<p>Stampmagnet, are you a US citizen? Some of your posts are written either very quickly or indicate perhaps English is a second language for you? If you are not a citizen that makes a huge difference in what aid you might receive.</p>
<p>People here are ready & willing to help you, but what you have presented is confusing. Your frustration and anger shows through in your disdain and we understand how scary this is, but we need to understand the big picture.</p>
<p>Did you complete the school year 2010-11? Or is 2011-12 your only year in school?</p>
<p>How did you pay for the schooling you have completed? Do you now have loans?</p>
<p>Did you complete the FAFSA correctly to be considered independent? What was your EFC? Did you complete the FAFSA for both years on time (before Depaul’s deadline, usually a date in January or February)?</p>
<p>I see that stampmagnet says he/she is homeless. I am willing to bet that this is the reason for all the issues. Homelessness must be documented. Many students who consider themselves homeless do not fit the federal definition of homeless for purposes of receiving aid. In addition, even if a student is homeless, if the proper documentation is never provided, the school cannot award any aid. If the documentation was provided but did not support the student being made automatically independent due to being homeless, the parent info would need to be provided in order for aid to be awarded. If it never was, the aid would never have been processed.</p>
<p>Something that makes me wonder is stampmagnet’s comment that he/she paid the school and waited for a refund. First of all, when a student asks the school what will happen to their aid if they pay everything first, the school will say “you will get a refund.” A general question gets a general answer. To get specific, if you do not qualify for aid, there is no aid so therefore no refund. But how did you pay for school, stampmagnet??? Unless I misunderstood, you indicated that you paid for school and waited for a refund. Where did you get the money to pay for school?</p>
<p>Also, Depaul is on the quarter system. This student would have had to be on good financial standing to register for her winter quarter courses. Did she pay in full for the fall? How? How did she continue courses in the winter term if the bill was not paid? Most schools expect payment.</p>
<p>i got people who testified that i do not have any stable home, co-workers and other professionals including counselors.</p>
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<p>what i don’t follow is the logic, first i don’t qualify for anything, until that is I started making a lot of noise then they all the sudden tell me i qualify for some help.</p>
<p>what i really just don’t get, being that i supplied my verification information, proved that i am indeed homeless how is that there is no help? at all? that’s what i found very odd.</p>
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<p>i filed everything on time according to the department’s counselors, there were no issues at all. </p>
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<p>i understand that but i wasn’t even allowed to apply for. i am not from the united states, a us citizen and english is my third language.</p>
<p>I don’t know where to look for scholarships even if it isn’t with the financial aid department.</p>
<p>I believe that being deemed an independent student for you is a professional judgement. It wounds like they did not deem you independent.</p>
<p>Do you have the correct paperwork needed as an international who seeks federal aid? What is your current status - what do you mean by “I am not from the US , a us citizen?” </p>
<p>Until you give us some information about what the financial aid office said about these two issues I’m not sure we can help. Did they TELL you that you would be considered an independent…the answer will be yes or no. Did they TELL you that you qualified for federal aid with your status. Filing on time would have nothing to do with these two issues. Perhaps they told you that you would qualify for aid before you submitted all your documentation? </p>
<p>I don’t know but you need to get a clear understanding of whether you are or are not going to be considered independent by this college and you need to get clear understanding if your documentation as a citizen meets the requirements for federal aid.</p>
<p>If you are having trouble understanding the information from the financial aid office, it is perfectly OK to ask your advisor or your college dean to help you look into this. Find someone who can visit the financial aid office with you, and go through all of the paperwork with you. That way you would be able to understand what your options are. The advice and help we can give you is limited by lack of complete information, and by distance. Someone who is right there on the spot will be much more useful to you.</p>
<p>If you are NOT a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, you are not eligible for ANY federally funded need based aid. None. It doesn’t matter what your EFC is…you cannot receive the Pell Grant and you cannot take out the Stafford loans. It does not matter if you are homeless. You are ineligible for U.S. federally funded aid UNLESS you are a permanent resident/citizen.</p>
<p>Depaul does not guarantee to meet the full need of accepted students. </p>
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<p>The above is FROM the Depaul website regarding international students…and this is actually a requirement for ALL colleges. Did you complete this form indicating availability of funds for tuition/lifing expenses? If so, you told Depaul that you had the necessary funding to attend their university. They told YOU that you were not eligible for financial aid of any kind.</p>
<p>If it is true that you are not a citizen or permanent resident who qualifies for federal aid, it is possible that you were incorrectly told you would apply because whomever you asked did not understand that your status does not allow you to receive aid. If you did apply to DePaul with the understanding that you had the means to pay for it, you should not be surprised that you are not eligible for aid.</p>
<p>My suggestion is to go to DePaul’s Office of International Students - I am betting they have one, as most larger schools do. Talk to them and ask them to help you sort things out.</p>
<p>I think what OP was saying that he was not born here, but he is a US citizen. This is how I understood him (English is not my first language either, but reading what OP wrote again I can see why it is ambiguous ).</p>
<p>OP,</p>
<p>I think you will do yourself and everyone a favor and provide a more concise summary with what happened with some numbers from your financial aid office and from your tuition statement. </p>
<p>After reading everything you provided, I have no idea what happened. Also break down by quarters when you explain what happened.</p>
<p>And tell what what you personally paid for and what exact communication you got from financial office. There should be written statement from them explaining what aid you are entitled to (even if it is zero) and written explanation why you were denied any help.</p>
<p>OK…then if you ARE a U.S. citizen, and you really were verified as homeless (this is NOT all that easy to do)…then the suggestion to see a financial aid officer IN PERSON is a good one. Go to the financial aid office, make an appointment to go over all of this.</p>
<p>I’m not wishing to pry…but how is it that you verified your homeless status? Frequently THIS is the source of issues in terms of financial aid. You have to verify that you are NOT homeless by choice. </p>
<p>If your EFC is really $0, with the verification information supporting that, you would be entitled to the Pell grant and the Stafford loans for this school year…total $11,000 for the year. That will still NOT cover your costs at Depaul.</p>
<p>I think you need to reconcile your bills there and look at a more affordable school.</p>
<p>I can tell you that if you came to the U.S. to attend college, the fact that you are homeless is a choice. I would not approve a student to be independent due to homelessness in such a case. It is no different than a student who leaves home in the U.S. to attend school. That is NOT the “homeless” that is intended to allow a student to be considered independent for financial aid purposes.</p>
<p>again, i am a us citizen and lived here for over a decade. i have been a us citizen for over a decade. i am not homeless because i came from somewhere else.</p>
<p>this is what i have done:</p>
<p>*Submitted FAFSA documents on time
*Submitted verification documents on time</p>
<p>That is all that was ever asked of me.</p>
<p>The school has an internal policy of automatically registering students up for scholarships/grants and then providing information about scholarships/grants that they cannot automatically enroll them in. In my case, this was not done.</p>
<p>In fact what happened was that the school denied: having any internal scholarships/grants (they do have them) and knowing of any scholarships/grants (they know of them and in fact sent comprehensive lists through emails to students).</p>
<p>I and my friends called them since early summer 2011 about scholarships/grants and continued to do so until recently in which every time they were called they denied knowing anything about scholarships/grants, denied that the school collects donations that it says are for scholarships/grants (they do that) and said that no student at the school ever receives any scholarships/grants.</p>
<p>What happened was that I wasn’t treated like other students, I was never given the opportunity to apply for any scholarships/grants that they actually did know of but they also did not automatically enroll me in any scholarships/grants even though they do that for other students.</p>
<p>So my question, what to do? I was treated unfairly.</p>
<p>“The school has an internal policy of automatically registering students up for scholarships/grants and then providing information about scholarships/grants that they cannot automatically enroll them in. In my case, this was not done.”</p>
<p>This is an issue to take up with the Dean of the college. You need someone with enough clout to find out why you and your friends have been told different things by the people in the financial aid and scholarship office. None of us work at your university, so none of us can point you to the correct person. You are going to have to find that person yourself.</p>
<p>The way it works for most people is that student applies for college and for financial aid completing the FAFSA and any other forms that the college requires using the deadlines that the college sets. Most colleges do automatically make students eligible for an array of scholarships and programs at application. Doesn’t mean you’ll get them, but that you are considered for them. </p>
<p>When you get your acceptance, you should also get a financial aid letter at around the same time. Until you get an award or notification that you will get nothing, you cannot know what your school will cost. So how can you pay the tuition or enroll? You don’t want to accept until you know what it costs. I don’t know of any college that works on a refund check basis. </p>
<p>I suggest you take a deep breath and go visit the financial aid office and get any back payments settled. THen start looking for a different school. This is not working the way it should.</p>
<p>I don’t know if this really is DePaul, but if it is here is a quote from their Freshman Scholarship page:
"If you are a freshman admitted for the fall term, you’ll be considered for academic scholarships based on your academic achievement in high school. You do not need to submit a separate application. Be sure your complete application for admission and all required documents are postmarked by November 15, 2011. After this date, scholarships are awarded on a funds-available basis. If you qualify for an academic scholarship, you will be notified in your acceptance packet. "</p>
<p>Note the November 15th 2011 date for automatic consideration. If the school is DePaul, is it possible that you applied on time for admisison, but after the November 15th deadline for scholarship consideration?</p>
<p>I’m sorry, but it really doesn’t sound like you have any kind of case here – but that you have unrealistic expectations of how things work.</p>
<p>Scholarships are entirely at a university’s election. There is nothing to be done. You’re at a private university. They get to pick and choose who they give merit to. Period.</p>
<p>Grants are based on your FAFSA and/or CSS information. They would not come close to paying even a fraction of the cost. </p>
<p>What I can’t figure out is how on earth you thought as a homeless student you could afford $33,000 a year tuition, or how you managed to borrow enough from friends to pay for the quarter in the first place. I’m sorry that you’ve found yourself in this situation, but your only remedy is to find a way and make arrangements to pay it off and move on.</p>