<p>For the past 4 semesters I have not been able to go to school due to my financial situation. When I first was attending college my parent had no problem paying for school. At the time I was going to a private school that cost 30K+ a year, and my parents were paying cash. During my 3rd semester things started going downhill. The housing industry, which my parents worked, started to decrease, my father became ill, and a hurricane came and took the roof off of our house. It was Christmas break and I realized there's no way I could go back to college when my home life was suffering so much so I decided to take a semester break. The money that was going to be used to pay the balance of my 3rd semester went to renovating the house and my father's medical bills. With not that much income coming in, our savings were becoming depleted and were used for the things that we need the most. So I was not able to return to school for summer session like I planned. </p>
<p>Semester after semester I thought I would be able to return but it hasn't been easy coming up with 11k+ so I can get my transcript and transfer to a cheaper college where I will be able to get financial aid.</p>
<p>What do you guys suggest I do? I can NOT imagine not attending college in the Spring... I just don't know what to do anymore.</p>
<p>11K is a lot to come up with. Maybe the school will be willing to work with you and establish a payment plan. Then possibly they would release your transcript after a few months of payments but before the balance is paid in full.</p>
<p>I’m sorry life has dealt your family such difficult blows. Congrats on your preserverence.</p>
<p>Here’s a guess. I’m not an expert, but see if this works.</p>
<p>If you are not going to use the credits from your previous college right away, you may not need the transcript right away. In particular, if you are attending a college that is not very selective in admissions, they may be happy to have you enroll without the transcript. Then, you save money and eventually afford to have the transcript released when you would need those credits to graduate.</p>
<p>You need to carefully work with the new college to make sure that your old credits are coordinated with new classes to graduate on time. The new college may be willing to let you take free placement tests that would let you test out of the classes you have already taken even though they don’t have a transcript. For example, if you took calculus 1 in the old college, and you place out of it in a test, the new college might allow you to take calculus 2 even though officially you don’t have the credits released from the old college.</p>
<p>I’d also write the old college and see if you can work out some sort of partial payment or timed payment plan. If I was that college, I’d rather get $8,000 next year than never get the $11,000, especially if they knew your hardships.</p>
<p>You also might look into some fields where the federal government provides forgiveness of some student loans for working in certain fields after graduation. </p>
<p>Probably because she was unable to finish paying for her last semester; schools will hold your transcripts hostage until your account is paid in full. My son had to make an emergency run to his bursar’s office so he could graduate. He owed a few dollars in ibrary fines.</p>
<p>SimpleLife, 1moremom answered your question perfectly.</p>
<p>Pea, I’ve actually been talking with my parents about this and I think we’re going to give this a try.</p>
<p>When I first realized I wouldn’t be able to pay off the money right away to get my transcript, I had talked to someone in the cashier’s office to see if we could set something up. My parents offered to pay $5,000 but the person who we had spoken to was so rude. She had told us that they wouldn’t release my transcript until I ‘paid every last dime’. If I had know all of this before, I would have asked to speak to someone else. That lady was very condescending, rude, and discouraging.</p>
<p>charlieschm, thank you for you advice. I’m going to speak to the college I plan on transferring to and see how I would be able to take some classes in the even I don’t get to transfer my transcript on time. I’ll look into placing out of courses aswell.</p>
<p>You guys have given me much hope. I really appreciate it.</p>
<p>Try talking to someone in the Dean’s office, like the Dean of students. It’s their job to help and at the very least they won’t be so unsympathetic and rude. Maybe their hands are tied but if it is a good dean he might be able to help you come up with some ideas of what to do.</p>
<p>^Oh, I get it. Of course … they won’t release your transcript until you’ve paid your past bills. I didn’t know how that worked. Good luck to you, Susie! It sounds like you’re in a really tough spot. I’m sorry.</p>
<p>Ohh, I think I’d be tempted to contact someone at the college newspaper and tell them your experience and ask if a student reporter would be available to go with you to the school billing office (have a friend bring a video camera and using it too). So, there you are, nice, polite kid whose father has been ill and the house destroyed and the sweet, polite kid can’t work out a payment plan to get the transcript released while Ms. Snotty is saying “pay every dime!”</p>
<p>So all this means you have to do some leg work and go back to campus to make your case – but you have enough here to legitimately ask for some relief – and to make the college look heartless. So think about it. Colleges DO have some wiggle room when a student is faced with a disaster (like family medical bills). Ask to meet with a financial aid officer. Tell them the reporter is there to record the process. Consider paying a few hundred dollars to bring along an attorney too. And then politely ask what can be done so you can move on to the next step. </p>
<p>You may only get half a loaf. They may set you up with a payment plan – but it won’t hurt to try. Make sure you take notes of every name of every person and keep a record of all dates</p>
<p>You still owed $11K at the END of the semester?! I’m surprised because most schools expect payment long before the end of the term…were you allowed to take finals and actually receive grades for those classes? I think that would have been the time for you to plead for additional aid/loans or for your folks to take a Plus loan. Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon at all for schools to withold transcripts until unpaid balances are settled and this is quite a lot of money. While the cashier’s attitude may have rubbed you the wrong way, it’s almost a universal policy and I think your chances of getting them to reduce the balance are probably very slim. </p>
<p>I hope your family situation has improved enough so that your own earnings can be directed toward settling this (I’m assuming you’ve been helping the family by working during the hiatus from school). I would recommend making this your top priority and postponing school until fall. If you can’t transfer credits you’ve paid for and still are making payments to the last school, how will you afford a new school? Are you eligible for need-based aid like Pell? Have you been making your student loan payments?</p>
<p>A hurricane takes off your roof in September and you don’t leave school until after the semester? If your parents were able to pay cash prior to these events, why were they unable to even get a loan afterwards? Didn’t they have insurance on the house?</p>
<p>Sylvan makes a good point. The wind storms in 2008 took off a good bit of our room and our insurance paid to replace it.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can just “start over” at a new school. </p>
<p>It sounds like it’s been 2 years (4 semesters) since this happened. Have your parents’ been able to financially recover? If so, can they pay some of this off? </p>
<p>Also, have you been working in the meantime? If so, why haven’t you paid it off from earnings from a job? You’ve had 2 years.</p>
<p>sk8rmom, I had the last 2 payment installations of the semester were extended. I didn’t know that I would not be able to pay them. I’m not looking for them to reduce my balance, I’m going to ask if they would be able to take $XXXX amount up front and put me on a payment plan and release my transcript. Then I would be able to attend a different college in the spring.</p>
<p>I’ve filled out a FAFSA [which I didn’t have before] and I will be able to get some aid.</p>
<p>sylvan8798, I don’t know the details of all of the insurance. My parents didn’t share that with me. All I know is when I came back home for Christmas break there was a hole in the roof of my room and every time it would rain I would have to put out multiple buckets.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids, we are still trying to recover. When I took time off I worked as my parents secretary. </p>
<p>I know 2 years might seem like a long time to help pay off my debt. But considering all the factors, my dad was the sole provider and fell ill. That means he was not working and no money was coming in. Also, all his medical bills had to be paid. We still have a mortgage, car notes, office space [we were renting the top floor of an office building], properties that were being financed. So college for me took a back seat. Every semester there would be a plan for me to pay off the debt, but something always comes up. There was even a point in time that we had the money but it had to go towards something else. </p>
<p>Fortunately, my dad has ventured into a new business and will be able to get back on his feet.</p>