@rhandco I forgot to respond to this yesterday. The bursar said the first part - that my account was paid and my perkins loan was paid. They aren’t the financial aid office though so they did not say anything about being eligible for grants or loans, which I believe is normal? Please correct me if I’m wrong. The Financial Aid office said I was approved for summer aid, and the FAFSA help line said I was eligible for grants and loans for Summer 2015.
I’m still flummoxed. Why wasn’t this financial aid issue resolved before the summer term started? That is when it should have happened. Plus you were there for classes all summer and could have made your in person appointment during that Tikal… Are you positive summer was part of the 2014-2015 school year? And we’re you taking a full course load? Any chance the school no longer viewed you as a student matriculation get for a degree?
@thumper I was selected for verification in May and they asked for a lot of paperwork over the course of the summer. It wasn’t until August that they had everything they needed. They would email me asking for one document at a time and then come back a week or two later saying they needed something else. The financial aid also had limited office hours in the summer from 10am-3pm. I took 5 classes every day from 10:10am-3:20pm everyday so it was impossible to go, especially with the strict attendance policy for summer classes. I asked to make an appointment outside these hours but was refused. I asked for an appointment during finals week when I had more time and was refused. I called in between class times from May-August while on campus and was always told “someone is reviewing your package” or “someone will call you back”. They never called me back.
My online account and degree report states that I am degree seeking candidate in my major, expected graduation Spring 2016. The financial aid website states that summer 2015 is included in 2014-2015 FAFSA year and the financial aid office asked for documentation for my 2014-15 FAFSA when I was selected for verification. I also have an email from the Financial Aid office explaining that I am approved for aid for Summer 2015. My summer semester grade report verifies that I was enrolled and completed 15 credits. 12 is the minimum and 18 is the maximum for the summer.
Is it my fault that they told me even at the end of the summer session that my aid package was still processing? They told me on August 7 that all of my documentation was received and sent for processing and that they would contact me if anything else was needed. I have this in writing. I really need to know if there is anything I was at fault for here and what I should have done to prevent this from happening, so please let me know if you have any thoughts or need more clarification.
Were you ever given an explanation as to why your file was flagged for verification for the summer term? I am having a hard time understanding why the verification process would have been triggered so late in the school year if you had already attended a semester in Fall 2014.
@kgos16 I never got a straight answer but at the start of the process a counselor suggested that I might have been selected for verification earlier but since I didn’t return to the university in the Spring they see it in my file until I applied for summer aid. I had turned in forms in Fall 2014 that were requested again in the summer, so maybe they are tied together? They aren’t federal forms either but specific school forms.
Most of the time…verification is done prior to the start of the fall term. I’m surprised that you were selected for verification after the fall term.
When did you file your FAFSA for 2014-2015.
@thumper the fafsa website says 01/16/2015. I was not expecting to have to do this verification either, but I submitted everything they asked for.
Well when did you update the FAFSA to reflect that your taxes were completed, because that likely was not the case on January 16.
@thumper sorry, error in my last post. For 14-15 FAFSA, I submitted 01/16/2014 and submitted a correction to reflect taxes on 04/02/2014.
When did you get your financial aid package for the 2014-2015 school year? Did it contain the full Pell Grant?
@thumper I got it in early May 2014, it contained full Pell for Fall 2014 and Spring 2015. Spring 2015 portion of the package disappeared when I didn’t register for the spring semester.
Ok…so what did you do BEFORE the summer term began? I’m having trouble figuring out why this all wasn’t resolved before you started your summer 2015 classes.
@thumper I decided to return to school in May shortly after I found out my grandfather was in remission. I sent in my summer aid application and was approved, and have an email stating that I would receive aid and that my package would be processing and it would take 10-14 business days. Then I registered for classes when the registration website opened up again. I paid for tuition and then classes began.
When I called after the 14 business days passed they told me I was selected for additional verification and gave me the names of forms I needed to turn in. I turned in those forms and then basically the whole cycle of “the office saying your package is processing” and that I needed to turn in additional forms began.
Please let me know if you need more clarification.
Ok…I get it. You think you did everything possible and maybe you did. But the reality…the 2014-2015 school year and aid for that year have both passed…the are done. This all should have been resolved either while you were there or before the summer term began.
I’m sorry for your frustration…but I’m not sure you can get aid now for a year that has already closed out.
I know your class schedule was a tight one this summer…but in my opinion…you should have taken one hour out of it and gone in while you were there to get this resolved…with all of your written documentation in hand.
I’m not sure what you hope to gain now.
@thumper thanks for your advice so far, I really do appreciate it. If I knew this would happen with financial aid I definitely would have gone over there instead of trusting what they said both in writing in person. At the time, I fully believed what they told me and that my aid would be taken care of, and I was more focused on catching up on my classes so I could graduate on time. That doesn’t matter now and I wish I just skipped classes, but hindsight is 20/20.
I’m hoping I can get a clear answer from the director of financial aid explaining why they did not contact me like they said they would and a policy or written rule that states that if their office does not know something it is grounds for not providing aid, regardless of documentation proving what is actually correct. My lawyer through work believes I have a case for negligence resulting in financial loss, so if they can’t provide an explanation for why this happened, I’ll move forward with the case.
Your total aid for,the summer was what…$5000? What will it cost you to pursue this in the legal arena?
@thumper completely free. my job offers it to me since I receive full benefits through the company.
I would write two letters, one to the FA director and one to President of the university and ask them why you didn’t receive aid for summer. Attach copies of all documents and correspondence. Let them know that you would very much like to finish your degree at this university, but to do that you need financial aid.
Since you have a job now it might or might not affect your aid for next year if you decide to finish then. It would depend on the parent income. But would you have the same problems then? Hard to say. But if you involve a lawyer now they might make things even harder. Not sure. Have not heard about a situation like this.
So I would try the letters first, sent registered mail.
Does this university have other campuses where you could finish your degree?
@mommdc thank you so much for your response and help, I truly am grateful for your input. I’m debating going back to the school for now. We’ll see how far this goes and what other administrators have to say… see my update below 
Just an update for anyone who interested: I sent an email and a hard copy letter with delivery confirmation to the Director of Financial Aid requesting a review of my situation. The hard copy was delivered today. I received a response from the financial aid counselor who told me that they would be denying my financial aid with a cease-and-desist notice instructing me to stop contacting the financial aid office. They stated my record of calls would be used to show harassment to himself and his office. So… that’s happening now.
Guess I’ll be sending everything I sent to the office and this notice to the President tomorrow.
Perhaps you should contact that lawyer first.