Short term aid not needed by students

By Sonia Morin

mori0172@algonquincollege.com

None of the 30 or so victimized students who lost their money in the debit card scam last month have applied for the short term loans, despite the college offering them the option.

The Financial Aid department sent two separate e-mails following the incident. The memo offered the defrauded students short term loans to help them make ends meet until their banks reimbursed their stolen funds.

“My assumption is that while students are grateful the option is there for them, they’re not in any pressing need for it,” said Linda Fielding, manager of Financial Aid.

“It was important to let them know they had a place to go for help,” she said. “It’s a shock to most people when something like this happens and they don’t know where to go.”

The loans differ from student to student depending on the length of time their bank will be taking to get the funds back in their accounts.

“I’ve heard between two days to two weeks,” said Fielding. Afterwards the students will have to repay the loan to Financial Aid.

There is also no set amount of money.

“The amount each student will be eligible for will be determined after the student meets with security and provides us with confirmation from their bank as to the length of time it’s going to take to get reimbursed for the funds that have been taken,” she said.

Students will also have to provide a breakdown of what expenses they’ll be facing until their funds are back in their accounts.

“Once security receives a report of debit fraud they report it to the Financial Aid office to ensure that all students have the financial support needed,” said David Hall, public relations communications officer.

In late September, students reported getting their accounts cleaned out after using one specific debit card location in Thunder Alley. The college and police are still investigating. There have been no arrests.