So here’s the deal. I had all the credits required to graduate with my Associates degree; however, the school never sent me a degree or updated my program of study saying that I had completed it. I didn’t think anything of it. I just registered for more classes including a few retakes. During this semester is when I went to the admissions office and asked about my degree. They told to come back after class and it would be ready. I came back when my class was over and it was ready just they said. Here is where it gets weird. After I recieved my degree the school updated my program of study to complete which made me not eligible for the financial aid I had already gotten. A few days later they dropped me from all of my classes for non-payment. Mind you I had been going to class 2 to 3 weeks already and I had received a refund and everything. Now they are telling me I owe them over 6,000 dollars. Now I’m afraid that I won’t be able to transfer to a 4yr university and continue on with my education like I planned because of this debt I owe because of a technicality. What should I do?
The telling word in your post is “retakes”. This doesn’t sound like a technicality- it sounds like you dipped below the number of classes required (on a per-semester basis) to be a full time student and to qualify for the aid you got.
You need to sit down with your academic advisor to sort out the issue of what credits have you earned and how close are you to completing the associates degree, and which credits will transfer to a four year U (which will vary depending on which U you are looking at). Then you need to sit down with a financial aid counselor at your college and go through your transcript- step by step- and figure out the most cost-effective way for you to complete your program.
If you received federal funds (like Pell) when you were not entitled to them, you will need to pay them back.
That’s actually not the case. I completed my Associates degree. I have it right next to me.
You need to repay the money.
You will eventually need your school to release your official transcript in order to send it to the 4-year transfer school. The school won’t release it if you have an unpaid balance.
When I went and talked to the financial aid office, they told me that financial aid had pulled back because I didn’t have a program of study and I must be degree seeking to be eligible for financial aid.
That’s the thing, while I was trying to figure out everything with financial aid, I retrieved 3 official copies of my transcripts. So I have transcripts, I’m just worried about the debt part.
Blossom, it really is a technicality though because I had all the required credits and grades to receive the degree. The school was just taking a long time to send it to me and update program of study. My friend had the same problem. Once they finally gave it to me, it was in the middle of a semester and it changed my program of study to complete meaning I don’t have a program of study anymore; therefore, I’m not eligible for financial aid because I’m not a degree seeking student.
You really should have reconciled this BEFORE you even started classes.
Where is the money you got as a refund?
And the school is correct…if you are not a degree seeking student, you can NOT receive need based financial aid. Period.
You mean I should have waited until they officially awarded me a degree before starting classes? And obviously the money is gone, I would have just given it back if I had it.
No…you should have talked to someone about the STATUS of your degree before you enrolled in the courses. If you had done this…you would NOT have enrolled in these courses.
The money is gone? It was supposed to be used for college costs.
I would suggest talking to the school. They will work out a payment plan with you.
You will not be able to transfer anywhere else without a transcript from this community college. And they won’t release that until you reconcile your bill.
And I was a degree seeking student when I was awarded the money. It’s just that when I pressed them about my degree and they gave it to me that changed my status as a degree seeking student in the middle of a semester in which I had already received aid.
My question…WHY didn’t younoress them about the status of your degree BEFORE you enrolled in these courses?
It is YOUR responsibility to do this. Plus you said you were retaking courses as well. This also could be contributing to your issue.
The money did go towards college costs. It paid for the 4 classes I was in plus books. They sent me the rest and I bought a car to get back and forth to school with. And I already have 3 official copies of my transcrpits. I’m trying to see if there is a way I can not owe this school money before I agree to a payment plan with them because I don’t feel like I should owe them money given the circumstance.
The three “official copies” YOU have of your transcript will not be worth the paper they are printed on when you apply to other schools. The other schools will want official transcripts sent directly to THEM from your first school.
You used part of the money to buy a car, and you think college financial aid should cover that?
I think the best you can hope for is that they forgive the amount of the tuition you actually owed them. The refund…I think you need a plan for repayment.
ETA…if you owe the school money from federally funded aid, you won’t be able to get financial aid elsewhere until the bill is paid.
Because the status of my degree was fine until it actually got put in my hands, ONLY THEN did my status change. Also me retaking classes had no effect. Thats one of the first things I asked the admissions office. The lady there said retaking classes doesn’t effect me getting my degree because I had already passed the classes I was retaking with a C or better. I had my degree in hand an hour later.
Right…so retaking those courses? Why would you get financial aid for courses you did NOT need to take.
Go sit down with them and explain your case. Nobody here can really help you with this situation, except to let you know that you can’t send in transcripts- they will need to be sent in from your school.
Yes they should cover it because they never should have dropped me from my classes in the first place.
Ok you’re right.
What??? If I want to retake a class, that’s up to me.