Financial aid issue/aggravation

[micheleC]

Hi everyone,

Before the current semester, I applied to a different school so I sent my FAFSA there, but their financial department gave me a really hard time about getting things squared away and the process took so long that I ended up missing out on all of the classes I wanted to take and I opted to stay at my current school. Part of my financial aid was sent to the school I didn't attend, and in the midst of getting this situation all squared away, my current school has sent me a refund check for the money left over from my federal financial aid. The deadline for my federal financial aid is March 1, so I'm very confused how this is supposed to work out now. Is the school going to keep the money? Or am I just going to get another check?

Just to provide some more in depth information, the state I live in has a state grant program that I qualify for because I have a high GPA and I'm part of an honor society. I'm kind of sweating this money because I wanted to use it to buy a laptop (no frills, nothing fancy, just something reliable for school) for the upcoming online classes I'm required to take for my program.

Has anyone been in a situation like this? This is my first time having any issues like this and I've contacted all parties involved and no one has given me a straight answer. I went from playing hot potato to get the funds to the correct school, and now I have no idea if I'll even be receiving them. This has been an extremely frustrating ordeal.

Any information is greatly appreciated.

[203bravo, MSN, APRN]

If you never registered for any courses and thus never owed any tuition to the school, then any monies that they received would be returned to the entity that paid the monies (the state or federal aid program)

Now if you could get them re-disbursed to the school that you are currently attending would be a whole other question.

[studentbear, CNA]

The way that financial aid works (as I'm sure you're aware), is they typically use your award to pay your tuition and fees first, and then disburse any remaining monies to you. Without seeing figures, knowing the office's policy, and more in-depth details, it's really hard to give you an accurate answer.The best thing you can do is contact the school's financial aid office you're working with(where you are currently attending.) If you haven't been able to get a consistent answer, you may want to ask to speak to the director or someone a bit higher up in the office. If you're polite about it, despite being frustrated and confused, they usually will be more than willing to help you out.

[micheleC]

I haven't been rude to anyone at the school or anything. I'm frustrated but I'm not taking it out on them, especially since I know that would only backfire.

The last time I spoke to someone at the financial aid department, they informed me that I had until March 1st to work it out with my state grant, but the fact that they sent me a check before they even received my state grant confuses me. I'm going to contact them on Tuesday.

Thanks for the replies and info!