The Office of Financial Aid and the Bursar's Office work together all year to process students' financial aid.

This task requires many offices and at least five business days for processing after the date of dispersement. The date that students get their refunds varies.

“We're doing everything we have the resources to do to get the students their funds as quickly as possible,” Kim Brown, controller, said.

Financial aid and reimbursements are complex tasks that involve many aspects of many offices, including the postal service and the students' personal banks.

“What students don't realize is just how complex this process is. Everyone's processing financial aid for 17,000 - 18,000 students, and it has to go through a process in the computer and through many offices, and then the banks have to hold on to the money until a designated date. It takes at least five days to get it all done,” Brown said.

Although many students believe that the financial aid process lives in the Financial Aid Office, the Bursar's Office actually handles the bulk of the financial aid processing, Director of Financial Aid Connie Murphy, said.

To read the full article, check out Thursday's edition of The George-Anne.