<p>So I'll be brief - I'm a student receiving full financial aid (no family, hellapoor), and I had to take a leave of absence. I now owe several thousand dollars to the university, and if I don't pay them, I can't return. I've explained to them that I am ineligible for private student loans (no income, no cosigners), and federal loans won't work because of the way my aid package is structured. I've appealed this to my adviser, some people in SFS, and the president's office, and am waiting for a response, but I'm not assuming I'm going to have a favorable one. Anyone had a similar situation that can give me advice as to how to go about this? I'd like to return, but I can't afford to pay the balance, and I can't afford to have the balance taken from my fall semester's financial aid, as I'll literally have nothing to live on, and due to my medical issues, I can't take a full load and carry a full time job at the same time. Thanks for reading.</p>
<p>That’s a tough situation. But… how exactly did you rack up several thousand in loans with full financial aid? And how serious are the medical issues?</p>
<p>I didn’t rack up thousands in ‘loans’; I have a balance with Penn for a few thousand. This balance was due to the fact that Penn allowed me to keep my health insurance while on leave. I thought I would be able to get a job and pay for it; however, that’s not happened, and now my student account is negative a few grand. I’ll have to take loans to pay it to return; problem is, I am ineligible to take private loans - and I can’t take federal loans because of the way my aid package is structured. Any advice from anyone with a similar situation? Thanks.</p>
<p>What do you mean by not being able to take federal loans due to your aid package? As I understand it, federal student is given and guaranteed by the government and should not be effected by other aid you may have gotten. Please explain.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can take out anything that will bring your total package at an amount over the COA. If they are getting full COA without loan, that might be the problem.</p>
<p>Exactly what ‘parentofpeople’ said. My aid package meets my full COA, but I have a balance on my account left over from the semester where I took a leave - and federal loans won’t cover this because it’s not a current semester - and I’m ineligible for private loans. Can someone here help me with advice? ttparent, iamanapp - I really need specific or at least general advice from people that have been in similar situations, not comments that seem like I’m being judged.</p>
<p>What are you doing now? How about summer job? There are still a couple of months left, is that a possibility? And how about finding part time job at school? You will have a small balance, you might be able to work with them and slowly pay back what you owe without being locked out from fall registration.</p>
<p>Sorry for your difficulty. I would try to work it out with the SFS office. You have full paid aid, that should help you, I think. Every time, I talked to them, they are always nice and reasonable. Try to get them to accept instalment payment over time without penalty or interest if that is possible. One time, I was applying for an outside loan and I told them I won’t have money for several weeks after the due date, and they told me they will put a note on the system to not charge me late fee/interest. FYI, I worked 2 jobs too, when I was going to college getting my undergrad.</p>
<p>ttparent, did you go to Penn recently? Just curious. And about the two jobs bit, I’m going to try to work while I’m back in school, but I have ongoing medical issues, so it’s going to be difficult enough to do a full load, but I do anticipate having at least some part-time work :)</p>
<p>:) I’ll try that, thanks… still, I can’t re-enroll until the balance is paid so I couldn’t even take a lighter courseload until all that’s settled. Thank you for your advice though :)</p>
<p>What state are you in? Did you have health insurance while you were in high school?
Its important that you have insurance, I agree, but I was under the impression that for very low income( as you indicate you are) there is low cost coverage?
Certainly cheaper than what Upenn was facilitating.</p>
<p>Take a semester, or year off to pay it back. You can’t get in anyway without the money, so take a job. If your medical concerns are that debilitating, it may be wise for you to take care of yourself first, so that you will do well going back later. Or, find someone who trusts you and get a personal loan.</p>
<p>I am very confused. In your other thread in the parents’ forum, you said the FA office was slandering you and you have had to hire an attorney. Why would they slander you/what could they possibly be saying–and to whom? And where are you getting the money to pay an attorney? Wouldn’t it just be easier to use the money to pay your arrearage?</p>
<p>You took a leave of one semester. They let you keep your medical coverage.(something I have never heard of happening).</p>
<p>You owe the amount for your medical coverage. You say you owe in the “thousands”…I think I have seen the sum $7000?</p>
<p>something is not adding up. I have had 3 sons go through college, and the health insurance offered by the universities they attended ran about $1000/semester.</p>
<p>How do you owe them so much money? And how did you escape from having to make periodic payments on what you owed them? </p>
<p>I feel like we are getting only a selective version of the situation–so that there is no real way of helping you without the full version of the real facts.</p>
<p>I have a family member that took time off from Penn. She was told that she had too take two full semesters off. They would not grant her one semester only. But she didn’t have health issues at the time. She was unsure of what she wanted to study/major. During that year she worked at Penn.</p>