Parent FAQs

Check the following:

• Did your student submit the FAFSA?
• Does your student have action items from the Department of Education (these will be in their Workday inbox)?
• Did your student register for courses for the upcoming term?

Contact the Office of Student of Financial Services at studentfinances@carthage.edu for assistance.

Returning students can accept awards directly in Workday. Go to Finances > Accept/Decline Financial Aid. Students can accept or decline awards for both the fall and spring semesters. Returning students do not need to accept their financial aid offer on the hard copy financial aid award letter if they accept directly in Workday.

Each figure serves a different purpose. Here are the definitions of the three main figures:

• Total Account Balance — This is the amount that Carthage has put on your student’s statement. Charges are added and updated as your student registers for courses, selects housing, and selects their meal plans, if applicable.
• Financial Aid Award Letter — This is your student’s estimated institutional costs. This is the amount Carthage estimates your student’s total account balance will be (it includes the typical tuition, room, meal plan, and fees). This is for planning purposes.
• Financial Aid Total Estimated Costs — The government asks us to provide this informational estimate of your student’s total cost, including other out-of-pocket expenses such as transportation and books, and it is also for planning purposes.

Once your student’s financial aid has been accepted, it will be reflected on their student account billing statement as an anticipated payment. Students will need to accept or decline their Direct Stafford Loans for that to be reflected as an anticipated payment.

Financial aid will be disbursed to your student’s account 10 days prior to the start of the semester as long as all financial aid action items have been completed. At that time, the total account balance will be reduced.

Federal work study awards will not be reflected on your student’s account statement. Federal work study funds will be paid directly to students based on their employment and hours worked.

Anticipated payments only consider financial aid awards that have been accepted. If your student has the opportunity to accept loans, they can accept them in Workday so the awards will be reflected in anticipated payments. Anticipated payments may also include other factors such as payments made and credits from prior terms.

The amount your student receives as a disbursement will be slightly lower than the amount they accept to cover the origination fee. All federal loans have this fee for lender processing.

The award letter is a pdf of your student’s award detail. While it is not necessary to print, students can do so by going to the Finances App > View Financial Aid > Print Award Letter. The pdf will be generated and available in your student’s Workday notifications.

Students can go to the Finances App > View Account Activity > View Statement > Select Academic Period > Generate PDF.

Nelnet is the system that students/families use to set up payment plans and make tuition and fee payments. Students will pay for spring and summer 2023 in one Nelnet plan and then will have a new Nelnet plan for the fall 2023 semester. The link to create the new Nelnet plan will be available on Thursday, June 1.

The first payment due date for fall 2023 is Thursday, July 27. Payments will be made in Nelnet. Students and parents can begin to make payments once a new payment plan is created in Nelnet (after Thursday, June 1).

With the move to Workday, students who have a credit balance or past due balance will not see this information in Workday until fall 2023. However, students/families with a credit balance can request a refund now or subtract the credit from the “due now” and pay that remaining balance. Once the credit is applied in fall 2023, the students account will be up to date.

Students can reduce or decline previously accepted awards directly in Workday. Once it’s declined, a student would need to reach out to the Office of Student Financial Services if they wish to reverse the decline.