Financial Aid Dispute

ladeeda6 · 07-10-2012, 02:32 PM

For the fall semester of the 2011 - 2012 school year, I attended Miami University. I transferred that next semester because I did not like the school.

I am claimed as a dependent on my parent's tax returns and she recently filed an amended tax return for that year. I updated my FAFSA to show the corrected information and was selected by verification. After submitting the necessary paperwork, I was then eligible to receive a $1,500 Federal Pell Grant that was never applied to my account.

Apparently, I was told that I had 180 days to accept any lingering financial aid since my last date of attendance and since that time passed, I am not able to get that refunded to me. However, it was never an option on my financial aid letter until this week. The school I attend currently had a similar issue and refunded me for the grant money I should've received and I had the option of having some be applied to my account for summer.

Is there anything I can do regarding this? If I did not know that I was awarded the $1,500 until today as it was never listed on my account previously, I don't understand why I have to let it go because of this 180-day policy.

beolein · 07-11-2012, 08:47 AM

Your financial aid letter and status with the school from more than 180 days ago was based on the information they had then. The fact that your information was changed past their 180 day deadline is not their fault. Had the amended tax return been filed less than 180 days later, you wouldn’t have the problem.

kelsmom · 07-11-2012, 01:32 PM

Beolein is correct. The amended information changed your EFC, and the school in which you were currently enrolled was required to verify your file. The prior school was not required to do so, as you were no longer in attendance. Had you contacted them and asked them to verify your file, and if you had been able to get all info to them & they were able to complete the verification within 180 days of the last day you attended class at their school, you would have been eligible for the Pell. Because this did not happen, you are not eligible. It is one of those things ... not the fault of the school, but you didn't know, either.

The 180 day rule is non-negotiable, as it is a federal deadline.