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Financial aid office useless

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Epoch

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Wa

Not really sure what to do, hoping someone here can give advice. The following is lengthy so bear with me.

I've been attending a local community college and had only 2 quarters left until graduation. For half of the first year I did not receive both unsub and sub loans (which i checked both on the forms prior to my first quarter) but only received grants, ended up being a filing issue on their end. Had a decent job at the time so that helped with books, gas and so on.

Started taking more classes and for 3 quarters financial aid was ready to go within the first few days of classes. 4th quarter and beyond is where things started getting strange. As per norm, people attending the school would stand in lines according to their last name in the lounges to receive their checks. As before, I wait in line but this time (and for the following months until this last quarter) I'm told their is no check for me, that I should go talk to the cashier. I do as they say, the cashier says she has no record of one for me, I then go upstairs to financial aid where I explain what's going on. They check on the computer and show me the screen which shows the forms were turned in 2-4 months prior to the due date and their was/are no issues at all. Two quarters the check amazingly showed up during the last week of classes after bugging them daily about it. The last quarter however did not.

During this time the same work study student is always there whenever I stop in. Fast forward to the quarter prior to this most recent one (ill edit for dates and quarters/years later on this week, when I have more free time) my forms are turned in months prior to the due date, no check for me, financial aid shows forms turned in and that everything is ok. I'm told to keep checking the lounge/cashier. Close to halfway into the quarter I drop by one of my IT teacher's classes and we get to talking about this, he mentions quite a few of his students are having the same issue, all of which were helped by the same work-study student.

At this point I'm starting to wonder if it is another filing issue, I continue to check with the cashier and financial aid every other day for 2 weeks. Come in one day to find the work study student that helped me and other IT students is gone. While waiting in line a few of the financial aid counselors are talking about how he was fired for throwing away forms instead of filing them in a file cabinet that is/was literally 4 feet from the financial aid desk. A few days later a family member of mine who also attends the college runs into a financial aid worker (the only one who seems to know what she's doing and the only one who has helped me and others prior to this) and she tells him "so and so was fired due to throwing away dozens of forms instead of filing them."

I'm told by financial aid since the check has not yet arrived I will have to pay for tuition or be dropped from my classes and they will reimburse me later when it does come in. At this point I had already borrowed money to pay for the recent quarters when financial aid came late. So I end up getting part time & temporary jobs to pay back those amounts & to help with books and tuition for this quarter, all while being told by most of the financial aid office "yes your forms were turned in and it is coming and we will cover you" the financial aid site also shows which date the original forms were turned in and a note along the lines of "originals turned in on this day".

Turns out the work study student "lost" my data sheet 3 times, he admitted to it in front of the financial aid worker who was helping me, the dean, myself and other students who were in line / waiting for counselors. In my IT class I had all the work finished, however because the syllabus requires students to not miss more than 5 days I receive a 0.0 for the class, because of the part time and temporary jobs conflicting with class times. A few days later I receive a letter stating that I'm on financial aid probation. I go and see the dean of financial aid and explain to her what happened thus far and ask how am I on financial aid probation when I have yet to receive any financial aid for the quarter? She looks it up on her computer and agrees that my forms were turned in prior to their due dates, says she doesn't know what to say, that it could be because I have too many credits...followed be telling me to file a petition to receive financial aid for the quarter which I do. Before leaving I ask her how long had they known I could fill out the petition because I'm just now being told about this she tells me "you could have filed it in the first week of this quarter, the work-study students aren't trained very well." Out in the lobby upon filling out and turning in the petition another work study student tells me my check actually came in and was returned. The petition I turn in gets denied, I'm told to fill out another petition and that "their is a extremely good chance it's coming" which is also denied. A few days prior to receiving a 0.0 for the class, the dean's attitude changed and it seemed as if she knew the reason but only told me I had too many credits. She also goes from "we will reimburse you" to "we won't be able to reimburse you." During this whole time the financial aid website shows I was to receive an amount for the quarter to help with tuition books and so on. What gets me, is that even before the quarter started financial aid knew the check wasn't coming, but wouldn't give me a straight answer, kept giving me the run around and had me talking to different counselors and work-study students on a daily basis. If they knew it wasn't going to come why did they keep telling me it was coming? I could have dropped classes and not paid out of pocket for tuition and books.

After the above I headed over to my advisor's office to change classes due to not being able to attend the next quarter, while leaving her office a family member and I run into another student which had virtually the same thing happen to her - she turned in forms before due dates, forms were lost, was approved but nothing came in. She mentioned after bugging financial aid for weeks to no end she wrote a letter to the U.S. department of education and within a few days she received her check, they had it the entire time.

I'm kind of scratching my head at this point. I literally have 2 quarters to complete to graduate, and due to these issue I received no financial aid for the quarter and I'm now on financial aid probation. Somehow my check did come in but I was not told (mind you i checked with the office every other day) money was taken out of the check and it was returned, It also seems like the amount that was taken out is being added on to the loans I have received from past quarters. I brought this up to a few people who mentioned to get ahold of the U.S. department of education because taking money out and adding it onto my overall loans when I did not receive anything for the quarter falls under misuse / misappropriation of financial aid. Is that true? If i call the department of education is this something they can fix?
 
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csi7

Senior Member
I am going to suggest you present this case to the website at ForgiveStudentLoanDebt.com where there is more information available that is current, including resources to help you present the case to Department of Education.
You have a valid case to submit for misappropriation of federal funds, however, your immediate goal is to get back on track for class/graduation and the website above will get you in the right direction.
Best wishes, and, your experience is far more common than people realize.
 

Humusluvr

Senior Member
I don't think you are looking to skip out on your debt.

It's unfortunate that a student worker mishandled your papers. That is the SCHOOL'S fault, not the government's. Whenever you deal with financial aide, you have to be diligent, as it sounds like you were. You have to keep on them, and make sure the department keeps your account updated.

This isn't something you can take legal action on. You can keep harping on the school to make things right, and you should do that. You are almost finished, and this is an important life lesson. You have to keep your finances in order, so that if someone screws up - like the guy filing the papers - you can try to get it fixed.

Keep talking to the school. Good luck.
 

Epoch

Junior Member
Thanks for the replies! I will take a look at that website shortly and see what can be done.

I've gone back to the financial aid office more then a few times since the above has happened, and only 1 person there is/was trying to help (the lady that sorted out the financial aid being late in previous quarters.) The dean, other counselors and work-study students are of the opinion that it is my problem that forms were lost..I don't understand how them not training work-study students correctly, and in the end losing forms is my fault. Does them blaming me for the paperwork being lost repeatedly make sense to anyone? It seems like they would rather not deal with the issues they created.

All I've been told so far is that the petitions were as far as I could take it and nothing else can be done; If I wanted I could have attended this current quarter or the next but I would have to pay tuition, books and so on because of the financial aid probation, which they again won't reimburse me for.

While leaving the office I ran into another IT teacher, he's a little outspoken, says what's on his mind, overall a good guy and great teacher. I briefly mention what is going on and his response was that financial aid is treated as a separate entity from the school, no one (including other deans at the school) can really do anything about it, although they sympathize with students for going through this sort of thing.

I'd assume the department of education would put some pressure on financial aid to fix this and keep it from happening again, correct?
 
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Humusluvr

Senior Member
Thanks for the replies! I will take a look at that website shortly and see what can be done.

I've gone back to the financial aid office more then a few times since the above has happened, and only 1 person there is/was trying to help (the lady that sorted out the financial aid being late in previous quarters.) The dean, other counselors and work-study students are of the opinion that it is my problem that forms were lost..I don't understand how them not training work-study students correctly, and in the end losing forms is my fault. Does them blaming me for the paperwork being lost repeatedly make sense to anyone? It seems like they would rather not deal with the issues they created.

All I've been told so far is that the petitions were as far as I could take it and nothing else can be done; If I wanted I could have attended this current quarter or the next but I would have to pay tuition, books and so on because of the financial aid probation, which they again won't reimburse me for.

While leaving the office I ran into another IT teacher, he's a little outspoken, says what's on his mind, overall a good guy and great teacher. I briefly mention what is going on and his response was that financial aid is treated as a separate entity from the school, no one (including other deans at the school) can really do anything about it, although they sympathize with students for going through this sort of thing.

I'd assume the department of education would put some pressure on financial aid to fix this and keep it from happening again, correct?
Teachers and Deans are really completely separate from the financial aid office. No matter what they tell you, even if they are right or outspoken, will matter to financial aid.

I'm not sure that the Department of Education is going to care much, honestly, as long as it's chugging right along. If a school was reported so many times for failure to comply - the Dept of Ed might get involved. But on one or a dozen cases - There are millions of students in school. Your best bet is to keep on the financial aid office. Make copies of everything you submit, and log when you submit them.
 

csi7

Senior Member
And the telephone numbers, contacts, referrals, all that as well.
Department of Education does have a financial aid resource section that works on this type of situation and may be able to help you resolve it quickly.
 

Humusluvr

Senior Member
And the telephone numbers, contacts, referrals, all that as well.
Department of Education does have a financial aid resource section that works on this type of situation and may be able to help you resolve it quickly.
18. What do I do if I suspect my school operates in a deceptive or fraudulent manner?
If you suspect fraud, waste, or abuse involving federal student aid, e.g. Pell Grants, Direct Loans, etc., or if you believe that school personnel have misrepresented any aspect of the educational program, its cost, or its outcome, you should contact the Inspector General’s Hotline at 1 800-MIS-USED or ED Office of Inspector General Hotline.
 

Epoch

Junior Member
Thanks for the help!

Little bit of an update:

I've been back to financial aid more then a few times to try and sort this out. They admit the work study student messed up and that they took longer than expected by waiting until after the date to drop classes / not being truthful about financial aid coming; but due to the lost forms and 0.0 from the 5 missed days in the IT class nothing can be done. Was told I will have to speak with an advisor before registering for the coming quarter, but more than likely I will have to pay for the coming quarters' tuition, books and so on. At this point I just want to graduate and be done with the headache, if it means taking a few quarters off and working to save up to finish then so be it. It seems like I'm getting nowhere talking to them, I'm out of ideas at this point and would rather just find a way other students wouldn't have to deal with anything like this.

I did as a poster stated and found all the information related to this. After the petitions were denied, I received a letter stating I was on financial aid suspension followed by a letter stating that I was put on financial aid probation. When I asked a few of the counselors about how I'm on suspension and then probation the next day they look at me as if I'm speaking a foreign language and have no explanation...

On that same note, I was speaking with a dean of another department, earlier this week and he mentioned he knows of a little over 400 students which financial aid has screwed up the same quarter I had the problem in (by the same work study student) as well as quarters previous to and after that. If I can get their names and what happened with them and send that info to the department of education (or somehow get the dean or his secretary to do that, they aren't too happy about this either) could the Dept. of Education do something to ensure this type of thing gets fixed, work-study students and counselors are properly trained, and doesn't happen again?

Sorry about the long posts, I tend to over explain things while they are fresh in my mind.
 

Humusluvr

Senior Member
Thanks for the help!

Little bit of an update:

I've been back to financial aid more then a few times to try and sort this out. They admit the work study student messed up and that they took longer than expected by waiting until after the date to drop classes / not being truthful about financial aid coming; but due to the lost forms and 0.0 from the 5 missed days in the IT class nothing can be done. Was told I will have to speak with an advisor before registering for the coming quarter, but more than likely I will have to pay for the coming quarters' tuition, books and so on. At this point I just want to graduate and be done with the headache, if it means taking a few quarters off and working to save up to finish then so be it. It seems like I'm getting nowhere talking to them, I'm out of ideas at this point and would rather just find a way other students wouldn't have to deal with anything like this.

I did as a poster stated and found all the information related to this. After the petitions were denied, I received a letter stating I was on financial aid suspension followed by a letter stating that I was put on financial aid probation. When I asked a few of the counselors about how I'm on suspension and then probation the next day they look at me as if I'm speaking a foreign language and have no explanation...

On that same note, I was speaking with a dean of another department, earlier this week and he mentioned he knows of a little over 400 students which financial aid has screwed up the same quarter I had the problem in (by the same work study student) as well as quarters previous to and after that. If I can get their names and what happened with them and send that info to the department of education (or somehow get the dean or his secretary to do that, they aren't too happy about this either) could the Dept. of Education do something to ensure this type of thing gets fixed, work-study students and counselors are properly trained, and doesn't happen again?

Sorry about the long posts, I tend to over explain things while they are fresh in my mind.
Wow! FOUR HUNDRED students?

Listen, normally I wouldn't suggest this route, but I think it's appropriate here. Make yourself a hundred or so fliers with the info from the post I made above this one. And start talking to everyone on campus you can about the mess in the financial aide office. Get every student that you can to call the number, and report if the financial aide office messed up their stuff. Strength in numbers. When so many students complain, hopefully the Dept of Ed will take action.

It, unfortunately, sounds like the only recourse you have here. Good luck to you.
 

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