<p>HI everyone. I have a problem that I suppose is fairly rare, but I dont know what to do to resolve the issue so I thought I'd see if any of you had an idea.</p>
<p>I am a continuing education student at the Univ of Massachusetts-Lowell. I am due to graduate in spring. This past summer I received a financial aid award letter. I accepted the awards (a combination of grants and loans), was informed that the loans were certified and approved and all aid was scheduled for disbursement on 9-27-05. I received an invoice from the school with a balance due of -$4,000 (meaning I would be issued a check for the remainder) Well mid-October came and went and no check arrived. I called the financial aid office, after 2 weeks, numerous unaswered emails and voice mails, I finally received a call saying that there was a screw up with the new computer system and many students had the same problem. I was assured that it would be fixed within the week. After a week, and no change on my account (I can see it online) I called again. Again, it took alot of unreturned messages before I was told that the problem was fixed and when the computer came back up on the 7th of Nov, I would see everything was fixed and my check would arrive shortly thereafter. Well, I looked on the 7th and guess what? Now my account shows no loans due at all! Not only has my balance changed from -$4000, now I owe a great deal! What the heck? I am not getting any responses to my phone call, emails, etc. I am severely in debt as I had to borrow against the loans that "would soon arrive" for books, etc., I am to the point where I will have to drop out of school to get another job to pay off everything. Isn't there a time limit on disbursement of these loans? What do I do if the school doesn't ever give them to me? The Dept of Education says that the school is "in charge" until the loan is disbursed... any advice ?</p>