So, I am being charged for my class that I took during fall 2016. I was in the impression that My pull grant will cover those classes and it did. I got a email a few days ago from my college saying now I have to pay for my classes and pay back the refund. I was suspended from financial aid during summer2016 due to low GPA. I got my GPA to a 2.0 before the fall. Now they are saying that they had a glitch on their system and I was not eligible for financial aid even though they had given it to me. How is this possible and how is this my fault? I owe now over 2000 tho at I thought would be taken care of with my pell grant that I thought I was eligible for.
Did you go through an appeals process at your college because you didn’t meet satisfactory academic progress? Do you have the written documentation that your appeal was considered and you would be receiving aid?
If so…make an appointment asap with financial aid.
If not…well…that’s another story.
Yes, I did a SAP appeal and it has been approved for spring term this year. My spring classes are ok, so far, I have to pay back for fall2016.
I talked them and they basically told me “I’m sorry, it was just a mistake in our system, you have received aid when you should have not, but now you have to pay us back before you go on collections”
So…let me get this straight. Your SAP appeal,reinstated your aid as of spring 2017…not fall 2016.
If that is the case, you received aid when you were not supposed to receive aid. Your SAP appeal outcome SAYS your reinstatement for aid is Spring 2017.
You should not have received aid in fall 2016. I’m guessing you will need to pay it back.
When you received the aid in the fall…didn’t you KNOW you shouldn’t have? I mean…your letter says reinstatement as of Spring 2017.
@kelsmom ??
What was your GPA for each semester? How many credits did you attempt and pass in each semester?
When I received aid for my fall semester, I got a email saying that I was eligible for financial aid and didn’t It have to pay for my classes. I did not have a balance for fall 2016 just until a few days ago. Their reason was that they had made a mistake in my account. So I would have to pay my balance out of pocket next week or I would go to collections.
I even signed up for TIP for fall, so I can pay the balance in payments before the semester started, then it got terminated because I will be receiving aid. Now, I can’t sign up to pay the balance on payments because the deadline has passed.
Also my SAP appeal was for spring 2017, so I will be receiving aid for this semester.
You can still try to work out a payment arrangement with them to pay back the balance. Meet with the FA director and go over everything. If they made a mistake they should be willing to work with you.
Don’t just ignore this, go today and talk to them.
Did you EVER receive anything from your college that said your aid was being reinstated for FALL 2016? Or did your letter say SPRING 2017?
@mommdc I will try to, hopefully we can work something out. Especially since I was going to pay in payments but my college terminated the plan.
@thumper1 yes I received an email from my college saying that I was going to receive aid for Fall 2016.
Did your SAP appeal outcome letter say your aid would be reinstated in Fall 2016?
I know you got a financial aid award for fall 2016. Is THAT the email that says you will receive aid for fall 2016?
The important thing you need is the decision letter for your SAP appeal. Does THAT say your aid is being reinstated for FALL 2016? If so, take that to the financial aid office ASAP.
If the SAP decision letter says your aid was not reinstated until Spring…then its possible you received aid to which you were not entitled.
Print out the email that says you are entitled for aid in fall 2016 and bring that too. Bring all correspondence from the fa office concerning your aid.
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I received an email from my college saying that I was going to receive aid for Fall 2016.
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Sadly, when dealing with fed aid, even if the school makes a BIG mistake and even puts the award or restatement in writing, the student still gets stuck paying the money back.
I don’t think this is fair, but it’s the way it works. At a minimum, when schools make mistakes they should have to offer some sort of interest-free minimal payment loan.
If there was a mistake, it won’t matter for federal aid … the school CANNOT pay your Pell, even if they made the mistake, if you really were not meeting SAP guidelines.
In your case, because you enrolled with the understanding that you would have aid to cover your costs, I think you should make an appointment with a manager in the financial aid office (if there is an assistant or associate director of customer service, that would be the person to see). Bring your email, and tell them you would not have enrolled if you knew you could not receive aid. It is possible that they can cover your balance with institutional grant funds (please note that I am saying possible, not guaranteeing it). Be sure to also bring your FIRST notification that your aid was being removed, so they can see the date on that. Good luck to you!
It is possible because mistakes happen. The mistake may not be your fault but the debt is your obligation. There’s a difference. If the bank had mistakenly deposited $2000 into your checking account and you spent it, you would still need to pay it back once the mistake was discovered. This is effectively what’s happened here.
I agree with others. Keep calm and professional. Attitude is going to be key in getting help. Let the school see that extending this extra help to you would be a good investment. Gather documentation and ask for a payment plan that you can manage or ask if payment can be deferred until later in the summer when you could pay it back with money earned from working.