Because of an error on my lender’s end, my financial aid was 2 months late this semester. I did not know when it would arrive, so I took on extra jobs to pay my rent rather than max my credit card out too soon. The extra work helped me fall behind in my classes. Faced with the possibility of low grades that could ruin my 3.6 GPA, I chose to withdraw.
I asked the financial aid office how soon I’d have to pay back the aid. Three counselors told me that since I’m a graduate student, and since I only took out loans not grants, I would just pay back the loans the same as the rest of my loans under their repayment terms. I simply would not be eligible for aid next semester. They said undergraduates have their grades checked, but not graduate students with loans.
Well, now I got an email from them saying that I must pay back every dollar I was lent immediately. I replied with the above info and am waiting for a response. I’m scared and want input from you sooner.
How do people pay back everything so fast? Immediately? Does that mean my credit gets ruined if I don’t have the money right away? I don’t yet have a job. How can I pay back $8800 immediately, when $2000 was spent on tuition and $2000 was spent on rent and food, and I’m hesitant to pay back the other $4800 when I have a recent medical bill and need to find work.
Your aid was late by two months at the fault of your lender, so I’m assuming you received your aid (all loans since you’re a grad student) in early to mid March.
You worked and paid for things with working up until then? Did you partially pay your tuition with work income or did you let it accrue late fees until your aid came through?
As far as I know, and hopefully someone more educated in this can help out, loans, regardless of when they were disbursed during any semester of either undergrad or grad work all enter repayment six months after withdrawing from full time status, which as a grad student is 6 or 9 hours (check with your school on this).
Unless withdrawing so soon after receiving your loans this semester makes ONLY THOSE LOANS due back right away after the submission of your Withdrawal, due to your aid being granted later in the semester.
Second:
2000 towards tuition that covered all of your tuition and fees, I’m assuming. That’s why I asked if you paid some with income and the rest with loans.
2000 towards rent and food? If you received your loans 2 months late, and I’m right when I said it must’ve shown up in early-mid March…and it’s the start of April NOW…how did you spend 2000 in a month or less with your aid?
And you I’m sure you know that financial aid isn’t meant for non-school related expenses like a huge medical bill you possibly could’ve avoided. I’m not sure what happened that placed you in $4800 dollars in medical debt, but hopefully you’re healed and healthy because of it. I’m pretty sure I have a growth in my neck that I first felt in my Fall 2015 semester and I haven’t gone in for it because my money is meant for my education. Maybe elaborate more here.
I paid for most of my expenses and tuition with my credit card and then worked the extra hours (student work) to hedge my bets. I did not want to run the card up too much. I do have $4800 left over. I just wish I had more time to pay back the $8800 so I could first find work…
I have a cracked tooth that needs a crown. The crack has been getting bigger. If I don’t get the crown and bacteria gets in there, it will need a root canal in addition to the crown. I plan to pay for the crown with my credit card. It still is stressful running up the credit card. Not having to pay back the $4800 immediately would make me feel less stressed out while I look for work. I just wish it would go into repayment in 6 months like normal.
The question isn’t whether you have a good reason for needing the money, but whether you are entitled to keep the financial aid from this semester since you didn’t complete the semester.
Your college financial aid was disbursed to you to pay for COLLEGE, not your tooth. Since you are no longer in school this term, you need to pay that money back. In your first post, you say you worked to pay your college bills. Presumably this means that the loan money was not used to pay you college bills. So…where is that money now? Just use it to pay back the college loan.
Maybe your dentist has a payment plan. Ours does. Ask.
The $4800 I have left from the $8800 is in my checking account. Had the 3 financial aid officers told me I would have to pay back the $8800 immediately, I would not have withdrawn. I just don’t get why they want the full $8800 even though I withdrew 55-60% the way in. I guess I’ll have to hear their response. It is just aggrevating that the mistake on my lenders end snow balled like this.
No. There is a clinic in a nearby town. Poor childless people get 50% off, which is $700. I already go to a hygiene school to get my teeth cleaned for free. They told me the pain was a crack and that I needed a crown. As for the dental school, a ton of people all call at 8:00 on the 18th of each month. They take the first 3 callers. I think I’ll call a bunch of places and see which ones have a sliding scale. Most likely it will be $700.
I do have a credit card to pay rent and stuff with. It is just scary running it up. I have many old injuries that greatly limit which jobs I can do. So I’m hoping to get a programming job with my applied math degree and CS minor. I have a 3.6 GPA but no internships.
OK. What if it had been a different school, where tuition is much higher, say, $10,000? If the aid goes to tuition, and someone withdraws, they then don’t have the $10,000. How do they pay it back immediately? Does it just get sent to collections and ruin their credit?
^^Yes, pretty much. If you withdraw after a certain point you don’t get a tuition refund and you don’t qualify for financial aid, so you owe the tuition just like you’d owe any other bill.
Maybe the school would let you be on a repayment plan.
You say you hope to get a job with your degree…so get moving and get a job. Right now you are living on credit cards and college loan money, which is not sustainable.
Contact the school about a payment plan ASAP.
For your other federal loans, look into income based repayment.
Actually ask about that for these loans as well.
@kelsmom why would this student be paying the school for his loans? Why wouldn’t he be dealing with a loan servicer?
Because I withdrew right before spring break, which maybe was not the full 60% to avoid paying it back right away. Still, they should at least prorate it for the days I was there. Right now they want the full amount.
I’ll let you all know what they say on Monday or Tuesday. But if it is at all like the glitch that made my loans 2 months late, it might be a while before they figure out what is going on. That is why I posted here.
I wonder why they told me that as a part time graduate student (6 units), I would not have to pay the loans back right away but would just go into normal repayment. Has anyone heard of that rule.