Santa Fe College Financial Aid Nw 83 St, Gainesville

Santa Fe College Financial Aid Reviews

• M

  Michelle Beno
  5

  Have to say the financial aid office can be a PAIN sometimes. My best luck has been calling midday in the middle of the week. Of course during busy seasons, you will be on hold, that is expected. Today I had a concern with disbursement for the semester and spoke with Keith. He was kind, knowledgeable, and professional while answering my questions.

  Response from the owner

  Hi Michelle, Thank you for taking the time to write a review and for understanding that sometimes financial aid issues are very complicated and individualized. Many of the troubles students run into with financial aid are regulated at a government level and not directly by the college. This makes financial aid the bearer of bad news at times and a lot of anger can be directed at our staff. It is always nice to hear when things go right and our efforts to support students is noted. We will ensure Keith hears about your positive experience.

• L

  Leo Aqua
  2

  Confusing and not much help. There's a lot of tangent information. If you have scholarship and dropped classes you will be so confused.

• S

  Smiley B
  1

  It seems financial aid does not respect students or care about your issues. I've called and sent many emails over the last 2 semesters only to be either completely ignored or sent an unrelated and sometimes rude response. They don't even read your email! Calling is no different. They act like you are an inconvenience for calling. It's as if these people aren't doing their job and still getting paid for it somehow. I'm not surprised at all the negative reviews. Somebody has to do something about this! How can Santa Fe college claim to be a top school, and inclusive if students can't access their funds for school? Just leads to more dropouts if you're not going to support your students and just ignore them instead.

• K

  Kris D
  1

  Looking at other reviews, really not surprised they have such a poor rating. I’ve been trying to get my disbursement for summer since May. It is now almost July. First they responded to my email, confusing my file with another student’s. Then, after some generic response, they stopped responding to emails all together. Good luck actually getting a person on the phone. It says they have too many calls and please try again later. Today, after waiting weeks for someone in their department to approve my degree change request, they denied my financial aid and stated I wasn’t making sufficient academic progress. Nothing has changed since I was originally awarded financial aid except that I’m taking two courses that I have an above C grade in both. I feel like they’re trying deliberately to prevent me from getting my financial aid, causing me to owe the school money that I don’t have. I’ve contacted FAFSA regarding this. Hopefully someone above Santa Fe’s “department” can provide clarification.

  Response from the owner

  Kris, Thank you for taking the time to leave a review. Financial aid requirements and distributions are unique to each student. To better assist you please send an email to [email protected] using your student email address and include your student ID in the email. You may also schedule a phone appointment with a financial aid team member, at a time convenient for you, by visiting https://www.sfcollege.edu/fa/kiosk/.

• h

  hdgross
  1

  I was interrupted every time I tried to talk, given non-answers to my questions, and hung up on. My call had a striking resemblance to the angry customer calls I used to answer in retail, except the 'angry customer' was the person in charge of helping me with financial aid.

  Response from the owner

  @hdgross, this is certainly not the experience we want you to have when interacting with our staff. Did you catch the name of the representative assisting you? Could you send an email to [email protected] with additional information about your call, what number you used to call in, day/time of your call, name of representative and if you choose your name or student ID# so that we can try to ensure this is not the experience students have in the future? Again, our sincerest apologies and we look forward to hearing from you.

• J

  John Smith
  5

  I think the financial aid office is great! Those phone lines light up first thing in the morning to last thing in the evening, but they always answer like you're the first. I think where people are critical is the fact that they don't answer in the definite, but that's the nature of the business. Consumer banking, investment, tax professionals, collections agents, and representatives of the IRS are trained the same way. I'm sure they would personally love to say things like, "I see accounts like yours all the time and xyz happens" or, "Fill out this form and everything will be resolved." Unfortunately, there are constantly changing regulations and laws that relate to finance management and appropriate dialogue surrounding it. In addition, they can't guarantee that you will engage the process properly even if they give you the most specific instructions possible. Finally, they are data processors, not data creators. They can't control what the government or banks do with your forms after you've sent them. I wanted to give a positive to the low rating because I personally have no issues when I call them, and I feel like a lot of the dissatisfaction is due to some young adults' lack of experience. Trust me, there will be far more heartbreaking events in your life than the conversations you have with the financial aid office at Santa Fe...

• S

  Sharon Vazquez
  1

  Not surprised that they have such a poor rating. I’ve been trying to get my disbursement for the summer term since the first week of June as stated on there disbursement page. It is now almost the end of July and they have a new excuse for why I have yet to receive my disbursement. And every time someone asnswers the phone they have no clue what to do so I get sent over to different representatives.

  Response from the owner

  Good Morning. We are sorry to hear you are having some difficulty with your financial aid disbursements. It’s not uncommon for different programs—bachelor’s degree, associate degree, certificate program, etc.— at the same school, to have different payment schedules. Also each type of money (federal loan, federal grant, etc.) may have different disbursement rules the school must follow. It is difficult to know your specific situation based upon this review but if you are local to the college I would welcome you to stop by the NW campus and meet with a financial aid specialist in person to discuss your situation. If you are not local, have you taken advantage of the virtual lobby, where you can schedule an appointment with a financial aid representative via video chat? As mentioned previously, there are many different types of aid and each has a different schedule as well as processing times. For instance if you filled out a FASFA in October for this year's Fall term the processing at a federal level has already been done versus filling out a FASFA one week before classes start. While this forum is not an appropriate space to discuss your personal financial situation we do welcome you to schedule an appointment with someone to discuss your individual situation.

• J

  Jared Blocker
  1

  When you call, you won't even get in contact with financial aid workers, but regular staff that don't seem to be fully aware of the system. You will not get what you need done unless you show up in person.

  Response from the owner

  We’re sorry that you may have had a less than awesome experience. The SF Financial Aid team is ready to assist by email, phone, phone appointment, etc. If you provide your contact information the Financial Aid Office can reach out to hear your feedback and concerns.

• J

  J. L.
  5

  Javon (sp?) was able to help me with all of my questions regarding financial aid for my wife with some complicated military spouse issues. 10/10 support.

• H

  Harold Plemmons
  1

  Finds new and interesting ways to hold you up from getting your disbursements on time. Not their money though, they always make sure to process that immediately.