For those out-of-state who are not subject to the whims of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistive Agency (PHEAA), let me bring you up to date. Many Dickinson students who are residents of Pennsylvania receive PHEAA grants, or state aid, to attend this lovely $85,000 institution.

Since my first year here, PHEAA grants do not arrive until after the initial tuition deadline, a few weeks into the first semester. There is a whole world of government financial aid that I do not understand, but Pennsylvania cannot send their aid money to Dickinson until after the deadline. Fine. The financial aid office is understanding and it always comes through at the amount estimated by Dickinson.

As a panicked first year when I called them freaking out about the massive outstanding balancing on my account, this was all calmly explained to me. So, every year since then, I pay my small out of pocket cost and leave a balance equivalent to my PHEAA grant. 

However, this year, things did not go as planned. PHEAA decided to change their entire grant system, resulting in massive delays in the arrival of PHEAA grants. After weeks of checking government portals and begging for any updates on when this money might come through, Dickinson sent out their first communication on September 12.

Their email stated that “any PA State Grant funds listed on your financial aid offer or bill will not be credited to your account until your eligibility for the PA State Grant has been confirmed by PHEAA.” In the same email, they shared an update from PHEAA that estimated confirmation of grants arriving in mid-October, or later. 11 days later, we got our next update. The Students Account Office shared “Dickinson cannot guarantee the PA State Grant funds for any students. All we can suggest at this time is, if you are able to submit payment in full for your current FA24 balance owing then please do so.”

The email then continues to outline that if you do not pay by October 1, you are subject to holds placed on your account that will prevent you from registering for classes come November, study abroad application review/acceptance and various other important actions to your college career. If you do pay the grant amount, and then the PHEAA grant comes through, then the grant will be credited to your account and you can request a refund. 

Now that we are all up to speed on the heinous past few months, we get to my complaint. Why is the best Dickinson College Students Account Office can offer a recommendation to pay the money you are receiving a grant for? The government has determined neither myself nor my family can pay this sum of money, but Dickinson College thinks I have thousands upon thousands of dollars laying around to give to this institution and just wait for the refund? Just this request is one thing, I get why this would make the Students Account Office’s work easier and let things run better. And sure, I can just ignore this email and wait for the grant money, but a hold on my account? This is where my problem lies.

What have I done exactly to deserve a hold on my account? When I think of receiving a hold on my account, I assume I have somehow failed my duties as a student, and I argue that the failure of the of the PHEAA grant to be confirmed and delivered has nothing to do with me failing. Now in all transparency, no hold hit my account on October 1. But as course registration looms, I have mounting anxiety about a sudden inability to register for classes.

I think Dickinson could do much better than request students to just pay the balance on their accounts. At minimum, you could have arranged that students who have a balance on their account due to the failure of PHEAA grants to arrive will not receive a hold on their account. This would have saved many students the stress and anxiety. I do not want to call out any employee, or the office as a whole, but rather a larger cultural issue here. This message truly made me feel like there is a true lack of understanding that students might not be able to produce tuition money instantly. Dickinson College is quite generous with their financial aid across the board, but I was simply shocked to read a message from the college requesting me to produce thousands of dollars.