In my second year of community college, my school has been making delays in the financial aid I signed up for. They would keep on discovering false info on them and let me know weeks later, and now I got a letter today telling me they now need a paper I already gave them even though I was told I finished all the paper work last time I saw them. They have been taking money from me all year because I haven’t been able to finalize the financial aid, and I’m not sure if I can still be reimbursed at this point because I’ve been told mixed things. Also I paid FAFSA about $300 for a service that was supposed to do this whole process for me this year and next year as well as search for all the scholarships I am able to get, but they never did anything.
I needed this money to be able to transfer to university next year. No I’m losing all of it because I’m being robbed. Is there something I do to stop my current college from playing these games and get my money back from FAFSA?
Also, is there any way college students can get loans that can be used to cover any general college expenses that they don’t have to pay until after graduation? Because I feel like I’m going to need to do that at this rate.
Do tell! The fafsa is FREE. You don’t need to pay anyone to do anything that has to do,with the fafsa.
Re: your college. You have not given sufficient information to understand your issue.
It sounds like the college is requesting information. Get this information to them…ASAP. Make copies and date everything you give them…in other words, keep your own file.
And lastly, you don’t “sign up” for financial aid. You are awarded financial aid from your college and you accept it. Is that what you meant to write?
What is the cost of attendance at your college?
What is your fafsa EFC?
What exactly are your financial aid awards?
Try to be clear and specific.
Did you submit false information? You don’t make that clear.
Until your papers are processed, you have to pay upfront. So cut the hysterics, no one is robbing you. If you gave bad information that has to be corrected, that’s your problem. No one in the college has any interest in playing games. Focus on what is real instead of making stuff up.
If you paid someone to do you Free Application for Student Aid (FAFSA) then contact that person. Maybe that is why your are having problems. It is not the government as they don’t charge for it, that’s why it is called a
“free application.” A fool and his money are soon parted as the saying goes.
Only Fafsa.gov is the free, official website. What website did you use?
make sure it has the “GOV” ^^^^^^ address since all of the other FAFSA’s online are moneymakers and can rip you off.
Okay, well maybe that’s the problem. Leaving aside the issue of the $300, if you submitted all your documentation to the fake FAFSA site, instead of the real FAFSA site, and then trusted them to get everything submitted for you, it’s quite possible your college never got any of it.
So you’re upset with your financial aid office because you think they should have all your paperwork, and they’re probably getting kind of upset with you because you keep blaming them for losing stuff they may never have received.
So, try this: assume the people at your college financial aid office really are the good guys, and really are trying to help you. And start over. Ask them what they need, and get it to them, even if you’ve submitted it before. And if you have any question about any of it, ask them to explain. And, for the time being, forget about the $300 and whatever paperwork you already submitted. Just start over.
And you may be eligible for loans. It depends on how much you’ve already borrowed. Ask your financial aid office. You may also be able to find a record of the loans you’ve taken out here:
https://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/
No loans should have been taken out in your name without your signature, so check your record to make sure the only loans you have are the ones you signed for.
Good luck!!!
You should be able to draw on (at a minimum) the federal unsubsidized Stafford loan at any point during the year after your FAFSA is finally completed. I’m not sure what you can really do about the $300 – you might have actually been robbed – but the Stafford loan can help you with college expenses assuming your other financial aid is not sufficient.
You can’t get a loan if you have dropped below half time at the time the loan is to be disbursed … even if you paid for full time earlier in the semester. This is something that does impact a number of students if they are behind in finishing up a verification.
It sounds like you submitted things that were conflicting … and the aid office is required by law to resolve any and all conflicting information. Schedule an appointment with an aid officer. Sit face to face and find out exactly what information is still needed in order to complete your file. Bring that information back to the aid officer and give it to him/her in person. Sit with him/her while your file is completed. Ask for your aid to be finalized, then complete any paperwork required while you are sitting with the aid officer. If you are borrowing and have never borrowed before, you will be required to do entrance counseling and a Master Promissory Note … you can do this now, while everything else is being processed (look on your school’s website for this information, or ask the aid officer for the information). Please do not delay, because you can lose out on loans if you wait until after the semester has ended. If you are eligible for Pell, that will still be available to you even after the semester ends, but only if you complete everything that is required of you.
Forget I said the $300 thing, that was pretty off topic. I did the FAFSA myself and handed the papers into my school myself, and they have told me more than once I have given them everything they need. There was no false information, they are literally asking for papers I already gave them.
Yep. My daughter’s school has not updated files (high school transcripts, ACT scores) and caused her lots of trouble… Last month she took in some documents, answered a question wrong (although the papers were correctly filled out) and they shredded the papers. I had to redo them. It’s not been fun. You just have to keep on them, make sure your name is the same on every paper, your SSN, that everything is clear. Take names. Have a little notebook where you write done the name of the person who took the papers and what date and time. Seems ridiculous, but that’s what it takes.
I guess if you can make it through this process without losing your mind, you can survive almost anything!
Students should be are of this rip off service:
https://www.fafsa.com/
The free and official government web site for FAFSA is:
https://fafsa.ed.gov/