So my son attending his 3rd year of college completed the FAFSA as usual. Always qualifying for the Pell Grant. In 2016-2017 school year he was qualified again based on the EFC and other info. The college awarded him the grant to cover his first semester based on the FAFSA info as my taxes had not been filed as of yet. They then requested a copy of my transcripts prior to disbursement for the Second semester.
I had my accountant request and fax over and the school rejected it saying info on the FAFSA and the transcript non filing letter did not match. They then dropped his selected next semester classes and reversed the already applied award from his first semester ( which he was just completing).
So in order to re-enroll he had to write a $5,000 check or face losing his semester of classes and delay his graduation date. The check covered the reversed amount for the first semester and the tuition needed for the upcoming semester. The FA office offered nothing in support or guidance in what we could do to get a refund or that making a correction would even be an option to get reimbursed.
A few months later another parent told me it was. So I went back to FA and we were then told to get a corrected transcript and they would only except from the IRS directly not a third-party. They would not say what the discrepancy was or anything else. But if we did this he would be reimbursed the award amount for the personal payment he made. Geez that would have been a nice foot note when he wrote the check. Honestly they were such little help I was infuriated that a State University FA office would take such an adversarial position.
I was under the impression their dept sole purpose is to facilitate any and all means of an affordable college education and that they work in the best interests of assuring continued enrollment with a goal of retention and graduation of students. Instead my experience is just the opposite. So when we completed the original FAFSA the EFC was an estimate but the same as the other qualifying years. As it turned out I was out of work due to illness and I was not required to file taxes that year.
So at this point we were told we did not qualify due to the transcript issue, we had to pay to stay enrolled and given the option to receive a refund if we could submit a corrected version. So we started over and got a non-filing letter from the IRS which shows no income on a transcript and we even corrected the FAFSA application to read the same. I was told by a consultant with FAFSA that it was not necessary as the EFC was lower than what was entered. But to be sure, we corrected this.
The FAFSA consultant also said we had until 9/19/2017 years to submit a correction to receive funds and show eligibility for the 2015/2016 school year still. The FA office was not being helpful and my son had been sharing emails with the FA Director confirming everything they needed so there would be nothing to holdup his refund. He asked what date was the latest she needed everything as he knew we were still waiting on the IRS letter to arrive. He was not aware of my conversation with FAFSA and the 9/19/17 date she gave me.
The FA Director in an email told my son the last date she would accept his corrected information was July 31,2017. Which was only a few days away and we were already informed it would take a few weeks for the corrections and the transcript letter of non filing to get to us. I went back to FAFSA and confirmed the 9/19/2017 as the last date and asked if the school had the discretion of moving that earlier and was told they did not.
I’m sure you know what comes next. Everything was submitted in person to FA as well as them receiving it electronically from FAFSA that the correction were processed successfully and we met eligibility as stated on his SAR report. And no one in FA would help my son when he went in as it is over their abilities to do and he would need to check with the FA Director which we had already emailed, faxed and provided all the needed documents.
She has not replied or returned a phone call in over two weeks and nothing as been received in a refund and the grants do not show in his FA award profile at school ( they were there but removed)
And finally my questions :
Did the school receive the grant money based on FAFSA originally ? I was told they did
Does the school have the ultimate power to say we verified the info and are satisfied the student is eligible ?
Who decides the audit is needed?
How can I protest this decision on them ignoring the refund offer and the 9/19/2017 date FAFSA said we had until?
Her email states I will only accept your request for refund with the corrected information if received by July 31, 2017 as we are way past the cut off period.
I read thru every page and online info and there is nothing about a situation like this or a cut off date. I guess our mistake was asking her what it was or how much time we had to get the info to get reimbursed.
It’s a shame a school doesn’t value the integrity of a hard working and money conscious student who wrote a check and cleared his savings account of every dime he had put away for the last 20 years. A student that wasn’t throwing away that money on beer drinking college antics. The FA office was less then forthcoming on what the discrepancies were and the steps to be successful in correcting it for submission to get refunded. It was incredibly difficult to navigate on our own.
I felt like i was being challenged by FA as if they had said " well let’s see if you CAN figure it out we might consider it"
It makes me feel like they get the money upfront from the government and get to decide how it’s used. The school also has no information on if you make a mistake or are rejected there is still time to make corrections or what options you have. And we met the award criteria by FAFSA standards so now it just seems personal. They don’t want to be wrong.
Thanks I know it was a long one but it’s unusual and know the details may make a difference in the response. Thanks all