My school charged me tax on 3 classes and charged me tax twice on one class. The tuition is a different amount for classes even though they are all the same credit hours. They also send me my loan refund, then send an email demanding I send part of it back for whatever reason. The emails are always sent about 2 weeks after I received the check, so therefore I don’t have the $1,000 they are requesting to be sent back. I only have 3 classes left and now they are telling me that student loans won’t pay for the last class so again I have to send back half of my refund check. Is this right? Can they do this? How do I have my account audited to see if everything is good? Who would I report them to?
What do you mean by “charged you tax”? Ive never heard of a college charging tax on tuition.
Please clarify.
Did you use a credit card to pay? Does your school charge a convenience fee for using a cc to pay for tuition?
Yes, I was charged state tax on a couple of classes. On my account, there are two charges for state tax- $79.18 and $4.87. There is also a refund of sales tax- $22.84 and $7.92. They refund doesn’t match the charge. I have never used a credit card to pay tuition.
I received my loan amount $7,417 after tuition was paid there was a negative balance of $2,924.89. I received a stipend of $3,499. I was then told to send in a payment of $1,200.
Is this a for profit school? Are they charging you for ‘services’ and thus tax on services?
It is not unusual for a college to charge different tuition for different types of classes. Engineering classes might cost more, classes with a lab might cost more. At my daughter’s school there was an additional charge for theater and dance classes.
But all you can deal with is YOUR school. If you think the charges are wrong, go see someone in the bursar’s office. Take all the copies of prior bills and ask them for an explanation.
It is not a for profit school. It is both a traditional school with a campus as well as an online school. I live a few hundred miles away from the campus. When I call, the only person I am allowed to speak with is my rude advisor (this is a christian school). I have asked to talk to different departments, yet the transfer me to her extension. I have never talked to anyone else at that school. I want an audit done with a full explanation of every line item, I just don’t know who to talk to or how to bypass her.
Call and ask to speak to the bursar’s office or billing office.
Call the bursars office. They are the ones that handle billing. You can also call the financial aid office…as they handle the amount you are given.
You say there is NO explanation…
- Did you drop and/or add classes any of these terms?
- Was the loan amount such that it exceeded your cost of attendance?
- Were you taking classes full time?
Are you taking summer classes? Is there a different tuition rate for summer classes? Even though they may have the same credit hours, they may charge different amounts, and there may be different taxes.
You might be permitted to only take a student loan in 2 installments - for spring and fall term, but not for a summer coursework.
Are there terms and conditions that apply to your stipend - such as they agree to give you a stipend for $3499 but only because you agree to take the summer courses costing much more than that?
There are multiple contact numbers at colleges - is the “rude advisor” you speak to a financial aid advisor, or an advisor for your department/major? I am sure that the school’s website does not list any of their contacts as a “rude advisor”, so what department is this person representing?