I have one of the coolest jobs in the country. While often stressful, especially during “Freshman Season”, I have the privilege of overseeing the implementation of Cornell’s need-based financial aid policy. In summing up our policy, I often use the phrase: “helping students who could not otherwise afford to attend.” To me, this is a very powerful statement, and represents one of Cornell’s best and most noble of goals. As we all know, Cornell is a very expensive university, with highly selective admissions, and produces graduates that work around the world. Helping to provide this educational opportunity to those students whose families cannot afford to pay the full bill on their own gives me great satisfaction. I believe that our policy helps to achieve a public good: the opportunity to achieve a Cornell education. Armed with a Cornell degree, our undergraduates are represented in so many graduate schools, so many professions, and so many volunteer activities, they’re too numerous to count.
As we approach the end of another semester, I am happy to celebrate my 52nd semester (and all of them in the financial aid office) being part of this great institution, delivering a great education to so many.
My sophomore-to-be son just received his netpay bill from cornell with no grant or aid information credited. when is cornell financial aid going to apply these credits to his bill so that we, as parents, know what the true cost for the semester will be…the bill is due in mid august, but it is incomplete…
thanks…concerned parent
Marc–the staff is working diligently away at the 5,000 or so aid applications we’ve received from continuing students. Every day, we complete a batch and students are then notified via email that their aid decisions are available on line in the Student Center. From your message, I can’t tell who your son is, and I would not want you to send that information in this forum. Please send an email message to us at finaid@cornell.edu with your son’s name and Cornell ID number for us to research. Thank you.
Tom Keane
When is Cornell going to post in real time? It’s quite obvious to all that the absence of real time financial activity benefits the university alone and penalizes the bill-paying student/parent. I have been told that the university is in the ‘process’ of changing over to real time for the past three years. How much interest has the university procured in the meantime? Be as ethical as you espouse and have all financial postings!
Hi Denise–students can see their charges and payments in real time by accessing the Student Center using their Cornell netid. The system navigation is to go to the finances section of the Student Center, click on the box that reads, “other financial…”, which will then give an option of “account activity”. This option provides the student with a current view of activity on his/her account.
In October 2009, Cornell implemented the “Recent Activity” module to NetPay, our e-billing system that allows the student, and other users the student has authorized (such as parents), to view activity between billing statements. This system is updated on a nightly basis (except weekends and holidays) to accommodate batch processing.
If you have a specific timing issue that you are concerned with, please contact the Bursar, Peter Olcott at po11@cornell.edu, to further explore the issue.
Tom Keane
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