March 8, 2024

For the second time in three years, East Mississippi Community College has been named a BankMobile Disbursements ACE (Achieve Campus Efficiency) Award recipient, which recognizes colleges and universities that deliver financial aid and other credit balances to students securely and efficiently.

EMCC is among 189 higher education institutions nationwide, and among three community colleges in Mississippi, to receive the 2023 ACE Award. Criteria for the award requires that more than 90 percent of student refunds from Jan. 1 to Nov. 1 were disbursed electronically and that 40 percent of all students, regardless of financial aid eligibility, completed the refund selection process.

EMCC President Dr. Scott Alsobrooks announced the award March 7 during the monthly meeting of the college’s Board of Trustees and congratulated EMCC Chief Financial Officer Tammie Holmes and members of the Business Office team for the accomplishment.

“Tammie and her team do a phenomenal job and this award is a testament to the hard work they put in daily to ensure that our students’ needs are met,” Alsobrooks said.

EMCC garnered its first ACE Award in 2021. BankMobile Disbursements, powered by BMTX, Inc., is a technology solution that helps colleges and universities across the U.S. deliver financial aid credit balances to students securely, efficiently and in compliance with federal regulation, the company’s website states.

Money to be disbursed to students through grant funds, financial aid or other sources are sent to the BankMobile Disbursements platform, which provides students options on how they would like to receive the money, including an FDIC-insured checking account available to every student. Text alerts are sent to students notifying them of the status of their refunds.

From Jan. 1, 2023, to Nov. 1, 2023, EMCC disbursed more than $10.6 million to students.

“Our goal when implementing the BankMobile Disbursements platform was to streamline the refund process and make it as convenient as possible for our students,” Holmes said. “The program has proved to be a great success and would not have been possible without the hard work and dedication of our entire Business Office team.”