What you “feel” and what the law allows are two entirely different things. Of course they can do this if you agreed to assume financial responsibility for what the student owes the school. It’s the equivalent of co-signing for a loan: if the borrower defaults, you’re on the the hook, no matter how unfair it may “feel.” Nor do you have any right to take any action on behalf of the principal borrower, e.g., selling the property to pay off the debt. All you can do in that situation is to pay what’s owed, because that’s what you agreed to.
In your case, neither the school nor the student ever agreed to allow you to take actions on behalf of the student, so that’s not your prerogative. If you signed an agreement to take responsibility for financial liabilities incurred by the student, then you’re stuck with that, whetever the student decides to do, whether or not that course of action meets with your approval, and however unfair it may “feel” to you to be stuck with the tab. If you don’t like it, then you shouldn’t have agreed to assume financial responsibility in the first place, though that’s a decision that’s already been made. There are no backsies…
Your son is an adult. So the college will not work with you about his situation without his express permission in writing, most likely. What you can do, and should do, is make sure you did not put yourself on the hook for paying for things and being responsible for things. In the thrall of college, you may have signed things putting yourself in that position, and you do not want to be surprised with a bill for which you are a responsible party.
bclintonk … There is no “official” loan in play that we signed for our son. We simply paid for his first year of school with every intention of funding his education. We did not cosign any loans for him.
"What you “feel” and what the law allows are two entirely different things. Of course they can do this if you agreed to assume financial responsibility for what the student owes the school. It’s the equivalent of co-signing for a loan: if the borrower defaults, you’re on the the hook, no matter how unfair it may “feel.” Nor do you have any right to take any action on behalf of the principal borrower, e.g., selling the property to pay off the debt. All you can do in that situation is to pay what’s owed, because that’s what you agreed to.
In your case, neither the school nor the student ever agreed to allow you to take actions on behalf of the student, so that’s not your prerogative. If you signed an agreement to take responsibility for financial liabilities incurred by the student, then you’re stuck with that, whetever the student decides to do, whether or not that course of action meets with your approval, and however unfair it may “feel” to you to be stuck with the tab. If you don’t like it, then you shouldn’t have agreed to assume financial responsibility in the first place, though that’s a decision that’s already been made. There are no backsies…
You may not have any obligations out there. Though not typical, parents have had things direct billed to them such as tuition and other charges. I have no memory signing up for that any time, but that was the way it happened. We did get all of the bills. More extreme is if you left a credit card or account number for things to be direct billed. I would call the Bursars office and make it clear to them that you are no longer paying any of your student’s bills.
This. Make sure there is a not an account on file that auto pays. Continue to be clear with your son that you will not pay a dime for any fees at his university until he can prove he can pass courses at a community college first.
I work at a college. There doesn’t have to be a loan for you to owe tens of thousands of dollars. I wouldn’t waste time debating whether or not you should communicate with the college. Just do it.
Send an email to the registrar, housing office, campus dining, financial aid, his advisor, and the Dean of Students to let them know your son is formally withdrawing for the year. Ask for a confirmation.
Contact all of them at the same time so you don’t miss anyone, and get it there before the withdrawal deadline. If you miss the deadline, the account will be charged. I don’t see what difference it makes whose name the bill is in. Contact the school and let them tell you if they need additional information to complete the withdrawal.
Can a parent withdraw a child from college? That is an important question and there seems to be some difference of opinion on that. Maybe someone at the college could have a talk with him about either withdrawing or taking a leave.
A parent or anyone CAN send a notice to the college that a student is withdrawing. Yes. Will the college act in it until it checks with the student? It should not. But , the imperative thing here is to get any financial commitments, particularly auto bill situations involving the parents cancelled.
If the student can get funding elsewhere, as an adult, does not have to involve parents. It’s just that it is often possible parents have signed something involving commitment to pay, and, if so, might bill the parent, hold the parent financially responsible
Not all schools cancel registration for non payment. Policies vary. Assuming your school is like some one else’s is how students end up in debt, unable to continue their education and wasting money.
Even at the same school policies can vary depending on the student. Always check with your school about your own circumstances.
“Certain students are automatically excluded from the DNP process due to a variety of reasons. For example, certain types of veteran students will not be dropped for non-payment since they rely on a third party payment. Excluded students are informed about not being dropped and that they are responsible for paying ALL outstanding charges if something falls through with the payment that is in process.”
Yeah I thought somewhere in the thread it said that if the student doesn’t withdraw himself, the financial liability remains. It seems as if, for some schools, the parents really would have to convince the son to withdraw. It must vary from school to school.