After promising progress over a month ago, Santa Fe’s financial aid issues remain unresolved, leaving numerous students without their expected funding.
This continued failure to disperse allotted financial aid funds is still affecting families' financial and emotional well-being, and has the mother of two Santa Fe students, Amity Hoenisch, feeling distraught.
Both her son Kaleb and daughter Evelyn have been greatly affected by this situation.
“Our son Kaleb was suddenly dropped from ALL of his classes without notice when the school didn't correctly process his Bright Futures money/payment. He was actually one semester away from graduation at the time and working on transfer requirements when this happened. The stress and panic that he went through attempting to resolve this was unconscionable,” Hoenisch wrote in an email.
Kaleb’s situation was eventually resolved, but it took them personally reaching out to the Vice Provost to do so. He was able to re-enroll in classes that would meet his graduation requirements, but was forced to switch some of the classes he had originally signed up for.
According to Hoenisch, this situation is rampant across the school, with students, including her children, being outright lied to—some even being told their financial aid had already been placed into their bank accounts when it hadn’t.
Hoenisch’s daughter Evelyn is a full-time Bright Futures student and has also been troubled by these circumstances. Now 11 weeks into the spring semester— with only about four weeks remaining— she has yet to receive the financial aid she is entitled to.
Hoenisch has spoken with Bright Futures, FAFSA and the Santa Fe financial aid office multiple times, ultimately confirming that the funds are being held by Santa Fe.
“We have confirmed with Bright Futures, her financial aid was distributed to Santa Fe. $1,323 was disbursed to Santa Fe on Evelyn's behalf from Bright Futures on 3/7/25. Santa Fe's own Financial Aid website shows that they were paid $1,323 from Bright Futures on her behalf on 3/7/25,” Hoenisch said.
But despite having received the disbursement from Bright Futures, Santa Fe has not cleared the scholarship money as received on Evelyn’s account. For students like Evelyn and Kaleb, this situation is especially infuriating.
“They worked their butts off in high school to earn Bright Futures scholarships, aiming to avoid financial stress in college—only to face this mess,” Hoenisch said.
Hoenisch is grateful that Evelyn is living at home, so their family is able to help her financially, but that doesn’t take away from the frustration she feels from being told, “There is nothing we can do" by the Santa Fe financial aid and cashier staff.
The school's inability to provide information about the cause of the problem leads the Hoenischs’ to believe there is something deeper happening at Santa Fe.
“The majority of aid packages for the 2024-25 academic year have been processed, including federal and local aid. The remaining aid, which is among the more complex and requires heightened review, continues to be processed and the College is working continuously to resolve outstanding issues,” Lisa Brosky, Associate Vice President of Marketing and Communications, wrote in an email.
“These young adults are being given the run around by the school and in many cases are just giving up, walking away from their education,” Hoenisch said.
Angela Acevedo, who expressed her position on this situation in an article posted on February 28, also has yet to receive her financial aid.
“They admitted they forgot about me when I went to financial aid last week,” Acevedo said.
Santa Fe nursing student Colin Curry, who was also featured in the previous story, is also awaiting his financial aid and is “not hopeful” that there will be any significant changes to this status.
Santa Fe’s statement on the situation remains consistent with their February attribution.
“Santa Fe is providing ongoing support to students through emergency aid, which helps with rent, utility payments and other urgent life needs. Students also have access to the Saints Food Pantry and other resources. The College has made progress on the technical issues that affected aid this year and is working toward full resolution,” Brosky said.
With numerous students still awaiting their funds, their frustration and uncertainty continues to grow stronger. The lack of transparency and inability to provide answers have left students like Evelyn and Kaleb Hoenisch, Angela Acevedo and Colin Curry in limbo, wondering if their promised support will ever arrive.