The National Office has seen a number of cases recently that have to do with financial assistance violations. In light of this, we want to offer some best practices for coaches and administrators dealing with financial aid topics. Below are a few scenarios we have seen recently that have caused some confusion and resulted in self-report violations.
Situation 1: A student must register with the Eligibility Center, but does not have a credit card to pay the fee. A coach helps the student by paying for the fee with their own credit card and has the student reimburse them in cash.
Analysis 1: This is a violation because someone other than the student’s parents, legal guardian or the financial aid department at the school has offered financial assistance. The violation occurs at the point in which the coach pays. The violation does not disappear upon reimbursement by the student.
Situation 2: A student signs a financial aid agreement to receive financial assistance for tuition, fees and book. Due to some hang ups in the business office the financial assistance does not take affect before classes start and therefore leaves the student without books. To ensure the student has the proper materials for class, a coach purchases the books and is later reimbursed when the financial assistance is distributed.
Analysis 2: Again, the violation comes at the point at which the financial assistance takes place. This situation is a bit more confusing because books are an item that are permissible to be paid for per NAIA bylaws. This is classified as a violation because the books weren’t paid for through the established and approved processes set forth by the financial aid department.
We certainly appreciate the initiative that our membership takes to help students succeed. We understand that some topics, particularly financial assistance, can be confusing. Below are some best practices for the scenarios above so that our membership may avoid similar violations in the future.
• Prepaid credit cards are available at a large number of stores and can be used as a normal credit card. For this particular scenario, the prepaid card eliminates the need for someone other than the student to step in and pay their fee. PlayNAIA fees are also able to be paid by money order to avoid using a credit card all together.
• If there is an issue with aid distribution have the student, when possible, purchase the books necessary and be reimbursed by the institution once the financial aid is distributed. There is also the option to check the text books out at the library in a lot of cases.
