Interdisciplinary studies senior Cassie Clayton noticed there was a problem with her financial aid Oct. 16 when she saw a negative balance of $1,609 in her Orion account.
Clayton was affected by a financial aid mistake announced to the UTD community in an Oct. 23 e-mail.
The error occurred during the change from Student Information Systems (SIS) to PeopleSoft that began on Feb. 12. For the fall 2009 semester, 137 students received too much financial aid and must repay the school.
Overpayment amounts range from $27 to $6,400. A total of $160,000 is owed by students out of more than $50 million in aid awards.
Clayton said the confusion stemmed from benefits she receives as a member of the National Guard because administrators told her that funds she receives from the U.S. Government were not in the system when the grant money was awarded.
"They didn't call me to say anything," Clayton said. "They sent me an e-mail after I called about it."
Clayton said she thinks an interview she gave to KTVT Channel 11 news for broadcast on Oct. 23 may have prompted UTD officials to e-mail the UTD community that same day.
"I don't think they would have sent it on Friday," Clayton said. "I think they did it because they were getting calls from the news and they wanted to get it out before the news did."
Rogers said the e-mail sent out Oct. 23 was in response to another e-mail circulating through campus written by a student.
"In the interest of quickly correcting the misinformation contained in that e-mail, the University sent the entire UT Dallas community the same message that had been forwarded to news reporters who had called," Rogers said.
Affected students were told they must return the overpayment because of federal laws on grant-in-aid-funding. The acceptable time frame for repayment has not been disclosed.
"Students whose awards were inaccurate were contacted individually and individual solutions for their particular circumstances were or are being found," Rogers said. "The University exercises care to guard student financial information generally, and does not issue statements about ordinary business processes."
Another National Guard member discovered a problem with his financial aid when he saw a debt listed in his Orion account.
The student, who asked that his name be withheld, was never notified about repayment requirements. He noticed his balance was negative in Orion on Oct. 23.
Financial Aid alerted the student about an overpayment in September about an over-reward, but said he was told that the office would compensate for the mistake by not giving him as much money for the spring semester.
"I tried to take care of it right away, but they told me it was OK," he said.
This student, also a member of the National Guard, did not want to discuss the details of his situation, but said the Financial Aid Office took care of the problem.
Rogers said students should always watch for unexpected changes in their accounts.
"The departments involved are working diligently on assuring that this does not happen again," Rogers said. "Any time an unexpected deposit is made, or an unexpected check is received, it's a good idea to examine the source and double-check the reason."
