Financial Aid Office isn’t student-friendly

Quirus is a second-year English student.

By Jeannie Quirus

Learning that financial aid may be cut next year because the
state budget is faltering only added another wrench to the
beleaguered, complicated machinery that is my experience with the
UCLA Financial Aid Office.

I don’t get much sleep (as a large portion of the UCLA
population can relate to), so the last thing I want to be awakened
by is Murphy Hall calling to tell me that Sallie Mae, the company
that handles student loans, is having technical difficulties.

A few months ago I had a little notion that I might take a real
vacation and spend my summer in Australia where I could get away
from family, insane friends with drama and especially school.

Unbeknownst to me, as I was attempting to relax, my FAFSA had
been rejected and the notice was not forwarded to me because
evidently, government mail is not forwarded under any
circumstances. After several e-mails to Murphy Hall asking why I
had not received any disbursements, I finally gave in about
mid-September and made an international phone call.

This was no easy task, considering the apartment I was in had no
long distance and it was necessary to stay up until 3 a.m.
Australia time to call Murphy Hall when they opened. I’m sure
you’ve all had the pleasure of remaining on hold for at least
thirty minutes hearing “we will be with you shortly”
every twenty seconds.

Finally, after spending God knows how much on an international
call I learned that I would not be getting my money until the FAFSA
(that I didn’t even know about) was “fixed”.

It is now winter quarter. That was September. I would like to
pause for a moment and point out that I did my part of fixing the
FAFSA application within two weeks. Why then am I still waiting to
get my PLUS loan?

Well, that’s what I’ve been trying to find out for
the past few months. It is not as if I personally have the ability
to pull large amounts of cash out of my pocket to give to the
Housing Office. Nor can my father, who lives on disability
payments. However, when my meals were cut off because I had not
paid my housing, I had to make him grudgingly open another credit
card account. He didn’t want his child to starve, after
all.

Why has all of this taken so long? Every time I visit Murphy
Hall I feel the need to prep myself to stand in that line only to
be handed a paper without explanation or be sent to another portion
of the building to wait in another line. Is this supposed to pass
for quality student service? Why hasn’t a more aggressive
attempt been made to expedite Murphy Hall bureaucracy and make it
more student-friendly?

Usually when I call during the tiny lunch break at my minimum
wage job I spend all of lunch on hold and am finally connected to
someone who is not really sure where my money is. I am subsequently
connected to someone who may know, only to learn that they are
unavailable. So, I leave a message, upset that I have missed yet
another meal.

And here we are again. I recently received a call at 8:30 a.m.,
answered by my disgruntled, confused roommate, only to learn that
Sallie Mae’s system has been down and I will have my money
soon. “The year will be over by the time you get your
money,” says my father later on the phone. As much as I
don’t like to admit that my father may actually be right, the
thought does cross my mind that there is something to his
words.

Does anyone else feel my sorrow? Anyone miss payment deadlines
for reasons they are unable to explain? Anyone else dread waiting
in the infamous line, getting lost in the halls of Murphy, or
receiving condescending glares from behind computer monitors?
It’s the Financial Aid Office! When will they help us receive
money instead of making it more difficult? They are, after all, in
the business of giving out money, not angst.