When and How Financial Aid Pays
When Financial Aid Will Pay Out
Being Eligible for a Refund
How to Pay Your CARS Bill
Frequently Asked Questions
Summer 2013 Financial Aid Payments and Refunds
When your student's financial aid awards are ready to pay out, they will be applied automatically to your student's Campus Accounts Receivable System (CARS) account. CARS directly bills students for all types of student charges, including registration fees, University housing, telephone, short-term loans, financial aid adjustments, Summer Sessions registration fees, and miscellaneous student debts.
When Financial Aid Will Pay Out
At least one week before the beginning of each semester, financial aid awards will be applied to your student's CARS account. This will only occur if your student meets the following requirements:
- Your student is enrolled at least half-time.
- Your student does not have any registration blocks.
- Your student's financial aid file is complete.
Some aid will not be ready to pay out so it will be disbursed later. For example, if a loan has not been accepted yet, or if part of the loan process has not been completed, then the loan won't be ready to be disbursed. (Work-study earnings are paid directly to your student, as earnings occur.)
The Financial Aid and Scholarships Office sends financial aid payments to CARS three times per week.
Being Eligible for a Refund
After your student's financial aid is applied to whatever bills he or she has in CARS, if there is any aid remaining, this remaining amount will be refunded to your student directly. In other words, if what your student owes in CARS is less than the amount of aid that has been applied to CARS, your student will get money back. On the other hand, if what your student owes is less than the aid that was applied, then your student will owe money (have a CARS balance).
Remember that if your student is billed for items after all his or her aid has disbursed, he or she will have to pay the new bills with his or her refund or some other source.
How to Pay Your CARS Bill
All payments to your student's CARS account are made through e-Bill. Students do not receive paper bills. The e-Bill process is described on the Billing and Payment Services website.
Your student can grant access to a parent or other trusted adult to make payments on his or her behalf.
Once a month students are sent an email notifying them to check their e-Bill if any activity has occurred in the account.
To learn about the Deferred Payment Plan, please see studentbilling.berkeley.edu/deferredPay.htm.
To learn more about Payment Options, please see studentbilling.berkeley.edu/carsPaymentOptions.htm.
If you have questions about your student's CARS statements, please contact Cal Student Central, 120 Sproul Hall, (510) 664-9181.
1. What is Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and how does my student sign up?
2. Does all my student's money come at the same time?
3. Can my student choose not to have the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office pay the bills in CARS?
4. What happens if my student withdraws after receiving financial aid?
5. Why does my student get billed for financial aid?
6. How does my student find out if any payments are owed to the University?
7. Why hasn't my student received a refund?
1. What is Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) and how does my student sign up?
EFT is a way to have CARS refunds deposited directly to your student's checking or savings account. If your student doesn't sign up for EFT, then his or her check(s) will be held at Cal Student Central, 120 Sproul Hall, for four weeks. If your student doesn't pick it up by that time, the check will be mailed to whatever local address he or she has reported to the Registrar. Your student can sign up for EFT at eftstudent.berkeley.edu/
2. Does all my student's money come at the same time?
Your student's financial aid awards are for the academic year. Half is disbursed in fall semester and half in spring semester. When funds are first disbursed for the semester, some of your student's aid may not pay out. For example, if your student accepted a loan but has not completed a master promissory note, the loan will not be disbursed until your student has completed the entire loan process.
3. Can my student choose not to have the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office pay the bills in CARS?
Your student's financial aid must be used to pay registration fees, nonresident tuition, and residence hall bills, and any current family housing bills before any funds can be disbursed to your student. Your student can choose to have other CARS bills not paid automatically. This option appears in MyFinAid.
4. What happens if my student withdraws after receiving financial aid?
If your student withdraws after receiving financial aid, your student could be billed a significant portion of his or her aid depending on what type of aid your student received and when he or she stopped attending class. Read our web page for more information on withdrawing and financial aid.
5. Why does my student get billed for financial aid?
Your student will be billed for financial aid when he or she becomes ineligible for an award. For example, if your student received a grant that requires full-time enrollment, and the Registrar reports that your student is enrolled less than full-time, that grant will be removed from his or her awards in MyFinAid and your student will be billed for that amount. If your student receives outside scholarships or other types of outside awards and they were not reported to us, your student could be billed for some of his or her financial aid. If your student is billed for a financial aid award, he or she should contact Cal Student Central, 120 Sproul Hall, (510) 664-9181.
6. How does my student find out if any payments are owed to the University?
Your student's CARS Quick Statement on Bear Facts is updated daily and will reflect recent payments and any current CARS balance due. Please note that it may take up to two days for a financial aid payment noted on the MyFinAid Award Payment Status screen to be reflected in your student's Quick Statement on Bear Facts.
7. Why hasn't my student received a refund?
Financial aid awards are applied directly to the CARS accounts of students enrolled in classes. Institutional Grants, University scholarships, scholarships from outside agencies, and Cal Grants are used to pay off any University debts in the following order: current-semester registration fees and tuition, Financial Aid and Scholarships Office adjustments, past due debts, current due receivables, and future due receivables. Monies left over after all charges are paid are refunded to the student.
Students receiving departmental awards may not have their award applied to their CARS balance. Your student can check with Cal Student Central, 120 Sproul Hall, to find out how his or her award was disbursed and if he or she still has a balance.
Some students will have no financial aid refunds available to them because all of their aid has been used to pay University debts. This is most likely to occur for students living in University residence halls.
Federal financial aid, Cal Grants, UC Grants, and scholarships will pay to CARS only when all registration blocks are removed and the student meets all enrollment requirements. In addition, federal regulations prohibit federal aid from being used to pay prior years' debts.
Students with financial aid or other partial fee offsets covering at least the first registration fee installment will not need to make a payment in order to complete registration.