The ’Canes Central team looks forward to welcoming you back to campus! Before you know it, charges will be applied to your student account, your financial aid will disburse, you will dust off your ’Cane Card, and the add/drop period will commence. The Fall semester is always a busy time so the ’Canes Central team created this Fall 2021 Preparation Guide to help answer some of your billing and payment, financial aid, registration and records, and ’Cane Card needs. Review the information below and Beat the Rush!
In support of your Fall preparation, our Director, Betsy Lopez, and various members of the ’Canes Central team will host 5 live webinar sessions as part of the Director’s Corner series. The 1st 15 minutes will consist of presented material and the 2nd 15 minutes will leave time for Q&A. Check out the topics below and visit our Director’s Corner website for access instructions. Each session will also be recorded and posted on that site for future reference. Attend, ask questions, and prepare! Date Time Topic Wednesday, 7/7 12:00-12:30 EST Delegate/Proxy Access + Get Help With … + Understanding Your Bill Wednesday, 7/14 12:00-12:30 EST Bill Pay Options + Health Insurance Waivers + Fees Wednesday, 7/21 12:00-12:30 EST Cost of Attendance + Types of Financial Aid + Accept FA Awards Wednesday, 7/28 12:00-12:30 EST Title IV Permissions + Disbursement + Refunds Wednesday, 8/4 12:00-12:30 EST Holds + Add/Drop + Waitlist/Swap + Academic Calendar
Looking for quick answers? Access our robust knowledge base of online self-help articles and search for the answers to your questions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, by visiting the Get Help With … tab on our website.
You can assign permission to proxies—also known as delegates—to access your student information, consistent with the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA). Without this permission, the University is unable to share specifics about your student records. A two-step process must be fully-completed for the University to disclose your information to a proxy: (1) you must give permission and (2) the proxy must confirm the proxy account. Review the Get Help With … knowledge article to learn more.
The process to generate your initial Fall 2021 bill takes time as information must be loaded from multiple sources. Tuition must be calculated, anticipated financial aid must be loaded, housing and dining fees must be applied, etc. Your Fall 2021 bill may not be ready for viewing until you receive your 1st billing notice via email. Review the billing timeline below and wait for the 1st billing notice to arrive on 7/12/2021 to review your account, pay your bill, and reach out with questions so you know the initial bill generation process is complete. Date Action Notes Monday, 1st Billing Notice This is the date students will receive an email that Fall 2021 bills are ready to be reviewed and payment arrangements should be made. Students must be enrolled for a bill to be generated. Monday, Monthly Payment Plan (MPP) Registration Opens Students can start signing up for the MPP via CaneLink. Monthly installments will be due 8/12/2021, 9/12/2021, 10/12/2021, and 11/12/2021. Thursday, Payment Due Final payment arrangements must be applied on the account by this date. Undergraduate students who do not satisfy their bill may be subject to cancellation, which means they could be subject to being un-enrolled due to non-payment. Undergraduate students may not be eligible to move into on-campus housing. Friday, Financial Aid Disbursement Begins Aid will start disbursing onto students’ accounts if all necessary documents are received and awards are accepted. Please note that some undergraduate funds, like Florida Bright Futures, will not disburse until after the financial aid census date (i.e., the day after the Last Day to Drop With a “W”). Monday, Classes Begin Good luck this semester! On-going after Financial Aid Disbursement Begins Refunds Sent to Students Refunds are issued throughout the semester to students who are eligible due to an excess on their account. Students who are expecting to receive a refund from their Financial Aid awards will typically see a refund issued to them within 24-48 hours after their financial aid disburses to their account unless they have a S06 hold. This hold is an administrative hold—it is not visible to students—but is typically applied to Graduate and Law students’ accounts to allow for one last review of all Financial Aid awards prior to the release of the refund. This hold can take up to 4 days to be released. Once released, the refund will typically be issued within 24-48 hours.
Billing and Payment
7/12/2021
7/12/2021
8/12/2021
8/13/2021
8/23/2021
You can review the line-item activity of your Fall 2021 bill by following the steps in the “Where can I view my student account information/balance and semester bill?” knowledge article. The information contained on the Tuition and Fee Rates charts and Fee Descriptions websites may also help you better-understand each line-item. Remember: The first official Fall 2021 billing statement will go out via email on Monday, 7/12/21, so please wait for the notice before you take any actions or reach out for assistance.
New students who have their own, outside health insurance may waive the UM Health Insurance by the 7/15/21 deadline. Continuing students must also renew their waiver each year by the same date. To learn more and/or waive your UM Health Insurance, please visit the Health Insurance Waiver website.
Some students, depending on their academic level and number of credits enrolled, may be able to Opt-In or Opt-Out of certain fees. The specifics of what fees are “optional” are outlined in the Tuition and Fee Rates charts, and these fees will be marked with “(optional)” and/or “**”. Check out the Get Help With … knowledge article to learn how to Opt-In or Opt-Out of such fees. All other fees are required and cannot be waived. Please note there may be deadlines by which students must act to Opt-In or Opt-Out of optional fees (e.g., Wellness Center is by the Last Day to Drop Without a “W”).
There are many ways to pay your bill. Check out the information below to learn more about some common methods of payment and refer to our Billing and Payment website for additional details on online payment instructions, Cashier’s Office information, etc.
There is a 3-step process to ensure you are set up to receive your Florida Prepaid funds. Once these steps are complete and the processing team has a chance to review, you will see a Florida Prepaid deferral credit added onto your account until the funds are received by the University. Click here to learn more. You should not need to complete these steps again if you already completed them in the past unless you choose to make a change to your selections in Step 2. The form you completed in Step 2 may be visible in your Boomi Form Dashboard (see the bottom of our Forms page for details).
Students who are being sponsored by an organization—note this is different from an Outside Scholarship—must set up a formal Third Party Sponsor contract between the University and the organization. Once this is set up, a Third Party deferral credit will be added to your account until the funds are received by the University. Click here to learn more.
The Monthly Payment Plan is a great option that allows most students to spread out their balance payments across the semester. Please note this option is not available to Executive/Professional MBA students or UM employees. Click here to learn more.
Your 529 payments must be mailed to the P.O. Box listed under Addresses at www.canescentral.miami.edu/contact/. There is no wire or online payment option for 529 payments.
Your Cost of Attendance (COA) is the maximum amount of financial aid you can be awarded, and it accounts for standardized costs you may incur due to tuition, fees, housing, meals, books, transportation, etc. Students may be awarded need-based or non-need-based aid based on their COA and their Estimated Family Contribution (EFC). Check out the Cost of Attendance section of our Financial Aid website for additional details. Students who intend to keep the UM Health Insurance, move from on-campus to off-campus housing, live in Lakeside Village or University Village, purchase a school-related computer, etc. may apply for a COA increase using the appropriate COA Appeal/Request form listed at www.canescentral.miami.edu/forms/. Be sure to carefully review the COA Appeal/Request forms and supply the appropriate documentation for your request to be considered. COA Appeal/Request requests that do not meet the specified criteria may not be approved. If an increase is approved, students may be offered additional federal loan dollars (if eligible) and/or be able to pursue additional outside resources.
Financial Aid
Students must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) to be considered for various types of financial aid, including scholarships, grants, loans, and work study. New undergraduate students are also required to complete the CSS Profile for the first year in which they would like to be considered for financial aid.
All students must complete a new FAFSA for each academic year at https://studentaid.gov/. For example, the 2021-2022 FAFSA is required to be considered for Fall 2021, Spring 2022, and Summer 2022 financial aid (i.e., academic year 2021-2022). Be careful not to complete the wrong FAFSA document so you do not delay the awarding process. Each FAFSA uses tax information from the prior-prior year. For example, the 2021-2022 FAFSA will require tax information from 2019, which is 2 years prior to the beginning of the 2021-2022 academic year. To simplify the process, it is recommended you use the IRS data retrieval tool when completing your FAFSA at https://studentaid.gov/.
You may be asked to submit additional documents to determine your full aid eligibility. It is important you submit all requested documents in a timely fashion and via the means specified in your “Documents and Messages” under the “View Financial Aid” section of your CaneLink Student Center to ensure timely review and the successful completion of your financial aid package. Refer to the Get Help With … knowledge article to learn how to view this information for the proper aid year.
Undergraduate students may be offered a variety of aid awards depending on their demonstrated need according to their FAFSA, CSS Profile, academic merit, residency status, etc. Learn more about Types of Aid on our Financial Aid website.
Eligible graduate and law students will be awarded a combination of Unsubsidized and Graduate PLUS loans. Students who received a scholarship or tuition waiver from their college/school should also see this accounted for in their COA. Learn more about Types of Aid on our Financial Aid website.
Once you are awarded a financial aid package, you must review and accept or decline your federal funds via your CaneLink Student Center. Review the Get Help With … knowledge article to learn more. Pay close attention to the aid year in the top-right drop down menu and be sure to choose the year you wish to view.
Please note that proxies are unable to access this information through their proxy account. Instead, proxies must work directly with you to review and accept awards through your CaneLink credentials.
Students may be able to request an increase or decrease to their offered or accepted loan amounts depending loan type, eligibility, room in COA, etc. Check out the Get Help With … knowledge article for details.
Title IV are managed by the federal government and include Subsidized Loans, Unsubsidized Loans, Parent PLUS Loans, Graduate PLUS Loans, and others. In compliance with federal regulations, these funds can only be applied to applicable tuition, mandatory fees, and University-contracted room and board unless specific permission is given by the student for the University to apply them toward other charges (e.g., UM health insurance). Learn more via our “What are Title IV funds and how do I authorize their payment?” knowledge article.
If Title IV permissions are not provided, students may receive a refund for any excess credits that go beyond tuition, fees, or on-campus housing. Students can then choose to use that refund or another method of payment to satisfy any remaining balance.
Are you interested in pursuing outside scholarship opportunities? Be proactive and be persistent in your pursuit, and try using FastWEB.com, Scholarships.com, or other outside scholarship search engines.
Did you already receive an outside scholarship? If so, follow the steps below …
Undergraduate Students
You must complete 2 steps to see this accurately post to your account: (1) complete the Outside Scholarship Submission Form and (2) ask the outside scholarship agency to mail the paper scholarship check to the P.O. Box listed at www.canescentral.miami.edu/contact/.
Graduate and Law Students
Simply ask the outside scholarship agency to mail the paper scholarship check to the P.O. Box listed at www.canescentral.miami.edu/contact/.
It’s important you plan ahead for important milestones throughout your academic career to make sure you adhere to all applicable deadlines. The Academic Calendar can help you with this as it lists the Last Day to Add, the Last Day to Drop Without a “W”, Last Day to Apply for Graduation, etc. Click here to review. We recommend you review your schedule today and confirm that (a) you are enrolled in the proper schedule of courses and (b) the credits for each of the courses you are enrolled in look correct (e.g., 3 credits for a course if you believe it to be 3 credits). Be sure to consult your advisor if you have any questions about your schedule. Keep in mind your enrollment has a direct impact on your bill. If you are under-enrolled but plan to enroll in additional courses later, keep in mind this decision could impact your tuition charges, fee charges, financial aid eligibility, etc. Thus, our team highly recommends you enroll in a full schedule of courses now, and you then use the Swap function to adjust your courses prior to the Last Day to Add. Learn more about Waitlist vs. Swap below.
Registration and Records
"Keep in mind your enrollment has a direct impact on your bill."
Review Schedule and Enrolled Credits
There is still time to adjust your Fall 2021 schedule. Keep in mind that adds/drops beyond the specified deadlines are not permitted so it is critical you plan ahead using the information presented on the Academic Calendar.
Any drops that would affect your tuition calculation may also be subject to the Tuition Drop Credit Schedule. Feel free to reach out to one of our team members via any of the means listed at www.canescentral.miami.edu/contact/ if you have any questions.
The waitlist will run every morning between 12:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. through the Last Day to Add. If you place yourself on a waitlist, you can view your waitlist position on your class schedule (see image below).
To avoid any billing and/or waitlist enrollment issues, it is highly recommended you register for a full schedule of courses that will satisfy your degree requirements—even if it is not your 100% desired schedule—and then set up swaps, not waitlists, to maximize your ability to enroll in your preferred courses by accounting for potential enrollment issues. Learn more about this recommendation and review the waitlist and swap instructional videos in our “What is the different between Waitlist and Swap?” knowledge article. Be sure to also consult your advisor if you have any questions about your schedule.
Holds can be placed on your account for one of two reasons: (1) as a simple identifier that you belong to a specific student group or (2) as a prompt to trigger you to take action (e.g., submit your Social Security Card). It is important you regularly review your CaneLink Student Center for holds and that you take action to clear them as soon as possible because holds with calls to action may prevent you from registering, ordering transcripts, and/or receiving diplomas. See below to learn how you can review any holds placed on your account.
New Undergraduate Students You must wait to receive your ’Cane Card when you check in for housing/Orientation. Please note you must be enrolled to obtain a ’Cane Card. New Graduate and Law Students Consult your colleges/schools to learn if they have specific times set aside on or before Orientation for you to obtain your ’Cane Card. If not, feel free to swing by the ’Canes Central office during our Walk In hours and our team will be able to assist you. Please note you must be enrolled to obtain a ’Cane Card. Other Students Learn more on our ’Cane Card website and feel free to swing by during our Walk In hours if you need any assistance.
'Cane Card
