Based on the schools I've dealt with I can totally see them making a mistake, not helping her when she called in to ask about it, and only getting upset much later after the check has been cashed. In reality though it's the school's responsibility and they are at fault.
A kind of similar situation happened a few years ago at an office I was working at. An employee had signed up for direct deposit but was not aware that her check had been deposited to her bank account. She picked up her payroll stub that shows the amount that was deposited to her account. It looks just like a check but it says "NON-NEGOTIABLE" on it. Anyway she went to Wal-Mart to cash it because she didn't realize it wasn't an actual check. Wal-Mart cashed that bad boy and only realized a few days later that the check was "bad". Of course we advised them that the check wasn't "bad" but in fact it was not a "check" and that they were "******ed" beyond all "belief".
Anyway, my point is Notre Dame's fault they aren't entitled to ****.
