Before I jump in i am posting this for step by step help not just 1 awnser I would like help from someone who is willing to read and check back in for updates and continue to help
so about 6 years ago I was accepted for a pell grant recieved it started attending college a month maybe 2 later I got a divorce and went thru family crisis. long story short i went into depression and did not handle my responsibilities like an adult stopped attending classes moved out of my home just gave up. now 6 years later I am attempting to enroll in college and it is damn near impossible even when not applying for FAFSA. So first question is i was going to attempt to enroll in college without fafsa try to borrow money from friends take out other forms of loans I was just going to make it happen but now my community college will not allow me to enroll without my previous transcipt from university that I still need to repay pell grant to I didnt even complete any credits and I do not wish to transfer any credits is that at all legal? what should I do what steps should I take. Also if I want to apply for fafsa because they will accept me is paying off the previous university the only option? I have heard that if you attended classes on pell grant and went to classes for less than a certain amount of days that you are supposed to be withdrawn and money refunded so if that is the case i def. only attended classes for 1 month maybe one and a half months so shouldn’t I have been withdrawn from my courses by the professors… I know this a lot in my first post but I am open to any help and suggestions!
$3,000 I would call and talk to them about it but it seems no one at that college knows what is going on… either that or they simply don’t care they were mostly rude and standoffish… it was weird I dont understand.
I ortant edit…it was YOUR responsibility to formally withdraw from your classes at school number one. This is not done automatically just because you stop attending classes. It sounds like you did not withdraw from the class(es) in a timely fashion. Is that correct?
If you need to repay your Pell Grant money, or owe any other money to your previous school, you will need to reconcile that before you move on. You cannot apply as a matriculating student without ALL transcripts from previous colleges. The previous college won’t release your transcript until the bills are settled.
So start by contacting the previous college. Find out how much you actually owe them. Get it all in writing. See if you can arrange a payment plan with them.
you cannot receive any need based aid unless you are a matriculated student (someone who is attending college and enrolled in a degree seeking program).
Can you just ignore that previous college? NO. Can you apply to matriculate elsewhere without your transcript from that previous college? NO.
Can you take classes as a non-matriculates student and pay out of pocket. probably yes. But there is a limit at most schools in terms of the number of courses and credits you can as a non-maticulated student.
This is not insurmountable. But you do need to get the ball rolling with that other college. Contact them asap…and get the info you need.
First of all, congrats on getting your life back together.
You need to have formally withdrawn from the first U following their withdrawal procedures. Just stopping attending class didn’t satisfy that, but I understand from your state of mind at the time why you didn’t.
At this point, working something out with the first U is the only way you are going to get your transcript released. The 2nd U wants to know about all previous college work regardless of whether you want to transfer any credits. Contact the first U, find out your financial aid status, how much you owe and if any arrangements can be made for payment.
Do you have a job? Planning on going back to school by borrowing from friends and other sources isn’t a sound plan. You are only going to be able to take out the limited federal direct loan amounts without a cosigner and that requires filing fafsa. I presume you are 24 or older now. It probably would be best to get a full-time job and starting attending school part-time at least to start. You probably are going to need to do that to settle what you owe at the first U.
Yes i ended up taking about 27 hours at new college thats the max they ended up letting me take. And yes i have two jobs currently but unfortunately i have lived on my own since i was 14 no help from anyone including state when i was younger i ruined my credit and now have my own bills car payments a child and home to take care of and all on entry level wages it is very difficult not to mention im still paying off all the mistakes i decided to ignore when i was younger. No one to blame but me… but damn is it ten times harder when you finally wake up.
Find out who owns the debt, research about debt negotiations and try to pay it off. You may have to furnish financial information on your income and assets. Or make a payment plan and start paying it. I guess you didn’t go long enough for the Pell to cover your costs to the school, there is a completion formula for that, so you ended up stiffing the school.
Also you will have to see if you will qualify for aid at the new school right away. You have to make Satisfactory Academic Progress to qualify for federal aid so you might want to read the student handbook (often online) for the school policy on SAP.
