The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has a fraud hotline…
There are criminal penalties.
[Quote]
Education Fraud
Title 20 U.S.C. § 1097 (a)
Any person who knowingly and willfully embezzles, misapplies, steals, obtains by fraud, false statement, or forgery, or fails to refund any funds, assets, or property provided or insured under this subchapter and part C of subchapter I of chapter 34 of Title 42, or attempts to embezzle,….
Yes!!! Save the voicemail and keep the email to prove it was sent before the cease and desist notice.
Maybe the letter never made it to the director.
This is outrageous, denying your aid and trying to keep you from getting aid in the future.
Final update if anyone is interested:
Received a phone call directly from the Director of Fin Aid who apologized for the situation. After a thorough review of my account and the records sent to the office, I received a scholarship from the university to cover the cost of the summer semester since it was too late to receive government aid and the refund is processing.
I was also awarded a tuition scholarship for the spring semester should I choose to return … combined with the pell grant and other grant aid, I won’t have to take out any loans to cover my cost of attendance in the spring.
I also spoke with the university’s Executive Vice President and the Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, both who also apologized for the difficulties with the financial aid office. They worked with the Director of Financial Aid during the review process and advocated on my behalf.
The Exec VP wrote to me specifically to apologize for the cease and desist notice - saying that after hearing my phone messages and reading my emails, there was no indication of a threat or harassment as each attempt at communication was a request for information. The Exec VP and Dean also helped me file course substitution requests so that I receive credit for my full time work experience and so that my final pre req course is waived. Thankfully, I will be able to graduate on time with my planned courses for next semester.
To any fellow students who may end up in a similar situation at their universities: keep detailed records of communication with university offices, write down notes of what is being said (especially names), leave detailed messages and emails. Most of all, be polite, respectful, but continue to follow up if you feel like something doesn’t seem right. In my opinion, asking for more clarification for why I didn’t receive aid and asking for a review of my account seemed to be more effective than demanding financial aid.
That is great news! Thank you for the update and best of luck to you for next semester!
Other than the apologies and scholarship, and aid for next semester, did you receive any explanation for why this happened?
Did you have to mention the word ‘lawyer’ or did your lawyer contact the school?
@Madison85 Thank you! I never mentioned my lawyer, and he wanted to wait for a substantial response from the Director prior to getting directly involved.
The Director of Financial Aid cited there was an error in processing my package during the summer but never gave any reason. The Executive VP told me (in an off hand manner) that the financial aid office was being reviewed due to the situation, and that the office itself had to go through a process to explain the “processing error”, but he could not give me any more info than that.
@gettingblownoff I’m so glad this worked out for you!!!
That worked out well! So get ready to head back to college to finish!!
I keep circling back to the idea of some sort of funny business going on in that financial aid office…
And I have to say, you were very mature throughout this thread in your responses, even though you were questioned repeatedly, every which way, as we tried to figure out what could have caused this (on your end) to happen.
That’s great news, @gettingblownoff. It’s encouraging that the Director of Financial Aid is following up. It does seem as if some irregularities are suspected. Your calm persistence is very likely to pay off for future students too. Well done.
I’m so happy to hear this! That you’re getting some resolution and extra aid to finish your degree!
It’s good to see that the administration is taking this seriously and wants to help you.
Yes, it does seem funny with all the things that have happened and the FA officer reacting this way.
Hopefully you will be all set with your aid for spring and all will go smoothly. You can pay back your sister, finish your degree and put this all behind you. Best wishes!
I’ve been following this thread closely and am so happy to read the outcome. I just want to commend the OP for his levelheaded responses to both the financial aid office and this thread. This was a very tough situation and most people would find it hard to hold in the defensiveness and frustration. I hope that financial aid office goes through an extensive investigation and I certainly hope that FA counselor is fired for such outrageous, threatening behavior. Best of luck to you, OP. You will go far in this world.
I am very happy to hear of the resolution and the apologies. From the information and details that you had written here, it did not make any sense that you did not get aid. Federal guidelines are pretty clear and a school can not deviate at will. Good luck to you as you continue your education.
I am so sorry to have missed this thread - I have been too busy to do more than scan, and I completely missed this.
Yes, you were definitely “gettingblownoff.” Wow, just wow.
The changes you made to your FAFSA in April triggered verification - at that point, the school was required to verify your file. What happened after you sent your documents was a complete mess-up on the part of the aid office … and the threat of a cease-and-desist was over the top. This is an aid officer who needs to find a new line of work. And if the cease-and-desist threat came when you requested a meeting with the director, it does make it look like an attempt to cover things up (even if it was not, it seems so).
Just to clarify, Pell must be paid to an eligible student. If the aid office had all the required documents in a timely manner, then they have to complete the verification and pay the student. (If it is too late to request the money from the federal government due to dragging their feet, the school has to pay from their own funds.) The only time a student will not get Pell is if he/she didn’t comply with requests for documents within the required time frame.
I also want to address the Perkins loan payment issue. Ummmmm … you were IN SCHOOL in THE SCHOOL WHERE YOU RECEIVED THE PERKINS LOAN. You should have been in deferment. I am assuming you were enrolled at least half time, correct? How could the aid officer get on you for a payment “missed” while you were enrolled in school??? You have a 9-month grace period on Perkins, so I don’t even know how you actually owed payments unless you were less than half-time in the fall term. The issues at that school seem to run deep.
I am glad you kept going on this and followed it through. Excellent job.
@kelsmom, I’m glad you added your word of expertise.
Several people tried to tag you, but you must have missed it.
I found all this just so unusual and outrageous. Had never heard of a student being put off like this and repeatedly asked for documents that he already provided. I did not know what else could be done, his requests to speak to someone higher up were denied. He couldn’t go in person. So I suggested writing letters. Good thing the student also emailed the director, because after the letter was mailed the officer sent the cease-and desist notice.
I also couldn’t understand why the loans became due already.
OP attended fall 14 and then not spring 15. But last day of class of fall semester was probably Dec 20 or so and the loans should have had a 6 months grace period, I did not know that the Perkins was 9 months. And then OP applied for aid for summer in May I think.
But thankfully things seem to be rectified now and hopefully OP can finish this last semester without problems and get his degree.
Unfortunately, things keep getting busier and busier at work … I haven’t had nearly as much time to check CC as I would like. I do generally watch for PM’s, though, so if something like this happens again, if someone thinks to PM me to bring me into a conversation, that’s probably the best way to reach me. I do want to help when I can. However … y’all offered really spot-on advice here, and the OP did a tremendous job of advocating for him/herself.
I just see all kinds of wrong in this situation, and I am so glad that it was resolved successfully for the OP. Gettingblownoff did exactly the right thing, going to the Director after not getting a resolution despite many, many attempts to work with the aid officer. Sadly, it is often difficult to find the director’s email address … so glad the OP found it, and so glad the email went directly to the Director (rather than being intercepted as the letter seems to have been).
As I mentioned, I think there are some big problems in this aid office. This situation has brought them to light, and I hope the OP and classmates find that their financial aid experience improves as a result.
And I do want to make sure that gettingblownoff realizes that my comments about the Perkins loan default are not aimed at the student. They are aimed at the aid officer, who absolutely should have realized that this student did not owe a Perkins payment … OP may have chosen to begin repayment early, but it was still grace period, based on the info provided by the OP. This is just one more reason I am completely floored by this whole saga. One issue after another that simply should not have occurred.