<p>Currently my financial aid situation is a little bit complicated and I'm not sure how much aid I'm going to be receiving for the upcoming spring semester. When I was in community college you were simply dropped from your classes if you failed to pay your tuition bill on time. Here at the 4-year school I transferred to they allow you to carry an account balance - for example, this semester I had a balance up until recently as my financial aid for this semester for sorted out. I'm a bit afraid of registering for classes next semester and not getting enough financial aid and having a huge bill that I'm unable to pay. </p>
<p>Can anyone provide insight as to what happens if you end up being unable to pay your bill after financial aid has been applied? Will you be dropped half way through the semester and lose those credits? </p>
<p>Thank you for any input!</p>
<p>It depends upon the school. You need to find out who knows the answer to this question at your school and ask. We can’t say.</p>
<p>At my son’s school, you would not be allowed to register for your next semester’s classes if you have not paid for the current semester or are up to date on one of the payment plans. Registration for the next semester opens in the middle of the current term, and if you do not get on the ball in registering, you get what’s left of the classes, which could be a problem. However, the school does not flush the courses you are currently carrying, and you can finish up the term, and owe the school the money. They will not release your transcripts or allow you to register for any more courses at that school until the hold on your account is resolved. </p>
<p>But that is just ONE school. At some schools, you can’t even register for a upcoming semester’s courses until you pay up front, the full tab with stipulations of forth coming aid that the school will verify, so there is no question of paying for your classes from day 1. If you had some issues that were “possibles” in the financial aid front, you were told to have your parent’s take a loan or come up with the money somehow, or get on the payment plan, because, the only stipulations they took were if you were approved for aid, and it was just slow in coming, which is the case for many students. If you are negotiating aid and it was not certain you were getting it, too bad. Only the school can tell you how it’s policy works.</p>
<p>What was the plan to pay off the balance that was being “carried”? </p>
<p>Or did this semester’s balance get paid, but now you’re only worried about spring?</p>
<p>What is the situation with spring? Was your aid reduced? Can you work part-time over the Christmas holidays to bring in some money?</p>
<p>Are you able to login to the student portal for your school and see pending aid for spring? Why did your fall aid need to be ‘sorted out’?</p>