Just like Mom lectures her kids to eat their leftovers, the Office of Financial Aid does the same thing.

Only, of course, with money.

Since some students drop classes or even drop out during the fall and spring semesters, there is always left over financial aid-and the Office of Financial Aid uses that for the summer.

Syreeta Butler, 28, and her husband, Mark, 29, were having problems receiving those leftovers.

They had filled out all the paperwork they thought needed to be filled out and handed it in.

But, when they went to inquire about their money later, they found out not all their paperwork had been done, and the Office of Financial Aid had forgotten to inform them about signing the promissory note, where they had to agree to all of Financial Aid’s terms.

Since they turned in the promissory note late, a small chunk of their financial aid went to late fees.

However, both Mark and Syreeta have a positive outlook on the Office of Financial Aid.

“Overall, (the Office of Financial Aid) is not negative,” Mark said. “They do a good job at answering phones and they do tell you what scholarships you qualify for.”

The type of grants that are available over the summer include work study, supplemental grants, supplemental educational opportunity grant and if students did not use all their financial aid during the fall and spring, they can use the remaining amount for summer.

Diana Ensign, the interim chief financial aid officer, said since it’s the summer, they don’t have to worry about as big of a budget as the regular school year.

“First of all, the weeks of enrollment are less,” Ensign said. “Our budgets are based on not only cost of tuition fees and weeks of enrollment-it’s still based on remaining need.”

Ensign said the number of students applying for financial aid this summer has increased compared to previous summers.

Students can only receive financial aid if they are full-time, which means they have to have at least six credit hours.

The deadline to apply for financial aid this summer is June 30. The application can be found on their Web site, www.eiu.edu/~finaid.

Sam Sottosanto can be reached at 581-7943 or slsottosanto@eiu.edu.