MyZou delays loans

By Elliot Njus

Published Sept. 14, 2007

MU officials blame myZou, the university's online registration and student finance application, for delaying the disbursal of $8.6 million in federal student loans.

The university is issuing interest-free temporary loans to students whose Federal Parent Loan for Undergraduate Student loans can't be processed. PLUS loans, which are issued to parents of students, are the only loans affected.

MU spokesman Christian Basi said the delay is a result of difficulty in adding parents' information to the myZou system.

"PLUS loans are the most complicated of any loan to process, because we have to get additional information from parents," Basi said.

Basi said the university has been implementing the new system for 18 months, but the program needs to be "tweaked" to meet MU's needs. He said one of those changes is the PLUS loan.

"We know there's a solution, and we're working on it," he said. "We are doing absolutely everything we can to ensure students are not inconvenienced with this delay."

To assist the effected students, Basi said MU will hold off on billing students whose loans haven't been processed up to the amount of their loan.

The short-term loans are limited to the amount of the PLUS loans, but when students apply, financial aid instructors will ask them to evaluate how much of the money they need immediately.

"We have to be financially responsible," Basi said.

So far, the university has distributed more than $250,000 in loans. Basi said students who are affected by the delay should contact their financial adviser.

Basi said the issue was a challenge for the university, but myZou would be good for students in the long run.

"It's going to benefit everybody," Basi said. "It's going to be easier for students to use, and it will give them information in real time."

MyZou replaced the STARMU registration program, which had been in use since 1975. It also includes billing and financial aid applications. This is the first time the systems have been fully integrated in one program at MU.