[Rehab] We are funding and need based financial aid

Tue Oct 1 18:19:49 UTC 2019

Justin, 

It depends on what funding the university was offering the student. 

If it  is a Pale or other federal financial aid source, then that money needs to be used first. It is common that VR agencies even require that the student apply for Pale or other federal aid packages, but they cannot ask the student to take out a loan. 

If the University was providing the student with a scholarship, then it depends on if the university-based scholarship is merit based or supplemental. If it is merit-based, VR can still say that those funds need to be applied first, and they only pay what is left over. 
I see this at the university all of the time. If we expect VR to cover tuition and we are covering living expenses, VR often forgets this fact and debits whatever is in the student's account from what they plan to pay, even if the funds are earmarked for other purposes. 

So, in a nutshell, VR is correct to say that the student must expend all other comparable resources first, including Pale grants, merit scholarships, and the like.'
This is why the relationship between the VR counselor and student is so very important. If the student can adequately explain that the funds they have are to pay for X,Y,Z, but that VR is needed to cover tuition/fees, then most reasonable VR counselors can come to an agreement on who will pay for what. 
If VR is being incalcitrant, then the only other option is for the student to get the funds another way, or get them after VR has paid the tuition bill. 

HTH, 
Aloha

Edward C. Bell, Ph.D., CRC, NOMC, Director, 
Professional Development and Research Institute on Blindness
Louisiana Tech University
600 Mayfield Ave / 210 Woodard Hall
PO Box 3158
Ruston LA 71272
Office: 318.257.4554                      Fax: 318.257.2259 
ebell at latech.edu  www.pdrib.com
*************
"I am somehow less interested in the weight and convolutions of  Einstein's brain than in the near certainty that people of equal  talent have lived and died in cotton fields and sweatshops."
 -- Stephen Jay Gould

-----Original Message-----
From: Rehab <rehab-bounces at nfbnet.org> On Behalf Of Justin Salisbury via Rehab
Sent: Tuesday, October 01, 2019 11:45 AM
To: rehab at nfbnet.org
Cc: Justin Salisbury <PRESIDENT at alumni.ecu.edu>
Subject: [Rehab] We are funding and need based financial aid

Dear colleagues,

A consumer and college student has come to me with a question, and I am seeking your help in finding an answer.

Before people wrongly accuse me of this again, I am going to be extremely clear that this is not somebody from Hawaii. It is not a consumer of the agency where I work. Like any other involved member of the national Federation of the blind, I communicate with people across the country on a regular basis.

This student is hearing from the University financial aid office that the funding from vocational rehabilitation is other need-based aid and that they are retracting the money that they would have given. It appears that both the University and the vocational rehabilitation agency are treating each other‘s need-based aid as comparable benefits and saying that they will not pay because the other must pay. Thus, the student is falling in the middle. Since both entities believe that their funding must come as a last resort, how do we figure out which one takes priority and which one must pay?

Mahalo,

Justin

Sent from my iPhone

Justin Mark Hideaki Salisbury

Mobile: 808.797.8606
Email: 808salisbury at gmail.com<mailto:808salisbury at gmail.com>
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Justin_Salisbury
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justin-salisbury

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