Student financial aid has entered the digital age at Kansas University.

For the first time, KU officials this year are notifying students how much they’ll receive in financial aid by e-mail, instead of sending letters through the U.S. Postal Service. The first round of about 7,000 e-mail notifications is scheduled to be sent this week.

“I think it is what our students like to be able to do, to do things when it’s convenient for them,” said Stephanie Covington, associate director of financial aid. “They’ll have easy access to financial aid information from any computer.”

The financial aid notifications are the latest KU service to be digitized using the PeopleSoft computer system that was brought to campus in 1999.

Services already online include enrollment, report cards and Student Senate election voting.

The financial aid component is part of $2.4 million in tuition funds set aside for technology improvements on campus in recent years.

For the first year of the digital switch, KU has sent postcards to all students notifying them of the change.

After receiving their e-mail notifications this week, students will have 30 days to visit the KU Enroll and Pay Web site, https://sa.ku.edu, to accept or decline their awards. In the past, students had to return a form indicating their plans to accept or deny aid by mail.

Other online financial aid services include completing application forms and authorizing direct deposits.