Transcript hold and invalid record

[activez]

Massachusetts
I registered for a 'self directed studies' class in a community college and I've been told that I can start anytime after I pay the class tuition. This class can be taken anytime, it doesn't have to be at the beginning of the semester but I can't start until the tuition is paid in full. I didn't have the money, so I never taken the class. last month, I contacted the community college for a transcript request, I've been told that there is a hold on my transcript because of an overdue payment and I found out that I got an 'F' grade for that class.
What are my rights if there is any??
I didn't take that class because I didn't have money and I don't want to pay since I never taken the class. I don't want an 'F' grade since i never taken the class. I assumed I get an automatic withrawal since the tuition hasn't been paid. I used to get a bill before the begnning of the semester with the due date and saying that if I don't pay the full amount, it will be an automatic withdrawal for all classes and I will have to re-register again.
I never received a bill for this class then I moved couple months afterward.
Please help...
Thanks

 

[dmalone]

Several things could have happened.

Did you at any time, apply for financial aid at this college? At the college that I work at, when someone gets financial aid, a no-drop flag gets set on their record so that there is time for the financial aid to get posted.

Did you have a previous credit on your account at the college? Even if it was a dollar, their system might use that credit and show that something has been paid on the balance and stop you from being dropped.

Occasionally, payments get posted to the wrong account. Another student could have come in and thought they were paying their own tuition but it could have gotten posted to your account. Sometimes parents are able to pay partial or full tution on their students records. So another students parents could have used the wrong student ID number and their payment ended up going to your account.

There are numerous possibilites as to what could have happened. The first thing you should do is to contact the Registrar and find out why you were not dropped automatically. Ask them to provide you with a complete financial and academic record (NOT A TRANSCRIPT) of your registration. This will show the date/time/method of registration and all financial activity on your record.

And talk to the Registrar (NOT THE ADMISSIONS AND RECORDS PEOPLE). Nicely. Maybe they can take care of this without much trouble.

Beyond that. The college has every right to withhold your transcript if you have a balance due on your account. You could sue, but colleges are well insulated from civil suits. And if they show that anything was paid toward the account (even 1 cent), then they are in the right to . You could also petition the dean of the college for a late withdrawal/drop to get the 'F' taken off and hope that you get lucky. And if that fails, start writing letters. Write to the President of the College, the Board of Trustees, etc... There are many avenues that you can pursue to try to remedy this.