Guidelines For All Payments to Students

All payments to students (scholarships, awards, stipends, fellowships, reimbursements, graduation gifts, prizes, etc.) must be processed through the Office of Student Financial Services (SFS) as financial assistance per U.S. Department of Education student financial aid regulations. As an educational institution, we cannot award or disburse funding directly to our enrolled students via Accounts Payable or any other method.

All payments to students that do not require service (i.e., compensation is provided via W2) must come through the Office of Student Financial Services for processing to the student’s account. It is up to the school/college/department to communicate to students from the beginning that the funding will be disbursed against all billable charges (tuition, fees, housing and meal plan) first and then be refunded, if possible.

In general, a student’s total financial assistance from federal and non-federal sources, including these funds, may not exceed the student’s financial need (as determined by the FAFSA). Receipt of scholarship assistance may reduce a student’s eligibility for federal and/or institutional loans, grants, scholarships, and/or work-study. The specific impact is determined by each student’s individual financial circumstances and financial aid eligibility. Temple University is liable for any overpayment or over-award made to an individual student and must immediately resolve the overpayment/over-award. Failure to comply with these regulations may result in institutional fines and loss of federal funding.

Process for Disbursing Funding to Students

Utilize the Payments to Student Excel templates for fall/spring semesters, or for summer only, to ensure all necessary information is reported. Double-check all information before submitting to the Office of Student Financial Services for posting. 

If you aren't sure what Banner Fund ID to use (or if one has been created) or what FOAPAL is assigned to it - check with your school/college/department before submitting to the Office of Student Financial Services for posting.  

• Scholarship templates are available in the University Forms section within the Staff Tools tab of TUportal (search 'payment to student').
• Make sure to complete the scholarship template carefully (incomplete requests cannot be processed and will be returned for revision & Banner Fund IDs and FOAPAL should be checked for accuracy before submitting).
  • Include:
    • Aid Year for posting (2024-25 or summer 2024)
      • Do not include multiple years on the same spreadsheet.
      • Do not include summer on the fall/spring spreadsheet.
    • TUid for each student (make sure to use the correct TUid. We cannot review each entry for accuracy and if an inaccurate TUid is included and funding is disbursed, we cannot reverse that funding if it has already been refunded to the student.) 
    • Student Name
    • Scholarship/award/stipend/grant Name 
      • New funding that has never been awarded in Banner should be indicating by using NEW and then let us know what the new funding should be named.
      • We also recommend that the body of the email indicates to our office that there are new Banner Fund IDs that require set-up (include scholarship name, FOAPAL and we'll create a new Banner Fund ID). 
    • Banner Fund ID 
      • Schools/colleges/departments must keep a master list of Banner 4-digit Banner Fund IDs and assigned FOAPALs.
        • SFS can research Banner Fund ID and FOAPAL information in Banner, but it will slow down the request for scholarship/award posting.
      • Input 4-digit Banner Fund ID assigned to the FOAPAL being charged.
        • If it is a new request (a new FOAPAL to be charged), input NEW and we'll set up a new Banner Fund ID in Banner with the FOAPAL - using 7611 or 7001 for the account code.  
          • Make sure to avoid creating duplicate Banner Fund IDs in Banner by reviewing within your school/college/department before requesting a new Banner Fund ID is created.
    • FOAPAL
      • Schools/colleges/departments must keep a master list of FOAPALs and the assigned Banner Fund IDs.
        • Review before submitting for posting to student accounts to make sure the accurate FOAPAL is connected to the assigned Banner Fund ID. 
      • All Banner Fund ID codes will be created with 7611 or 7001 as the account code in the FOAPAL.
    • Semester Amount
      • Indicate the amount for fall semester.
      • Indicate the amount for spring semester.
    • Total Annual Amount
      • Fall + Spring
    • Full-Time Enrollment Requirement
      • Banner defaults all Banner Fund ID set-up to require full time enrollment. If your school/college/department allows a student enrolled less than full time to receive the funding, please let us know.
    • Tuition Restricted
      • Let us know if the funding is restricted to covering tuition only.
• Email completed Excel request to scholarships@temple.edu 

Considerations

Accounting

• It is the department’s responsibility to:
  • Submit a spreadsheet with accurate Banner Fund ID and FOAPAL information.
  • To maintain a master copy within the department of all Banner Fund IDs and FOAPAL information. 
  • Manage the balance of each account and work with General Accounting and/or Institutional Advancement regarding all accounting and/or agreement questions/concerns prior to submitting to SFS for posting.
  • Process any journal entry transfers that may occur if incorrect fund information is submitted to SFS.
  • Keep track of all funding spreadsheets sent to SFS—including recipients, accounting and award amount lists organized within the department. It is strongly recommended that there be a backup person within the department for submitting funding information to SFS.

Timing

• SFS begins notifying new students of their financial aid offers (first year and transfer) for an upcoming academic year in February. We encourage your department send SFS new student funding to post as early as January.  
• SFS notifies our returning students of their financial aid offers the last week of June. We encourage your department send SFS returning student funding to post as early as May.
• Summer funding should be sent over in April. 
  • If the student isn't enrolled during the summer term, SFS will apply funding to the prior spring semester. 
  • Funding can only apply to a student’s account if they are enrolled.
• SFS is not authorized to remove late registration, late payment, installment or any other fees that result in the late submission of scholarship spreadsheets for posting. 
• During peak periods, it can take 10–14 business days for SFS to post the funding.

Duration

• Financial aid offers are processed for the academic year (fall/spring) at the time of initial notification. Therefore, it is always in the best interest of the students to offer funding for both semesters of the academic year. This eliminates late and confusing revisions to the financial aid offers that are necessary when full year awards are submitted by semester, rather than for the full year.
• SFS cannot automatically renew departmental funding.
• A new aid year spreadsheet request is required annually.

Disbursement

• Financial aid funding for eligible students can disburse to an enrolled student’s account two business days before the start of the semester.  
• Delayed disbursements can occur if a student is enrolled less than full-time (please indicate on spreadsheet if a certain enrollment is required); last minute submission of a funding spreadsheets to SFS and/or financial aid requirements not fulfilled by student recipient.   
• SFS will review all unapplied scholarships after the drop/add period ends.

Eligibility

• Full time enrollment (12 or more credits for undergraduate and nine or more credits for graduate students) is assumed by SFS when posting funding unless the department notates otherwise.
• If financial need is a requirement it should be specified on the scholarship spreadsheet.
• Departments should contact scholarships@temple.edu with any revised spreadsheets if a recipient’s eligibility changes during the year. Please mark the updated spreadsheet as ‘Revised’ to avoid confusion.