Ok, buckle up this is going to be a long story. I applied for this local community college last spring and was accepted, I also applied for fafsa and got approved. I had originally got an email from the school saying they didnt get two forms they needs. So I sent them again, the only email I got after that was one saying what the school awarded me for financial aid. I thought everything was fine becusse they never called or emailed about it again. I ended up pushing off going to school until fall term which they said was ok. Well one week before fall term started, like I had already been to orientation and everything, they called and were like “hey, can’t give you any money you’re missing these forms” I had to go over with them how this already happened, I resent the forms they needed and they never called back. They waited over SIX months before telling me this. They said I could start the term and they would fix it. I sent the forms to them for a third time, they never got it. I sent it again for a fourth time, this time I physically brought it to their finance department. They “never got it” so the FIFTH time I faxed it directly to them. Never heard from them. And I was too busy with school to look into it, the fall term ended, I signed up for winter term with no problem and then went through winter break. Now. At 5pm a few days before Christmas they sent me a message basically saying I owed over 1000 dollars and need to pay it before I can do winter term. Well when I called them back guess what? They closed for the holidays, they literally called at the exact hour they closed for the holidays when they could’ve called me all month. And trying to get ahold of them is a nightmare, theres never anyone there to answer the calls in the financial department. I finally got a hold of them the day after new years day and told them like hey you said you would fix this?! They said uh ok let me look into this and I’ll fix this. They hadn’t responded to any messages after that and only recently said theyll call me Monday. Monday is when the freaking term starts qnd I still dont have my books! They aren’t even answering so I cant figure this out, the books are going to take a bit to get here and i cant pay for them until I get the finance money. I applied for a scholarship at school but they wont award the money until quite a bit after winter term has started.
What do I do?? The term starts in literally a day and they havent figured out the money they messed up. Should I just not do this term??
What are the forms that they keep asking for? Telling your story without providing this information makes it very hard to evaluate what you are saying.
So you completed the 2017-2018 FAFSA originally thinking you would start in spring 2018. You ended up not starting until fall 2018, which is part of the 2018-2019 academic year. Did you complete and submit the 2018-2019 FAFSA?
I’m sorry to hear this. It must be frustrating. But it’s so common to hear stories like this at the CC where I work. Part of the lower cost of CCs means much less in terms of responsiveness of the staff, many times. Do you have a relationship with anyone outside of financial aid who can advocate for you? Maybe a tenured professor, or if you already have your major, the Chair of that department? Or maybe someone else on campus (your work study supervisor, or a counselor perhaps)? I’ve found that getting another person on campus involved who can advocate for you in a polite but firm way often helps move things along with the financial aid people.
Do go to your classes on Monday. Explain it to the professors and let them know you are working on it. They will hopefully let you sit in the class until it gets worked out.
BelknapPoint: They needed the dependent verification form qnd parent’s tax transcript. I also completed the 2018-2019 fafsa recently, the school is a bit weird so it works in terms not semesters. When I had decided to do fall not spring(which starts in like April for this school) they had told me the 2017-2018 fafsa and info would be fine. I sent them the 2017 tax info also(sorry left this part out) which they said would be the only updated stuff they needed.
Thumper1: Its 103 per credit i think? Around there, I live at home nearby so I dont pay for room and board or food. I just did the 2018-2019 one back in October when my academic adviser TOLD me that’s when I was to do it. I haven’t heard anything back yet for the 2018-2019 fafsa yet. I was sent an email saying I was awarded a certain amount in Pell Grant and loan options, back in March of 2018 and it said I got the same amount for winter, spring, summer and fall term of 2018. As I said before the terms make it really confusing to understand. My financial aid was just enough to cover the tuition, the books it only semi covered, which is why I’m applying for this scholarship they have. Its TVCC, the Caldwell branch in Idaho, the main campus is in Ontario Oregon.
Ccprofandmompf2: I do have an academic adviser but she is the only advisor for the whole Caldwell branch and never has alot of spare time She tells me to talk to financial aid department. The classes are all online this term, I’m hoping I’ll be able to log in and participate to tell them what’s happened. Thanks for your nice comment!
Yes…and for the 2018-2019 academic year which started in September, they needed the 2016 info. When did you send that?
You have different info here. For fall 2017 and spring 2018, you needed the 2017-2018 FAFSA form completed.
For fall 2018, you needed to have completed the 2018-2019 FAFSA. These are NOT school dependent guidelines. These are FAFSA rules. When did you complete the 2018-2019 FAFSA form…when?
The only time schools have some discretion on which FAFSA applies is for summer term.
Your challenge is that the 2018-2019 financial aid school year started on July 1, 2018. The fafsa for the 2018-2019 school year opened on October 1, 2017. If you recently applied for aid in October, 2018 you theoretically had no aid when you started school in the fall(2018-2019 school year)
If you applied for aid in October 2019 and you are going through the verification process, you are not even going to get credited for the fall term until you complete the process, right now you are starting the winter term any day now.
This is not the school, this us your bad because you must file for aid every year. If you filed for aid last spring, by your statements it seems like you applied for 2017-2018 school year,which ends on June 30, 2018) and not 2018-19. 9you could have one both of these last spring.
You say you filed the 2018-2019 FAFSA “recently”. When was that? When? That 2018-2019 FAFSA was available for filing and submission in October 2017.
If it was after the fall term started, and you were verified, it’s no surprise that your aid has not been disbursed to you.
The good news is…if you are Pell eligible, you probably will get that money. And you also will be eligible for the Direct Loan.
But you have to follow the rules set up by the Federal government in terms of FAFSA filings. You misunderstood something…or asked the wrong question…if you believed that the 2017-2018 FAFSA would be good in terms of aid for fall 2018.
Ok I just checked something sorry for the massive mess up but I completed the 2018-2019 fafsa LAST March not the 2017-2018 one I’m so sorry I got them mixed up.
I hope that clears up some of the mess I made here, sorry I get those years all mixed up. I checked the FAFSA site and I did the 2018-2019 fafsa in Jan-March ish and was awarded the money for that fall of 2018.
And I’ve just done the 2019-2020 one this October for the upcoming year. Am I making sense?
So I did file for the fafsa way before fall term started and it processed and everything before April, that was around the time too that the school sent me the email about how much money I was awarded for the 2018-2019 year.
You were originally going to start in spring 2018, which uses the 2017-2018 FAFSA. You then decided to wait until fall 2018 to start, which uses the 2018-2019 FAFSA. It would not be “fine” to use the 2017-2018 FAFSA for fall 2018.
If they asked for verifying documents to support the 2017-2018 FAFSA when you thought you were going to start in spring 2018, those verifying documents would not carry over to the new 2018-2019 FAFSA that fall 2018 enrollment requires. It sounds like when you pushed your start from spring 2018 to fall 2018, you were asked to provide updated verifying documents, which is completely understandable and reasonable.
In other words, when you switched your start from spring 2018 to fall 2018, everything had to be redone – a new FAFSA and new verifying documents. Nothing would have carried over.
Belknappoint: read my comment above yours I DID actually do the 2018-2019 fafsa, I got all messed up with someone ELSE said 2017-2018, I mixed up the years
I also know I did the 2017-2018 one too, but I did that one way before Jan-March of this year. The one I did in Jan-March was 2018-2019. Someone else mentioned the other years and I was too confused and just went with it. So I DID have the right one for fall 2018.
I can think of so many different scenarios that may be at play here, but I can’t know which is correct. The one thing I know for sure: It doesn’t matter how many times you turned something in. If they don’t have it, you have to turn it in again. Sorry, but there is no other way. They can’t complete your file if they don’t have the information they need. It doesn’t matter whose fault it is, that is the bottom line.
Go to class. If possible, go to the financial aid office before class; after, if not before. Do not leave before a real financial aid officer (not a student helper or tech) looks carefully at your file. Make sure you understand exactly what is missing, and make sure you understand exactly what it is they need. Ask if they can assist you in working out a way to stay in class & pay for the books while everything is processing … it may not be possible to get the book money before your aid is set, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.
The way to handle this is to go to the source of the problem-the aid office-and enlist their help. Make sure everything is crystal clear, and make sure you do whatever is necessary, immediately. Most likely, you will be able to get your aid for last term, but there are some caveats to that, so I can’t say you will for sure … but probably.
Kelsmom: I’m aware I have to keep turning it it, its just upsetting that they’ve lost it this many times and are impossible to contact. And I’m taking online classes this term so most my contact with them has to be over the phone or email.
I’ve triple checked the forms they needed and made sure those were the ones I was sending them, its adding so much unnecessary stress to a term that hasn’t even started
If you know that you need your money, then it needs to be worth it to you to go in with your paperwork, have a face to face meeting with a financial aid officer and not leave until your situation is straight (Kelmom is talking to you as a financial aid officer).
If you submitted your stuff 5 times already and you did not have the correct FAFSA on file, your information was not updated. It is up to you to decide if you need your money and the best way to get it (hint; it is not making phone calls and sending emails).
Sybbie719: please please read my comment a few posts back I DID have the correct fafsa on file. I only got 2017-2018 mixed up with 2018-2019 because someone ELSE said 2017-2018 and it messed up my thoughts.
Actually you must have done the 2017-2018 FAFSA when you thought you were going to be starting college in spring 2018.
But you really started in fall 2019…so the 2018-2019 FAFSA was the one.
The thing I’m confused about is when you provided the “extra documents”. Was this in response to your first FAFSA when you actually didn’t even start school…
OR was it about the 2018-2019 FAFSA?
What did the school ask for…and when did you provide it. Are you sure you provided the correct year documents? If the are looking for tax transcript for 2018-2019 FAFSA, you would need the tax transcript from 2016.
She tells me to talk to financial aid department. The classes are all online this term, I’m hoping I’ll be able to log in and participate to tell them what’s happened. Thanks for your nice comment!