You received a bill from the University, and you are probably wondering why your financial aid isn’t on it. Don’t worry.
If you are receiving financial aid, your aid will not pay toward this balance until August 29th at the very earliest. That’s IF you have turned in all of your paperwork and completed your entrance counseling/Master Promissory Note. Even though your financial aid pays after the balance is due on the 25th you will not be charged finance charges (1% of the unpaid balance) until September 6th. Most financial aid will apply indiscriminately toward your overall balance, even though you may have been charged for a variety of things. You can think of your bill as a mount of Earth, and your financial aid like shovels carrying it away in no particular order.
How much will you owe after financial aid pays on August 29th?
In general, you can divide all of the financial aid that you see on your award letter in half, since most aid will pay 50/50 between the Fall and Spring, and then subtract that from that bill you received. The resulting number is roughly what you will need to pay out-of-pocket for the Fall semester, hopefully by August 25th. You can also defer this amount.
Exceptions to the rules
Bright Flight and Access Missouri may not pay toward your account until early October. If able, you can pay these amounts up front to avoid the 1% finance charge, then let the grant come directly to your bank account when they DO pay out in October.
A small percentage of each federal loan amount that you borrow (Stafford Direct, Graduate PLUS, and Parent PLUS) will actually go back to the federal government, not toward your bill. This is about 1% of the total student loan borrowed, and about 4.5% of the total parent PLUS loans borrowed. This “loan origination fee” will not help pay your balance, so please plan accordingly.
As always, if you have any questions about your award letter please call the Office of Student Financial Aid at 1-800-283-4243 or (417) 836-5262. If you have questions about the billing process please contact Financial Services.
See you soon!