American Public University often cites federal rules and regulations when students have questions about the delayed processing of financial aid. The school consistently neglects, however, to let student-borrowers know that it is entirely within their prerogative (the school's, not the student-borrower's) to release funds prior to the beginning of the semester... A practice common in public institutions of higher education.
Instead of facilitating student enjoyment of the educational process and affording borrower-students the opportunity to use financial aid resources to purchase textbooks and other necessary supplies - as is customary in public institutions, APUS, APU, and AMU refuse to request funding from the lending source until after the first week of classes... Typically somewhere around day ten or eleven. It then takes the school's system two or three days to recognize that the funding has been sent by the lending institution... You can see their recognition of the delayed process (30 days after the start of the semester) on their website.
When the school finally catches up, they let the money sit a week or so before they actually give it to the students... But we have to wait five (or more) days after the school decides to disburse the extra financial aid because they (still) do not have direct deposit. When the school was consulted regarding issues that this process causes with regard to purchasing textbooks for graduate courses (a great many of which are only 8 weeks long...) this author was told "you could just buy them with your own money, and pay yourself back when you get your disbursement."
First, my dear APU - the financial aid disbursement is my money... Secondly, it isn't "paying myself back..." it's a matter of not having the money in the first place. If I were to attend graduate school school full-time (which I do, because I want to get my degree and get as far away from the school as is possible, as soon as is possible) I do not have the opportunity to work full-time, as well. There is, quite simply put, no money to take from one function to purchase books and later replenish.
My fellow student-victims, I urge you to consider attending an institution other than APUS. The programs are open admission, which means a monkey with half a brain could get in, but they are entirely theoretically oriented and practice is limited.in my graduate program (having completed 36 of the 48 required hours) I have written more papers than I could recall, received inadequate-at-best feedback, and have been robbed - not only of an opportunity to grow as a professional (now that I will graduate - entirely unprepared for certification), but of thousands and thousands of dollars I could have used elsewhere to get a degree that would have provided me with practical opportunities in addition to the theoretical foundations.
Run. Run and don't look back.
Best Wishes!
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