<p>I have been having a lot of problems with financial aid this year. When they sent my award package, a lot of my grants and workstudy was missing. After months of arguing with financial aid, I found out that the reason for my financial aid problems was because they thought that my verification was late. After pleading with them to take another look they realized that my verification was in fact on time and they had made the mistake. Unfortunately they gave all the aid I was suppose to receive away. I believe this is very unfair. Is there anything I can do, or do I have to be penalized for their mistake?</p>
<p>You need to go higher up the chain since this was their mistake. Go to the Director of Financial Aid.</p>
<p>Depending on the type of grant there may be nothing you can do. For instance certain federal grants like the SEOG have limited funding and once they have been awarded the school does not have any more to award. If that is the case there is probably not much you can do. (this happened to us this year - we filed my daughter’s FAFSA maybe a couple of weeks later than in prior years because I was trying to figure out the new tax credit stuff for the taxes - we did not miss any deadlines but the SEOG and WS funds were already depleted by the time her aid was awarded so she did not get them though she had in previous years with the same EFC).</p>
<p>Other federal grants like the Pell you should get anyway as they do not run out.</p>
<p>If it is institutional money then you may have some more luck.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks guys, it was actually the SEOG and another federally funded grant. I guess it’s time to get a second job. I still feel I should be compensated in some way since their mistakes cost me thousands of dollars worth of needed aid you know?</p>
<p>which other federal grant? I didn’t think any other than the SEOG were limited funding that you could lose.</p>
<p>SEOG would be the only one you might lose. Did your EFC change as the result of verification (that is, did you get a smaller Pell grant than originally awarded)? If so, you may no longer have been eligible for SEOG, anyway (many schools only award SEOG to 0 EFC & will take it away if the EFC changes as a result of verification).</p>
<p>I would also be interested to know what “other” federal grant was removed. I can’t think of another one that is time-dependent.</p>
<p>The only federal grants were the SEOG and works study, I just found out that the other grant, FFP was a minority grant offered through the university. My EFC remained the same.</p>
<p>Work-study isn’t really a grant. It’s federal aid that is earned from a work-study job. Are you saying that you’ve lost your work-study? If so, you can get a part-time job to make up that money.</p>
<p>I lost the SEOG grant and a FFP grant along with workstudy. I have a part time job know but it’s hard to get hours so the work study really came in handy. I can live without the workstudy, it’s just the other 2 grants that i really needed.</p>
<p>If you can show that you had everything in on time & a mistake on the school’s end held up your aid, you should ask to speak with someone higher up in the department. If they have any institutional aid left, they may be able to award some based on the circumstances. The key is to talk to someone who is authorized to award you.</p>
<p>Work study should be easily returned to your package? Did they offer loans? You should be able to convert loan to WS</p>
<p>^^ not necessarily - WS has very limited funding (like SEOG and Perkins). If all the WS funds have been awarded then the school has no more to give and it cannot be reinstated. My daughter was able to convert WS to sub loans one year. She was unable to convert her sub loans to WS this year as her school has no WS funds left.</p>