Urgent help: school won't provide summer financial aid

Paying for College
1

Important info: I was eligible for summer 2015 aid (no aid received when I took time off in spring 2015). I am a degree seeking student. I have not attended another university nor have I received any aid outside of this school. I have an EFC of 0, so I am pell eligible. I have received financial aid, a pell grant, and federal loans through this school before. I do not currently attend school, and I live 7 hours away and do not own a car so I cannot go back to this school

Today, they called me to tell me that my account was not paid off so they wouldn’t be giving me aid for the summer. I told them that my account was paid off and that the bursar verified this with me in August when I made the payment, and the bursar also said it shows up as paid off in the student information system. The counselor told me it does not show up as paid to them right now, so it is “obviously not paid”. I said I had the receipt of my payment in August and that it shows an account balance of 0, and then faxed this to the office.

Later on today, the office told me today that they were not informed that my account was paid and up to date, even though it has been paid since August 2015 and that their system does not show it as paid. Because they were not informed and their system says I have not paid, they will not be awarding me summer financial aid.

During the summer, I handled a lot of stuff through phone, so I have no documentation regarding this specific issue. However, my phone records show that I called the accounts office and immediately called the financial aid office – but that won’t work as proof of them “knowing” my account was paid off. I have complete documentation of emails sent from the financial aid office, and they never asked me or informed me that I would have to email them saying that my account is paid off. There is nowhere on the financial aid website that states a student must inform the financial aid office when their account is paid off.

I did everything I thought I was supposed to do except tell them that my account was paid because I didn’t know that it was a requirement and because the bursar said my account showed up as paid in the system. I ALWAYS asked in my emails and in phone calls if anything else was needed and no one would ever respond. Am I just completely screwed now? How do I move forward? I won’t qualify for private loans.

My job offers a free lawyer as a benefit to full time employees though, would it be worth it to take this case to them?

2

To follow up: If anyone is familiar with federal financial aid policies or government policy: are there any OFFICIAL policies that should be followed when awarding a student financial aid? I am ONLY seeking federal aid (pell and/or subsidized/unsubsidized loans), not state or institutional.

Is it really up to a financial aid officer to decide they WON’T award aid because they “didn’t know” my account was paid off? They only told me about my account showing up as unpaid by phone because I called them asking about an update regarding my package. They never requested to be updated about my account being paid off - they just told me it was showing up as unpaid. It was a clerical error that seems to have caused all of this. Two days after paying off my balance, the office emailed me saying that my package was processing.

3

This is aid from the school you are no longer attending, right?

Are you sure summer aid is part of the 2014-2015 financial aid awarding? Is it possible that summer 2015 was part of the 2015-2016 school year…you are not any longer a student there, right?

I’m a bit confused about your timeline. You say your account was paid in full…and that was done in August 2015. But you seem to be seeking funds for the summer term 2015…which certainly was before August.

Perhaps that is part of your issue. The account was NOT paid in full when you wer taking your summer classes.

How did you pay for these summer classes??

4

@thumper1 thanks for your response. Yes, I am no longer attending. And I have documentation from the school stating that summer financial aid falls for the 2014-2015 academic year.

My older sister loaned the money to pay for the summer. She has no issue with loaning because she knows I will pay it back, but we were both expecting financial aid and I thought I was eligible. Anyway, the tuition portion of my account never been an issue.

Since I wasn’t enrolled in Spring 2015 I started making my loan payments. I had a payment for my Perkins loan due every month - this was the payment that I made in August. This counts as part of my student account because the bursar’s office keeps track of when payments are made on these loans and will put a hold on the student account if the payment is delinquent. I made payments in May, June, and July for the loan and it was never brought up as an issue for Financial Aid. I initially did not do anything special for the loan when I paid in August. When I contacted the Financial Aid office a few days later to check on my package, they said that it was showing up as being unpaid, so that’s when I called the bursar to verify and they said I had an up to date account. I followed up immediately after with the Financial Aid office by phone to tell them what the bursar told me.

5

Hold it…you were not enrolled in spring 2015, but then applied for aid in the summer? Was this the old school…or a new school?

Also, payment on your loans is not the same as payment on current bills. It’s not.

Make sure your current bills are all paid…and do NOT include money allocated for repayment of your Perkins in the amount. That is loan repayment which is not the same as paying the current bill.

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Edit to add: I was enrolled at the same school in Fall 2013, Spring 2014, Fall 2014. I did not return in Spring 2015. I re-enrolled in the same school in Summer 2015. I have never attended another school. I have never requested or applied for financial aid anywhere but this school.

@thumper1 My university’s Financial Aid office has an application to apply for summer financial aid. You have to tell them your aid previous aid package and the courses you are taking. I had an aid package for Fall 2014 including a pell grant and federal loans.

My tuition bill was paid on May 10, 2015. I never received any other bills on my student account after that date.Since I am not enrolled in classes for Fall, I do NOT have any other payments or bills due. My account reflects a 0 balance and has done so since May.

My Perkins loan payment was due in May, June, July, and August. I paid each of these and have a 0 balance with proof from the loan servicing website. The August payment does not show up to the financial aid office, but shows as paid to my university’s accounts office. The Financial Aid office is claiming that they were “not informed” that my Perkins Loan account was up to date until yesterday, they will not award me aid for Summer 2015.

For what it’s worth, I have a confirmation email from the office several days after I paid my Perkins Loan, on August 7 (before summer classes ended) stating the following:

“Your documents have been received and sent for processing. Should any additional information be needed an email will be sent to the student. Please allow up to 14 days for processing. Thank you.”

I never heard from the office after that, and I was the one to re-initiate contact in September.

7

I am really confused by this. You attended classes and were awarded aid for Fall 2014, your account was paid up at that time and you last attended class in December 2014, correct?

Shouldn’t your loans come due 6 months after your last day of class attended, so June? Why was your Perkins payment due in May or did you withdraw sometime before end of fall semester? Like October, November?

Also wouldn’t you apply for summer aid before summer session starts? When did you first apply for it? So you paid summer tuition on May 10 (before due date?). If you had paid your first Perkins loan payment by then why didn’t they apply your aid then? Why would you have to wait until August?

@kelsmom, do you have any advice for this student?

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@mommdc Sorry, you are correct. I made Perkins Loan payments in June, July, and August. I made a payment for my stafford loan in May (it was due in early June) and confused this with my Perkins Loan.

Yes, my account was paid when I was enrolled in Fall 2014. I had no balances until I enrolled for the summer semester, which I paid on May 10. It was due on May 11. I applied for summer aid when I decided to enroll, which was in May 1. I have documentation of sending the application, and then their response was one business day later, stating “we have received your application and will begin processing in 7-10 business days”.

During the last week of May, I was informed (after I called to ask for an update) that I was selected for verification. I took me a few days to gather the necessary materials for verification from my parents. I sent this to the Financial Aid office over email and they confirmed receipt of my documentation. They informed me that it would take 14 business days for processing.

My application was approved for aid on June 10. On June 12, after they approved my application, I was informed of additional paperwork that needed to be submitted before they could create an aid package for me. I submitted the first form the next day, and they responded on June 15 that they received my form and it would take 14 days for processing. I followed up after 14 days on July 6, and was told I needed another form. Same thing, turned in the form and received confirmation that they had it, they said another 14 days for processing.

After this time frame passed, I called again, they said they did not have the first form I turned in, and I sent the emails showing I turned it in and they confirmed receipt. They replied the next day with a question about my parents’ information on that form, and I answered and ask if they needed more information. They responded two days later and said that the information I provided was correct, but now they needed another form. That form had more information on it that my parents’ income and assets that they did not know off the top of their head, so it took me a few days to fill it out. I turned it in and asked for confirmation of its receipt.

They did not confirm right away so I called to follow up. It was at this time they notified me that my account had an overdue balance because of a loan in default. I called the bursar’s office because I paid both my the Perkins Loan and stafford loan and was not in default. They verified that my loan was paid and my account was clear on August 5. The financial aid office confirmed on August 7 that they received the additional document and that it would take 14 days for processing. They also stated that if anything else was needed, they would contact me.

That was the last I ever heard from them until I contacted them after the timeframe had passed. When I contacted them again, I was first told that they didn’t have one of the forms that I sent and that my loan was in default, so I would not be receiving aid. I sent confirmation of all of this, including an email from the bursar saying my loan was paid and not in default, and they said that someone would call me back with information on my package. I never received a call and would call back to get information and was always told someone was working on it and they would call me back when they knew something.

It took 2 weeks for me to get the name of the person working on my case and I was told he would call me back. He did not call me back, so I wrote an email requesting more information and giving every date that I had called the financial aid office. I called the next day to follow up on the email and asked for him by name, and was told he would call me back within the next 24 hours. When he finally returned my call, he said they were still reviewing the information they had and that he would have more information on September 24. He gave me his direct number to call on that date, so I did, and he did not answer. I left a voicemail. I called on Monday, September 28, and he did not answer, so I left a voicemail. I called 3 days after that (1 week from the initial date I was given) and he did not answer, so I left a voicemail again.

I called this past Monday and his phone went to voicemail. I left a message again. Then I called yesterday, and left a voicemail, citing every date I had called him. He called back within the hour, stating they were not giving me aid because they didn’t have a form and that my loan was in default.

I provided all the documentation I’ve had up to this point, including my loan statement balance and receipt that shows it was paid on August 3.

Yesterday, I received an email that said that because the Financial Aid office was not informed that my loan was paid prior to the summer semester ending, I would not be receiving aid.

9

Wow, what a headache.

You filed a FAFSA for 2014-15 school year, right? You got aid for fall '14 semester, Pell and loan you said. And that the summer 2015 session would be part of 14/15 school year. So your summer aid should have been based on the FAFSA you already filed and that was not picked for verification I assume.

So I don’t understand why they made you jump through all these hoops with verification, sending in extra forms, just for summer aid. Was this federal aid or institutional aid from the school? Must have been federal aid if they based it on if you made loan payments which you did.

Can you file an appeal, printing out and sending in all of your proof that loan payments were made on time and that you have been contacting them since May?

If the lawyer is free it might not be a bad idea to get some advice on how to proceed.

I’m hoping @kelsmom might check in here and maybe have some advice for you. She used to work in financial aid.

Sounds to me like someone lost your summer aid paperwork or never submitted it, and since they have your money you paid for tuition they have no urgency to rectify this, which if true would be a real shame. You should get the aid you qualify for.

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@mommdc Thanks for your message. I’m not sure why the verification process was needed or anything like that, but I didn’t think anything of it. My school doesn’t offer extra institutional aid and has “limited grant funding” so I was only expecting loans and possibly pell for the summer.

The only appeals process that I’m aware of are what is listed on the website: Cost of Attendance, Dependency, SAP, and “Professional Judgment Appeal - If FAFSA does not adequately reflect ability to support the educational expense”

From the last email I received, the only reason I’m not getting aid is (from their words) because they had no prior knowledge of my Perkins Loan being paid. They are saying that they did not receive notification until September 15 about my Perkins Loan. According to them, “we cannot approve any aid for the summer semester as September 15 is passed the deadline for any Federal Aid for that time period.”

I’m currently trying to gather all my documentation and find some solid information about whether or not they can claim this. The only reason they have notification from the Bursar on September 15 is because I called the Financial Aid office to find an update for my package and they told me that my loan was in default and I asked for the Bursar to tell them that my account was paid.

Finally, prior to this, the last communication from the Financial Aid office stated: "“Your documents have been received and sent for processing. Should any additional information be needed an email will be sent to the student. Please allow up to 14 days for processing. Thank you.” I’m hoping this shows they accepted responsibility of my documentation and processing my package and that they cannot claim that they were not informed about my Perkins Loan if they never requested any additional information after this email.

The end of the email states that if I still need aid, I can contact a bank for an alternative loan, but i “may need a cosigner for the loan due to your Perkins Loan being in default.” - They keep saying my loan is in default when it has been paid since August. This is so frustrating.

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How much is the Pell grant you would have received for summer?

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@Madison85 I don’t know - they never created a summer award package for me. In Fall 2014 I received a Pell Grant for $2865.

Edit to add: I was only thinking Pell might be a possibility because someone in Financial Aid told me that I could receive the Pell grant funds that I didn’t receive in the Spring semester… but I don’t trust them or the information they give so it could be completely wrong.

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How many credits did you take in summer?

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@Madison85 15 credits.

15

So full time then.

Hopefully @kelsmom can comment.

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@Madison85 Yes, full time - I believe that makes me eligible for at least federal loans since I did not reach the maximum amount during the year?

I feel as though I’ve covered all my basis in terms of eligibility and making sure that I’ve done all that’s required. If anyone else knows of something that could affect my package, please comment because I want to make sure I have as much information moving forward with this financial aid office. Thanks anyone for your help/advice!

17

Bumping this in case anyone hasn’t seen it and with an update. I have put together a timeline of every call and email in chronological order since May. I have made almost 100 calls and emails, while they have only initiated 4 calls and 5 emails (where they sent the email on their own, not in response to me).

To repeat some of my posts from above, the last communication I received from the Financial Aid office specifically stated they would contact me if further information was needed - they never contacted me after this and I was the one to initiate contact. This office only called me two times after that email, and it was always them returning my call rather than initiating it. The counselor is now saying that they were never informed of that my Perkins Loan was paid and since they were not informed until now, they “cannot approve any aid for the summer semester as September 15 is passed the deadline for any Federal Aid for that time period.”

This response is not sufficient for me and very inconsistent with past communication with them. I’m hoping someone here might know something…

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Sorry if this was covered, so much to read. What date did they inform you your aid application for summer was denied?

@kelsmom used to work in financial aid, perhaps she will see this tomorrow.

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@BrownParent They told me in writing on October 7th that they would not be awarding any aid. Up until that point I was basically given a run-around with nothing solid… for example, they told me on the phone that I wouldn’t receive aid one time that I called in September because they said I never turned in a form, but that was just flat out wrong and I provided the documentation that disproved it.

20

If they are basing the ineligibility for summer aid on a defaulted loan payment, couldn’t you write them a letter back appealing that decision and providing a copy of your loan statements and the receipt from the bursar (Aug 7th?) showing that these payments were indeed made before your summer session was over.

What I don’t understand is them requiring all these extra documents and forms when you were already approved for Pell and loan for the 2014-15 school year and summer was supposed to be part of that. There should have been enough funding left for summer session if you didn’t attend spring 2015.

Did they require that you file a new FAFSA for 2015-16?

Is there a number to call for the Dept of Education if you are having problems with your school’s FA office?

Most important is also the question about your further education. You said you attended 6 semesters, full time? So do you only need two more semesters to finish your degree? You will need funding for that. Will you finish the rest of your education at a new college then? Closer to where you now live? If so then you need to make sure that the school will release your transcript so you can transfer to another school. If there is no outstanding balance (you said your sister loaned you the money for summer session?) they should, right?