Financial aid: finally

The Missouri Department of Higher Education is releasing its funds for state grants and scholarships on Thursday. It's about time. As it says in the Missourian's article, students have been waiting for this money for about two months. Never before has DHE released the funds this late. They blame it on switching systems of payment, but I don't think that should be accepted as an excuse. They seemed to anticipate the delay, but it seems like they didn't really do anything to stop it. I wish the article had mentioned when DHE switched computer systems. That has a big influence on my feeling toward it. DHE should have done it during the summer, when far fewer students would be affected by the delay. If DHE waited until fall, what was its reasoning? As one of the students affected, I can attest that having thousands of dollars somewhere in limbo is just a little nervewracking. Shocking, I know. I didn't seek out the financial aid office, because they sent e-mails letting me know that the payments were delayed. I did appreciate that. I'm not sure why students would have gone, actually. The money for the scholarships appeared in the "Anticipated aid" column of my bill, and I wasn't responsible for paying for it at the time. Apparently, though, some students did. I'm confused about why the 30 or 40 students who took out loans through the university did. Maybe I'm misunderstanding our financial aid system. Or maybe it's money in general ...