Hello New to this forum but I would appreciate any insight
I recently decided to take a few classes at my old junior college. When registering it said I had a hold relating to a Financial Aid over payment from Fall 2007. I graduated from that junior college with 2 AA’s but I attended another the next year. Also I was in good standing and I never dropped a class without paying back. The college I went to was in the same los rios junior college family so I assumed they would know what the other junior college was doing.
The issue is they were not aware of the over payment until 2009 in which they put a hold on my record. They stated they sent a bill and sent my debt to a collection agency. I received no bill and no collection calls because I’ve have the same number since 2005. I’m wondering if there is anything I can do to dispute this charge. I’m just amazed that they caught their mistake a year later.
If you overpaid, that would mean you paid too much…I would think.
If you underpaid…you owe them money.
Do you have any records that indicated that you actually paid your bill IN FULL? Or do you really owe them money (and thought they wouldn’t ever figure it out).
If you really owe them money, you need to pay the debt. If you have proof that your bills were totally paid, you need to go to the college and show them this proof.
A financial aid overpayment results when someone is paid money for which they are not eligible. It can happen if someone receives aid in two schools at one time. For example, a student cannot receive Pell from two schools at one time. Even if technically they don’t receive more than the allowed amount for the semester, it’s an overpayment - because one school must pay back the Pell to the government, leaving the student owing the school. Another thing that can happen is a student was paid Pell but later the school finds that the student was not eligible to receive the Pell. Regardless of whose “fault” it might be, the school has to repay the government, and the student has to repay the school.
If you have questions about what happened, email the financial aid office and ask for a detailed explanation of the situation.
“The college I went to was in the same los rios junior college family so I assumed they would know what the other junior college was doing.” Does this mean you did attend both schools at one time and received Pell from both schools? If so, you definitely had an overpayment. While you may have assumed the two schools would know, that is not how it works.
Did you attend the second college during the same academic year as the first (after you graduated from the first)? Could you have received the Pell or part of it anyway…from two schools?
My issue is not with paying the school but but I have no idea how they can figure out a mistake a year after they made it and expect you to pay for it. I would have paid it in 2008 but they didn’t figure out their mistake until june 2009 to be exact. I would have paid it in 2009 if I have received a bill or a call but I think I would remember that bill or phone call.
All you need to do is provide proof that you did NOT receive an overpayment. Can you do that?
How much is this amount? The max Pell at that point was about $5000. What do they claim you owe them? Do you have some proof of repayment if you dropped courses, dropped below full time, etc?
This is an unfortunate situation…but it happens, and the student does need to pay back the funds. There are human that are working in aid offices, and mistakes do happen, details get missed, etc. We are humans, therefore prone to error. There isn’t much that can be done at this point other than to accept what happened and clear up the amount owed.
@thumper1 I have most of my financial aid checks paperwork great idea I need to make sure I even got the money. They said they have no idea why I would have an overpayment in other words they don’t know what happened.
The bursar’s office is sometimes called the business office or the billing office, but I would follow kelsmom’s advice and contact the financial aid office.
I have a paper that said the first school was closing out my financial aid for 2007 and I didn’t attend that school in 2008 so I didn’t receive aid from both schools.