During the first week of classes, many students are already feeling the stress by having to face long lines at the financial aid office with only two desks available to handle the high numbers.
"I've been here twice," sophomore James Ferguson, said. "The first time was a two hour wait when it was swamped after orientation when everybody was over here so I could understand the wait here."
Coming back to the office more than once, Ferguson saw the line stretching down the hallway.
"I was here yesterday and the day before and the line was about three hours long I would guess because it was down to the registrar's office," he said. "I had things to do. You can't come and wait in line because you have classes."
Ferguson was not the only one to go back more than once.
"I came here yesterday at about 4 p.m.," junior telecommunications major Michael Murray, said. "I'm pretty sure they close at 5 so I decided to just come back today but the line is just as long today as it was yesterday. I figured it would be a lot shorter since it's the morning."
Incoming freshmen got their first taste of waiting in the financial aid line at the start of the year with the many students needing to turn in checks for scholarships they received or questions that needed to be answered.
"I think they should do something where you can have more than two people in there at a time," freshman radiography major Kilashandra Bowen, said.
This was her first time waiting in line at the office and she ended up waiting for about an hour to get helped.
Calling the office can also prove to be difficult.
"I've tried to call financial aid several times just because it's basic stuff that I needed to turn in but it's always busy or no one ever answers," Ferguson said. "They are clearly way understaffed as it is this close to a deadline for the first payment. It's important to get people in here to make sure all these students have their aid before the first payment is due."
Students who waited it out offer their own advice to the financial aid office.
"The one thing they could do is train some of their other staff to come here and just work for the first few weeks of school to take care of all the financial stuff," Murray said. " By the time it's all due next week, they won't need all those people to help."
There were about 40 students in the hallway waiting to reach the office this morning.
Adding more staff would solve the problem, students said.
"My only constructive suggestion would be to expand office staff and make another kiosk available and get more students moving through here," Ferguson said. "I hope that they have something better in place next time they have to do this."
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