Florida A&M University was trending on Twitter Friday after some students noticed a monetary disbursement posted to their iRattler accounts marked as a “Higher Education Emergency Relief Fund.” The combination of FAMU students thanking their school for the money and FAMU students expressing their disappointment resulted in the university trending on Twitter. However, FAMU is not directly responsible for who receives this aid.
While many students were directly addressing FAMU, whether expressing thanks or concerns, it is not really the university that determines who gets the funds. Funds like this are provided to FAMU by the government. These funds in particular come from President Joe Biden’s relief bill.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, the additional money FAMU has received from the government has been disbursed to students based on responses to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).
Students fill out the FAFSA and, based on their family’s income, an Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is determined. Students with higher EFCs often miss out on aid like this relief fund and grants because their family is expected to be able to contribute more.
It is for this reason, and not any personal feelings from FAMU, that some students may always receive aid funds while others consistently do not. However, many students addressed their misguided appreciations and concerns to FAMU via Twitter.
Following the disbursement, students who received the fund got on Twitter to show their appreciation to FAMU. One student referenced lyrics from the university’s alma mater in her tweet after seeing the funds in her iRattler account.
“FAMU I LOVE THEE,” tweeted @kamrynmyel.
Another student expressed her gratitude for the funds on Twitter as well. She did not receive the stimulus payment, also from President Biden’s relief bill, that many college students have been discussing on Twitter for the past few days, so she was especially grateful for these funds.
“I ain’t get a stimulus but FAMU came throughhhhh,” wrote @taalyiahh in her Twitter post.
While some were expressing their gratitude for the unexpected deposit, others voiced their disappointment because they did not see any funds posted to their iRattler accounts.
“Why FAMU don’t love me? They don’t ever drop a band or two in my account,” tweeted @eliottford__.
Another student wrote on Twitter feeling like FAMU must have some sort of vendetta against them as well.
“FAMU hates me clearly. I just want a lil refund that’s all!” posted @hollywoodbeezyy on his Twitter account.
These tweets were all misguided, and many students can still be seen tweeting about FAMU as they discover that they did or did not receive aid from the fund, even though it is not the university’s fault.