So I finished college in December but my ceremony is May. In order to participate in the ceremony, get my transcripts, and actually “graduate” I have to pay $17,000 for the hold to be released. I have tried literally everything. I’ve reached out to financial aid and they said there’s nothing they can do, tried to start a gofundme but there’s 0 donations, unable to qualify for a private loan that high, parents won’t do parent plus loan, parents do not wanna co-sign for a private loan, don’t have any savings, not enough on my credit cards to pay the bill, searched all over the internet and can’t find any scholarships or grants for past due balances, I am at the end of my ropes here.
What else can I do? If I don’t pay this balance I won’t be in my ceremony and it’ll be sent to collections.
**and before anyone says it: YES, I am aware that this was a very poor financial decision on my end. When I was like 19 or 20 transferring into this school I was not thinking about the financials at all. I was thinking oh I get to go to my dream school and I’ll get money to go there…I couldn’t have been anymore wrong. I got a 3.93 and didn’t receive a dime from this school.
Hi, I remember some of your past posts. Sorry you are still dealing with this confusion.
Did your family end up helping you a couple of years ago with that balance? Is this the same balance from two years ago?
Can you break down what the balance is comprised of? Is it just from last semester? Is it housing for the current spring semester that they did not let you out of?
Most colleges withdraw you if bills are not paid or loans are not finalized at a certain point in the semester.
Yes, I do work. But it’s only a temp job (january- may) and I only get paid $13/hour. It won’t make a dent into my balance.
And I did see this article, it may help in terms of applying to grad school but unfortunately won’t help in terms of being cleared to graduate. My school made it clear the full balance must be paid in order to be in the ceremony and NOT go into collections since this bill is very much past due
Hi, I’m so surprised you remember me. They did end up helping, but one of them had to take out a personal loan, use some credit cards, etc.
This bill was due last semester technically, but they didn’t withdraw me I just couldn’t register for this semester (which I didn’t have to I finished in December). But now that they have kinda done a lot for me there isn’t much they can really do
No easy answer that I can see. I’d start working full time – once you have an income, see if you can work out a payment plan with the college (or perhaps with your parents if they could front you the money).
This is the same college I’m referring to in this post. The school doesn’t do payment plans for past due balance. One of my parents says they’ll do “whatever” but their credit score is poor and unsure if they can even be a co-signer or get a loan. The other parent (who contributed money this entire time) never wants to have a conversation about it and keeps saying “we’ll see what happens” and is basically acting petty because the other parent did nothing. It’s valid that they are acting the way they are, but it feels like I’m alone and can’t get help from either one. It seems like everyone is dragging their feet.
I am sorry that you are in this position. Unfortunately, there isn’t much you can do to fix this, other than to pay the balance due.
You need to put the idea of grad school out of your mind for the time being. You are going to have to work to pay off your debt before you can even consider grad school. I suggest contacting a nonprofit debt counseling agency like Greenpath - they can provide you with the financial counseling assistance that is frankly overdue. Hopefully you can live at home while you pay off your debt so that you can get your degree.
If you decide to go to grad school after you pay off the debt, please don’t do it unless it makes sense financially. Don’t jump from one financial crisis to another.
If you are working now, send them what you can each pay period.
Your previous student loans will start to be due soon as well. You need to be in a position to pay those each month.
The financial aid office may be able to help process loans as it is still within the same academic year. Communicate as much as possible with them. Document your conversations. How much do you currently have in your existing student loans? If the college wants some of their money they may reduce some of what you owe.
First of all, congratulations. You actually made it. You finished your classes, you changed schools, you graduated so to speak from your dream school. I am sorry you did not have very good advice, or sophisticated parents, or helpful or forthcoming school admin, and didn’t have the skills as a young person to make better choices. Apart from the $17k owed directly to the school, how in debt are you? How in debt are your parents? (Also, consider all of this why are you looking at grad schools right now, particularly for a relatively low paid high cost program) Your best options are finishing your classes, accepting that you won’t graduate and find a job and get your transcript released. Find a job, live at home, don’t spend a dollar until the school debt is paid off.
As far as federal loans, I wanna say almost $50k. I took out a private loan a while ago which was for $7k but is now $8k because of interest. I’m not sure when I’ll start owing federal loans, but the private loan will start in June unless I defer it.
Financial aid has been nothing but unhelpful. They’ve said “we have no money to give you.” They also claim they also work with whatever is on my FAFSA and I’ve basically maxed out federal loans.
While maybe you can’t walk, and I get you’re proud you’ve earned the degree, that’s not the issue here.
To me it’s two fold:
You owe money - and so that needs to be paid.
I don’t know but I assume the school won’t graduate you - which could keep you from getting a full time/professional job or into grad school.
So - perhaps you have to think outside the box - weekend job at Dunkin or Uber, etc Moving home, saving on rent, etc.
Or find a higher paying job - for example see if you can get a porter job at a car dealership or a sales job - a good car sales makes 6 figures…or in a furniture store, etc. Some of the “modern” gas stations are paying big for assistant managers, etc. Even the attendants/cashiers are making $20+ - not sure where you are but a Quick Trip, Wawas, Buckees type place.
I’m not sure the alternatives unfortunately - it will take you a long time to escape this but you need to earn every cent you can and save every cent possible in order to be able to erase this debt - so you can then grow your life.
So as I stated in a different answer, almost $50k in federal loans and about $8k in private loans. I don’t know the exact amount for my parents, but I’m prettt sure one of them still owes some student loans and the other took out loans for me.
I told myself of the financial aid package doesn’t look right, I just won’t attend this year. I just wanted to at least try and see. Some schools might offer generous aids (not necessarily loans) and after working I might have some money saved up. I’ve learned my lesson with undergrad, I will NEVER put myself in this situation again. But I still gotta dig myself out of this.
Just for clarification, I already live at home (and I’m completely miserable I love my family but it’s so mentally draining that’s another story). I try to save up a little bit now with the money I do make but of course it’s a small amount because there are basic necessities I do pay for (besides rent and food I don’t pay for that family does)
If you’re at home, even miserable, that’s a great way to save.
There are likely jobs you can find that will pay more than $13 an hour - see if you can get one and save - and even look for a 2nd job.
it won’t be easy - but every $200 you save - you’ll feel better and better. Make it a goal to double the payment each month - if you can. And moreso if you can.
Will the college work with you on a payment plan? If you can do that, and pay them $1000/mo, it will take you 17 months (if they also agree to no interest) to pay it off. That’s tough. It will mean scrimping and saving. You can defer your federal loans (and interest will run on those). But you need to put every dime into paying off the school.
I think you have to accept that you can’t pay this off by May and won’t be able to participate in graduation or get your diploma then.
You could look into an Americorps job. I did one tutoring math to 5th graders, and got paid a stipend (it was about $20/hr) but I also got a Segal award which is equal to a full Pell grant (so about $7000) and can be used to pay tuition or student loans. It is based on hours, so I think 1800 is the full award and I earned about half that working from Oct to May. It is full time, but honestly a lot of it was group meetings online (in school 8-4 M-Th, online Fridays), so you could easily work another job in retail or food service. It would be a hard year, but I think do-able. If you lived at home, you could put every dime toward tuition and then have a chuck to pay on the student loans that you have deferred from the Segal award.