Legal Responsibilities of School that Screws Up Your FA???

Paying for College
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<p>I am pretty familiar with federal regulations, and I know of no loophole whatsoever that allows a student to receive aid when not currently enrolled in classes. None.</p>

<p>Sometimes students ask questions in a way that yields an answer that doesn’t answer the real question the student meant to ask. That may have happened here.</p>

<p>Are you a guest student at your local school? If so, you can’t receive loans. If, however, they have you as a student (junior, senior), you could get a loan there … but you would need to be at least half time (most likely 6 credits).</p>

<p>You say your class ended in September, but you didn’t get a disbursement for the August/September term. Were you at least half time? If not, no loan eligibility. Was that term part of the summer or fall term? If summer, was it part of 10-11 award year, and were you at your annual max for loans? If yes, no loan. If you were eligible for a loan during that term, were you offered the loan, and did you accept it while you were still half time? If no, no loan.</p>

<p>You are caught up in the fact that you think you should have been able to receive a loan for fall. The truth is, if you were not enrolled at least half time during the fall term, you were not eligible regardless of whether or not you filled out some LOA paperwork. Federal regulations prohibit aid from being disbursed if you are not enrolled in classes at least half time. There is no way around that.</p>

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<p>Also, your explanation really does not make sense. I went back & read it again. </p>

<p>You do not have any legal recourse. You would not even if the school made a mistake.</p>

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<p>Make sure everything is there for your aid for the term when you DO return to college.</p>

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<p>Having briefly looked at the federal rules for a LOA - you are not eligible for any aid while on a LOA

[quote]
The school does not assess the student any additional institutional charges, the student’s need may not increase, and the student is not eligible for any additional Federal Student Aid[/quote.</p>

<p>I think all a LOA does is make sure the clock does not start ticking on your grace period for loans going into repayment while you are on an officially approved LOA. There are all sorts of rules about returning at the same point in the program you left etc. But definitely no aid eligibility while you are on a LOA.</p>

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<p>*But definitely no aid eligibility while you are on a LOA. *</p>

<p>Makes sense since you don’t have a COA at a school that you’re not currently attending.</p>