Student Loan Woes/Vent (long post)

[2ner]

I apologize in advance for this being such a long post, but....

Alright, I'm not eligible for grants, so I am forced to take out student loans (I'm in debt up to my eyeballs, but it's the ONLY way I can go to school and it really doesn't bother me b/c they're low interest and tax deductible and hopefully I can get a hospital to pay them off for me one day...or at least put a dent in it). Well, I'm attending a CC so they only go by freshman and sophomore status. I am eligible for the $7500/yr b/c I have ump-teen million hrs at this particular school (more than that from other schools but apparently they don't count). That's not what bothers me, I'm satisfied w/ the 7500/yr. Well, I get my letter from Sallie Mae saying that I was getting the freshman amt for 2003-2004 school year....I immediately picked up the phone and called them to ask what happened b/c the school told me I was eligible for the 7500. They told me that they give whatever the school requests so I need to go talk to the financial aid office at my school...I went straight there the next day and spent like 2 hours talking with 3 different people (one of those being the director). If I'm entitled to it, I need it (we all know how expensive nursing school is - not to mention the fact that the school advises us not to work more than 16 hrs a week). Well when I told the director that I wanted what I was eligible for he said, "Even though you're eligible for it, why do you want to it all?" Well, I want it all b/c I'm in the nursing program which is expensive and I had to quit work so I could focus.....This jerk replied back to me with the following, "It's financial ASSISTANCE NOT financial SUPPORT!" That irritated me to no end! I'm the one that's going to have to pay these loans back not him and it really shouldn't be any of his business why I want the money. It's not as if I can just NOT PAY my loans back, they're like IRS, they're gonna get their money! I'd understand that comment if I were receiving grants but LOANS???!!!!!

Well, he got with one of the financial aid officers and they were in her office for a while. The financial aid officer comes out (the director vanished) and says that I'm eligible for the full amount and they start manually entering some stuff in the computer. Then she excuses herself into her office again and comes out with this piece of paper that shows that if you're enrolled in Nursing I that they don't look at your other hours, and just automatically classify you as a freshman, but as soon as I'm enrolled in Nursing II that I can come in and get them to resubmit my app and get my the remaining balance (that will be in December). She also told me that the nursing program was the ONLY program that used these restrictions. Well, by this time I was so disgusted that I just left w/o asking questions.

I stewed over this for the entire weekend.....The nursing program is the MOST EXPENSIVE program at this school. The only one that requires annual physicals, and immunizations, more text books, uniforms, stethoscope, bp cuff, etc....Why would they just target this program????? Why would they completely disregard my other hours? Well, she's in Nursing I, which means we're classifying her as a freshman....

Well I called him the very next business day to try to clarify this and he said he "vaguely'" remembered me being there and took my name, social, and number saying he would look into it and call me back. Do you think I've heard a from him yet? NOPE!!! I've left messages for him, I've even emailed the man and have YET to hear from him.

I just want to know why. I'm not fighting to get my money, because I KNOW I'll get it this school year, I just want to know why this program out of all the others is treated this way when it's the most expensive. I mean, is it federal policy or the school's policy or what?

Have any of you encountered anything like this before?

Sorry for the long post, I just really needed to vent about this.

PS my boss is really good friends with the president of the school, which is how I got his email address :)

[LeesieBug]

All I can say is....what a butthead ! The comment about it being "financial assistance, not financial support", probably said with his nose thrust haughtily in the air, was totally out of line.

I think one of the joys of attending an institution of higher education is being forced to deal with all kinds of ridiculous rules that attempt to foil your plans. The only solution i have found is to suck it up and drive on, after I have made my best effort to get the problem worked out.

I sympathize with how expensive it is! I am going to a four-year program and start nursing classes this fall...my tuition for the fall semester is DOUBLE what it was for last semester. Then you figure in books, uniforms, physical etc.... UGH

Hang in there! I know how frustrating it can be.

[essarge]

Financial aid is one of my pet peaves. At our school, they seem to think that they are our parents giving us an allowance. I am 47 years old and don't need a parent!! Every semester for the last three years, I have had to fight to get the financial aid that I am eligable for. I also have gotten..."this is for tuition and books, not support!". But I am very stubborn and called the U.S. Department of Ed regional manager who in turn called the school. He told the school that unless they wanted an audit, they had better get their act together and follow the regs as they were meant to be followed......not how they interpreted them!

So here I am at the beginning of a new school year and AGAIN am in direct opposition with the financial aid office. And AGAIN I am going to have to involve the U.S. department of education and AGAIN have them intervene.

It gets really old after awhile doesn't it?

[iliel]

Wow, That's so unfair. If you qualify, then it's your money! Who are they to tell you what to do with it and how you need to spend it. I have had my fair share of problems with FA, but never like that. It was more the bank, two years in a row they didn't send it out, a "computer glitch" is what they called it.

Keep fighting and go back in there, I would tell them I'm not leaving until this gets resolved!

[2ner]

His comment about it being assistance rather than support really ticked me off. It's not as if I could actually live on the money I'll get from my loans. Do they not realize that tuition and books come out of that, on top of the percentage they take right from the start for processing fees? Who in the hell can live on 1500 dollars for 6 months? Not me? That doesn't even cover a month of my household bills.

Yeah it gets really old after a while. Since I've been going to that school it's been one thing after another EVERY SEMESTER. They hire incompetent people who either hate their job or they just genuinely suck at it and nobody communicates. If you call with a question they act like you're a nuisance. I would be more apt to take their crap if I wasn't giving them a ton of money each semester.

I don't want to do anything to jeopardize my standing with the Nursing school, though.

[Disablednurse]

When I was in nursing school, I did not have any problem getting the loan. The problems I had came afterwards when I was paying it back, just to tell you some others that you may expect. It was sold to other companies about every six months. I would pay to one address for about six months, then would get a notice that it had been sold to send it to another address. Then it would get confusing. It really was confusing and ridiculous.

[2ner]

I encountered that once after attending college the first time. Had to pay Sallie Mae back for one and another company for the other. All you have to do to aleviate that problem is get Sallie Mae to buy your other loans. Then you won't have to worry about the confusion.