<p>I transferred from one state college to another and ended up having the worst semester of my college career. My Dad and step-mother were going through a bad divorce, I found out my Dad had a girlfriend, I was trying to protect my three younger sisters from all of this while helping remodeling a house with my Dad so I had a place to live when I should have been paying attention to school. As for my financial aid, my father and step-mother refused to sign their taxes so I ended up loosing all my financial aid. So I take a semester off to pay for my debt to the school and then I'm diagnosed with Acute Lympocytic Leukemia (ALL) Now disabled I have no way to come up with $16,000. I need help with ideas with how to come up with the money so when I'm better I'm not completely sucking pond water and can go back to school. I plan on working as much as I can but chemotherapy was tough and my stamina isn't back to normal yet. I'd like to finish the year and a half I have left to complete my degree at my original college but is this possible? Or am I just screwed?</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>I am sorry about your predicament. I hope everything will work out with your help.</p>
<p>However, I don’t understand how did you end up having a debt. Did you register for classes without having financial aid figure out? If so, what was your plan then to pay for school?</p>
<p>I had the financial aid and then it was requested that I prove how much my parents make by giving them my parents taxes, all while they let me continue the semseter. After a month or so I gave them the copy of the taxes and thought I was done. They then asked for signitures from my parents and both of them refused to sign. Normally I owe the school roughly $2,000 out of pocket a semester. Which I can make through working during the school breaks, because at that point in time I could work two jobs an made roughly $1,000 a month. I had already done this for my freshman and sophemore years and expected to do the same my junior and senior years. That year ended up being different because of my parents divorce, remodeling the house and playing therepist for all of those included. So to counter-act that I took a semseter off, got another job, so now I was working three jobs, and then wound up with Leukemia. So I really was trying, just illness got in the way in the end.</p>
<p>Allsurvivor,</p>
<p>did you talk to your dad about the situation. Since it is your dad’s fault, what is he saying about paying the school back?</p>
<p>Also, were the taxes finally filed and signed? If yes, what does your school say about retroactive aid?</p>
<p>lerkin,
Ive never heard of retroactive aid. So I guess thats where I should look first.
As for my Dad, he doesn’t understand why I cant be paying it back now with my S.S. He’s not getting that where I’m living I have to pay bills and for my own food. I don’t even live with him anymore. And unfortunately he does not see that he’s one of the reasons why I owe so much.</p>
<p>Allsurvivor,</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of it either, but if you don’t try, then nothing will be done.</p>
<p>Unfortunately there is nothing you can do until you or somebody else pays off you debt. You also need to make sure that once you can go back to school and if you are still under 24, that your dad understands that he needs to sign everything you ask him to sign so that you don’t loose your aid.</p>
<p>Why won’t your dad sign the form?</p>
<p>You need to talk to your hospital social worker and your Candlelighter chapter for some help in dealing with all of this. I don’t know what the bottom line to all of this will be, but hopefully you get some advocates that can lay it all out.</p>
<p>My son is a also an ALL survivor. It is a tough regiment, and hopefully you focus on your survival at this point and make it a full time job to get your school things in order, rather than trying to go to college with this mess. You are still at high risk even if you are in LTM, especially at your age, and your focus should be on your health.</p>
<p>Also, depending on the aid you are getting right now, for college, you could be depleting federal and/or state limitations at a time when you are not at your optimal. You are young yet, so give it some time. School is not the most important thing in the world right now. Your health is. </p>
<p>Good luck to you, and stay strong.</p>
<p>Lerkin, Thank You for the clarification, hopefully I can work something out with the college. At this rate I wont be able to go back to school until after I’m 24.</p>
<p>cptofthehouse,
Unfortunately I dont believe there is a Candlelighter chapter in Vermont and I’m also 21, so I dont think I’d apply, however I will try my social worker at the hospital. Since I am only required to go up once a month and its an hour and a half away its been difficult to get an appointment with him but I’ll keep trying. </p>
<p>I know focusing on my health is a big thing, but with all the pressure there is to go to college or start working, and basically to do more it is hard to just work on being better. I’ve only been able to climb a stair case for three months now, I dont know how I would make it around even my schools small campus, but I’m willing to try because I’m so tired of staying at home being told to do more. </p>
<p>I didnt realize there were limitations either. I’ve known other disabled people to go to college and still recieve benifits, so I don’t know, maybe because I have a ‘temporary’ disability I cant?</p>
<p>Suzy100,
He was sick of me asking for the taxes that his ex had and then when he gave them to me he thought he was all done so when I asked for him to sign he was annoyed and refused. He also thought I was spending too much time with my fiance and not enough time rebuilding the house.</p>
<p>I know I’m going to slapped upside the head for saying this, but if the forms were filled out correctly, and I was this kid, I probably would have “signed” my parents names. </p>
<p>Ok…I’ll spank myself. </p>
<p>That said, I’m disgusted that “adults” let this poor child lose his aid over their marriage/divorce issues. Shame on them!</p>
<p>Frankly, I think right now you need to focus on getting well.</p>
<p>Is your bio mom alive? If so, can you live with her? If so, then maybe some of your money can go towards the debt (instead of going towards rent).</p>
<p>{{{hugs and prayers for a complete recovery}}}</p>
<p>mom2collegekids,
I probably would have if my fathers girlfriend wasn’t a paralegal! My bio-mom wouln’t be any help, unfortunately she is disabled physically and mentally and can barely keep her own head above water, forget about helping any of her daughters. </p>
<p>So far the only thing I’ve gotten the school to do is to get the case back from the collection agency and forgive the collection fees bringing it down to just under $11,000. </p>
<p>Thanks for the prayers, hopefully this ridiculous disease does not come back.</p>
<p>OP, you may have already done this, but did you ask the school if there was still time for you to submit the signed tax forms and get the aid credited to your account? I agree with other posters that you need to concentrate now on your health and not school, but if there is still a window where you could somehow still get the aid for the semester that you own them for then I think that’s worth pursuing.</p>
<p>Here are the rules for retroactive aid: No loans, since a loan record has to be created BEFORE the student’s last day of classes. I assume no aid was given, then taken back … so no loan was created. That is out of the picture now. Grants can be given retroactively up to 180 days after the last day the student attended classes. After day 180, no grants.</p>
<p>If an student drops classes during the term, the grants can only be paid based on the enrollment on the last day the student attended class. If the student withdraws from all classes or stops attending prior to the end of the term, no aid can be paid retroactively.</p>
<p>Get dad to sign the tax return NOW, if it hasn’t yet been 180 days. Make friends with your financial aid officer and get this moved through as quickly as possible. I helped numerous students in your predicament. I even called parents to explain the importance of whatever they were not doing … maybe your finaid officer can do this.</p>
<p>Do not pass up any aid that is still an option for you!</p>
<p>(And I wish you the best, health-wise)</p>
<p>Kelsmom…that’s good news. Hopefully the parents have filed their taxes by now, so those could be used, right?</p>
<p>I probably would have if my fathers girlfriend wasn’t a paralegal</p>
<p>So what? Your dad isn’t going to have you arrested. lol The girlfriend has no legal standing in any of this.</p>
<p>Mom2collegekids, I am shocked. ;)</p>
<p>Yes. As long as the student was enrolled in spring classes, there is probably still a chance of being able to salvage some aid. OP needs to find a finaid officer who will work with him to help get this done … I am sure there is someone in the office who is in a position to make this happen. </p>
<p>I will caution, though, that if the verification shows that the student is only going to be eligible for loans … there may be no money at then end. But it is always worth trying.</p>