direct deposit.
“We encourage all our students to apply for direct deposit,” said Marcia Boyd, director of financial aid.
“We waited until the add drop period passed and we dispersed the funds on September 3.”
In the past, FAMU had problems getting the checks out on time but this year it is a different story.
“I was happy that they finally did get it to us fast because I had to wait till late October last fall to get my check so I’m happy that we got ours on time,” said Kiah Simmons, 19, a second year pre-physical therapy student from Orlando.
Randy Henley, 20, a junior psychology student from Ft. Lauderdale said he is pleased with the current state of financial aid.
“I really do appreciate it because students can do what they need to do on time,” Henley said.
Boyd suggested students should apply early enough for financial aid so they can be in the first batch of checks the university disperses. Students are applying late for financial aid and do not receive their check early.
Students use their net checks for various reasons but it seems the main reason is to pay bills.
“I’m very excited because I’m broke right now. I was waiting on my net check,” Simmons said. “[In the past] Some of the problems I ran into was that I had to ask my parents for money and pay for my bills and stuff that I needed right then.”
Simmons said that by the time she got her check she did not have to pay for anything so she spent it unwisely. The way she plans on spending her money is by paying a few bills then taking care of her personal needs.
She said students should be cautious about spending their net checks on things that are not needed.
“If students don’t have to spend the money, they should save it for when they really do need the money,” the Orlando native said.
“Then later on the line, a month later, they’re broke. They should try and hold onto the check for as long as possible.”
Henley, who received his check on September 7, mentioned that he was going to use his check to pay bills as well as buy books.
Henley also advised students to restrict the use of their checks to unpaid bills.
Whatever a student does with their net check, one thing is for certain; they are grateful for the early arrival.