The Office of Financial Aid let us know about a new requirement that affects how your financial aid funds are disbursed. The details are below and also on the Financial Aid website.
"As you probably know, University charges are assessed to your UCSB BARC account. What you may not know is that Federal Aid may not be used to pay all of these charges without your consent.
Without your authorization, federal funds may only be applied to tuition, campus-based fees, and housing. Federal funds will not pay for other mandatory university charges such as student health fees, late fees, library fees, miscellaneous fees, etc. You will be prompted with whether or not you wish to authorize payment of these other charge with Federal Funds when you log in to My Aid Status.What happens if I say yes?
Provided that you meet the normal disbursement requirements your Financial Aid will credit to your UCSB BARC account and will pay for the other mandatory charges listed above. This will help ensure that you meet fee deadlines each quarter. If your Financial Aid is greater than the balance owed, the difference will be refunded to you by the BARC Office.
What happens if I say no?
Students that do NOT authorize charges must pay their other mandatory charges out-of-pocket. Financial Aid refunds can be issued no sooner than 10 days before the start of classes each quarter. This is typically after the fee deadline each quarter. In other words, your refund will not be available to help you pay these mandatory charges.
If you do not pay these other charges prior to the deadline, you will be assessed late fees and may be dropped from your classes.How do I authorize payment of these other charges?
Log in to My Aid Status. If you have not already answered the question, you will be prompted with it upon logging in. If you have already answered and wish to change your response, proceed to Tab 7 of My Aid Status and click on “Modify Your Decision” at the bottom of the page."