Seeking advice..not sure what to do.

Paying for College
1

<p>I recently was attending a beauty school in a 6 month program to become an Esthetician. I received a pell grant on top of two loans to cover the $9,000 tuition fee's. About a month and a half into the program I started to get really unhappy because of how they handled things unprofessionally. For one, being that I took the class in the state of Connecticut, you do not need a license to be a practicing esthetician. However, I am not sure if this means the instructor needs to be certified as well because she isn't. They hire their teachers based on experience, including cosmetology teacher's who just graduated from the school with no real life experience. Our classroom fit 9 girls when it could only fit 5, most of our steamers were broken, we had no running water in the room to wash our bowls and had to use the dispensary, we had to share bathrooms, and the whole school was disgusting and unsanitary. The main reason I dropped out at my halfway point is because my teacher would say nasty things about other students, including making fun of a deaf girl in my class, so I wrote a letter to the corporate office in an attempt to do something about it. Everything backfired, my teacher lied her way through it, and no one in the class would back me up for fear of a backlash- which I received. Even the director of the school began lying to my face, and I also started to get bullied (mind you, I'm 22..the women bullying me were 30+) so because of the unsanitary conditions and the bullying and no one doing anything about it, it was making me really stressed and sick so I dropped out.</p>

<p>Now, when I signed the paperwork they informed me I owe them $2000 on top of my loans which have to start being repaid back in 5 months. One of the options I was thinking of was taking them to court to sue them for fraud and emotional distress, but I don't have enough money to afford a lawyer. I also have to start paying back the school money, $116 a month, which I don't have because I work an on-call job, which means I could work 4 hours one week and 10 hours the next. My family still suggests I sue but with no one to back me, I'm not sure what to do. So, my main question here is: I can afford to pay them $30 a month. Even if it isn't the $116 they want, it is something. So I am wondering, if I have proof that I start making an attempt to pay them back before my loans kick in, can they take me to court? And if they take me to court, can they make me owe them back more money? This whole school is different from a regular college since they are a beauty school..and I am not sure how they work.</p>

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<p>If you don’t have the money and access to a lawyer who will take your case, you can’t easily sue, as you clearly know. You can look for a free consultation with an attorney to find out what it costs and if maybe you can take them to court yourself. If you don’t get this resolved, it will adversely affect your credit AND depending on what monies you have involved, you may not be eligible for any further federal funds for education. You need to check on that as well.</p>

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<p>If you live in a city where there is a law school, you may be able to get help from the student Legal Aid group.</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

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<p>Are you saying that you owe the school $2000, plus other loans to outside agencies?</p>

<p>mmmm… isn’t there some organization that deals with health and sanitary conditions? OSHA or something?</p>

<p>Anyone know what would be involved with OP reporting the school’s unsanitary conditions to the local newspapers or health organizations? Could this result in getting better conditions at the school, and/or the school deciding to forgo the $2000?</p>

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<p>I used to work for a career “institute” in CT. Be careful who you take on. The career schools have lots of lawyers. Although a beauty school, your school is exactly the type of “for profit” school that the gov. is investigating and changing rules about. Lots of students from these types of schools default on loans. I bet they convinced you to enroll during your first “admissions” visit, right? Gave you no time to change your mind, and quickly got you to sign financial documents within just a couple days of enrolling? They might as well be selling used cars, instead of the “education” for a career they promise. You might be out of luck in terms of negotiating. They know the laws, and operate just within legal boundaries. Good luck.</p>

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<p>Maybe try calling your state’s attorney general’s office and let them know about the problems. This sounds like a swindle to me.
If you can find a lawyer to give you some advice, all the better.
But you’ve been ripped off.</p>

7

<p>Start a blog about what happened. See if others who had the same experience contact you. Take videos of the location. Once you have built the site up in the google rankings, send a letter to the teacher. </p>

<p>Tell her you’re interested in settling and would be willing to take the site down, and remove the videos from youtube if she sends you a notarized letter absolving you of any further obligations to the school.</p>

<p>The best part is that you can do all of this for free. You don’t have to hire a lawyer. Just give them some bad press. Everyone hates bad press.</p>

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<p>Paperplane is correct. Contact your state attorney general’s office. They generally have a complaint form to fill out online. I know in NY, they AG office was like a pit bull with institutions of higher Ed and their FA practices. Also most of these places are regulated by the state Ed Dept, because of licensing. You may be able to make a formal complaint to them as well.</p>

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<p>I would not follow advice Dan45678 has given. To do so would open you to the school sueing you for slander or lible. Like I said, you have to be careful how you take them on. These schools have to answer to the Dept. of Higher Ed. for your state, so you might want to contact them. The only problem is that typically, these schools have “buddy, buddy” relationships with the DHE, and all that might happen is that the Dept. of Higher Ed. lets the school know you have complained. You’d be surprised at how “political” this whole business is…
Check your paperwork, and copies of all financial documents you signed carefully. If the terms were in the wording, there isn’t much you can do. You don’t want to default on your loans, because that will hurt you if you try to attend any other school and get aid. You might have to chalk this all up to being a bad decision that you learn an expensive lesson from. These schools “admissions” officers are really skilled sales people, and they know how to make the quick sale. Many people are looking for the fast way to get done with school and into a career, and so they buy in. Remember that nothing worth much ever comes easy, fast, or cheap!</p>

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<p>If the school is a for profit school, could OP get the Better Business Bureau involved? Few years back when I had a problem with a cell phone company (had this problem for over 2 years), I filed a complaint online with BBB, I got a call from the company asking me what kind of resolution I was looking for, and we were done in less than a week. People have advised me to get a lawyer to settle with the company, go to a small claim’s court, but it only took a simple filing online.</p>

<p>There are a lot of shady for profit schools which take advantage of students. It is sad how many low income students take out huge student loans in trying to learn a trade in order to get a job, and up with just student loans.</p>

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<p>Was there anything in your original paperwork about what would happen if you withdrew from school? I’m not sure why they are charging you an additional $2000, when, if anything, they had to refund money to the government for gov. loan money that was disbursed to them, but then you did not use as the student. Did your parents help you when you signed the financial papers? Would they help you with the cost of a lawyer to look at this for you? Most people have great difficulty understanding all the legal and financial language in these documents. Has the fin. aid. person at the school been able to explain where this $2000 come in to play? You also did not end up using the full loans that you signed for, since you withdrew, so YOU need to ask for a full accounting of exactly how much of those loans was applied to the days you were in school, and how much had been disbursed that was not used and then should have 1) either been credited to you in a check for you to directly return, or 2) returned to the government directly from the school because you withdrew. I do know that with the “career institute” I worked for, if the student had completed 60% or more of the program, they were then responsible for the full cost, whether they stayed to complete the program or not. A lot of students were shocked when they would find that out. I hope you kept every piece of paper you received when you enrolled…</p>

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<p>I just saw this post elsewhere on CC:</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1147387-good-npr-fresh-air-episode-profit-colleges-leave-students-w-heavy-debts.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1147387-good-npr-fresh-air-episode-profit-colleges-leave-students-w-heavy-debts.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>

They are probably not charging an extra $2000. Federal aid requires a student to complete a certain % of a semester. If a student withdraws before completing that % then grant money has to be repaid to the govt. If the student has passed the drop period for refunds at the school then they will still owe despite losing the grant money. People need to be very careful about withdrawing from school when federal aid is involved.</p>

<p>For instance at my daughter’s school the add/drop period is a 100% refund if you dropa class in the 1st week, a 50% refund if you drop by the end of the 2nd week. After that all tuition and fees are owed in full. If a student withdraws completely before the time required by federal rules (I think it is around 60% of the semester) then they would owe the full semesters fees but would have to repay a portion of federal aid.</p>

<p>

Again, if she withdrew after the add/drop period then she would owe the full tuition and fees even if she did not complete the full semester. </p>

<p>Unfortunately 1 1/2 months into the course would be probably well after any refund period (which in my experience is usually 1-2 weeks after class starts), but well before the % completion time required by federal rules to avoid having to repay grant aid.</p>

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<p>It’s not libel if it’s true! They would need to prove her claims were false to win a libel suit. I doubt this place has much money to spend on months of litigation.</p>

<p>She could also consult a lawyer, one time, and have them send a letter with official letterhead to the school. Sometimes, when people believe you are ready to fight it out in court, they fold.</p>

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<p>The $2000 balance is most likely from a return of title IV funds calculation, as swimcatsmom suggests. The federal government requires schools to do this calculation based on the withdrawal date. Students “earn” a portion of their federal funding based on how many days they are enrolled in classes. If they do not remain in classes long enough to earn 100% of their federal aid, the school is required to return a portion of the aid. The student now owes the school for this aid. Loans come due 6 months after the student drops below half time, so the date of repayment is 6 months after the last date of classes the school reports to the federal government.</p>

<p>Regardless of what you choose to do about the school, do not neglect to begin repayment on your federal loans when they come due. Please complete your exit counseling. Contact your lender to discuss repayment options. Visit [National</a> Student Loan Data System for Students](<a href=“http://www.nslds.ed.gov%5DNational”>http://www.nslds.ed.gov) to view your loans and your servicer information.</p>

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<p>Wow…thank you all for the comments and help.</p>

<p>As of right now, I wrote a letter to the school explaining my financial situation since I cannot afford to pay them the $116 a month they want. I offered to pay them $20 until I can find a job and things improve, and I made sure to sign this letter, get a copy, and I had it certified so when they received it there was proof it was mailed (in case they try to take me to court and say I haven’t been making payments/never wrote a letter.) </p>

<p>“Maybe try calling your state’s attorney general’s office and let them know about the problems. This sounds like a swindle to me.”
I am eventually going to do this. I am trying to get three other girls to help me because since they graduated they’ve been dealing with cyberbullying on facebook from the students/staff as well as getting their certifications withheld by the school. We want to get together and write a four-person formal complaint, but I highly doubt it will happen based on what started this mess in the first place. I’m going to end up going solo on this most likely.</p>

<p>“Was there anything in your original paperwork about what would happen if you withdrew from school?”
No, I have been through all my paperwork. There is nothing broken down like a regular college which shows you how much you owe back. They slapped me in the face with it the day I dropped out, and according to the paperwork, I owe them $2000 for “classroom and kit fees” even though I paid for this. They wanted the payments made to them directly, not financial aid or anything else.</p>

<p>“Are you saying that you owe the school $2000, plus other loans to outside agencies?”
By the looks of it, yes. Unless I am stupid and do not understand, I saw no papework about paying back the pell grant, just the school. I also have to start re-paying loans in 5 months.</p>

<p>“Lots of students from these types of schools default on loans. I bet they convinced you to enroll during your first “admissions” visit, right? Gave you no time to change your mind, and quickly got you to sign financial documents within just a couple days of enrolling”
Yes, this, this, this! I went to this school before by winning a scholarship for a makeup artistry class, and went back because the “job placement” promise they made was complete ******** and without an esthetics license I can’t get a job unless I want to freelance. Admissions pretty much accepts anyone who strolls in, and they make an appointment right away for you to meet with financial aid. I was enrolled to start in less than a week. The funny thing is, the day I dropped out, admissions was trying to convince me to take another class since I get a “discount.”</p>

<p>"If the school is a for profit school, could OP get the Better Business Bureau involved? "
I looked into this as well, and searched for the school on the website. They have not been approved by the BBB, and have had 3 complaints resolved in the past few years. I am definitely going to notify them.</p>

<p>I will keep you guys up to date, but I appreciate all the honesty and help. I hate that I did this to myself, and hopefully it will be resolved eventually.</p>

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<p>You may want to consider contacting the Federal Student Aid Ombudsman ([Federal</a> Student Aid - About Federal Student Aid](<a href=“http://www.ombudsman.ed.gov/]Federal”>http://www.ombudsman.ed.gov/)) to discuss your situation. Explain that you don’t really know what happened, and that you don’t feel that the school is giving you an adequate explanation. Tell them everything … and ask them to help you sort through all of this. They are set up to help with loan issues, but I would expect that they can either assist with Pell problems or point you in the direction of someone who can.</p>

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<p>No, I have been through all my paperwork. There is nothing broken down like a regular college which shows you how much you owe back. They slapped me in the face with it the day I dropped out, and according to the paperwork, I owe them $2000 for “classroom and kit fees” even though I paid for this. They wanted the payments made to them directly, not financial aid or anything else.</p>

<p>This sounds extremely shady.</p>

<p>You said you received a Pell grant and two loans. First of all, when that money was disbursed into your account, did you get a bill that said your semester’s fees were paid in full? Most schools wouldn’t let you attend classes if you still owed them $2,000 out of a total of $9,000; they would’ve dropped you from class! If you got a bill that said your semester fees were satisfied and then they just slapped you with a $2,000 fee when you announced you were leaving, that sounds shady.</p>

<p>You said you paid for the classroom kit and fees already. Do you have a bill or receipt that indicates that?</p>

<p>The thing is, you said you paid for this already, I would not agree to pay them again! There are thousands of reports of shady businesses and bill collectors billing people monies they don’t owe, chasing after people after they’ve already paid bills and even billing people for OTHER people’s debts! If they dupe even some people into paying, they make a huge profit since they were never owed the money in the first place.</p>

<p>What I would actually do is send them a letter requesting an itemization of your fees and payments - what you paid to them, and what they claim you didn’t. Do you have your old receipts from when you paid them? Does the school have an online student account services or something, or use an electronic third party so you can pay them? There has to be SOME record of what they originally said you owed and what you paid.</p>

<p>I just think it’s suspect that they slapped you with a $2,000 debt that you didn’t know about on the day that you left after you made a complaint. It sounds very shady, especially since in 1.5 months they never bothered you or sent you a bill or statement demanding that you pay this large amount of money relative to their tuition and fee structure - that’s almost a quarter of your fees that supposedly went unpaid.</p>