Department of Education Does a Good Thing Almost, Sort Of, Kind Of

The Washington Post is reporting the Department of Education stepped up to help students caught in the missing money crosshairs of missing financial aid given to Argosy University.

It seems when Dream Center Education Holdings acquired Argosy University, South University, and Art Institute campuses they tried hard to turn the ship around.

Dream Center is responsible for 11 Art Institutes schools, 11 Argosy University campuses, 13 South University campuses, and the Western State College of Law.

During the period that the Argosy tried to make things better, the Department of Education continued to send financial aid funds to the school but the school failed to pass it on to the students.

As of right now, there is $13 million in federal financial aid missing. Students should have received the money after tuition costs were covered.

The school can’t seem to account for where the missing money went.

WaPo reports, “The Education Department said Friday it will cancel any federal debt students acquired to pay for the spring semester. But that will not help students who had hoped to use a portion of their aid to cover food, housing and transportation expenses. The department said it intends to contact eligible students and post further information on its website in coming days.”

And here is the not so good news, “The Education Department said Friday it will cancel any federal debt students acquired to pay for the spring semester. But that will not help students who had hoped to use a portion of their aid to cover food, housing and transportation expenses.”

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Those students will be suddenly left out in the cold and may have things like rent due or other longer-term obligations waiting for money that was allegedly on the way.

And that is not a fear, but a reality. According to court filings, one outlet reported, “[S]tudent leaders at [Western State College of Law] are now expressing their concerns about an unfair lack of transparency from the administration, as their classmates have been seen crying in the hallways. Here’s what one student told us: ‘We’ve been told since January 19 that the school is working to get our financial aid and still nothing. Students are contemplating dropping out, dropping to part time, whether to buy food or pay rent or buy books. The school requested that students ‘petition’ for $50-$100 Visa gift cards to help with expenses and we still haven’t even received that.”

A recent court filing shed light on the scope of the missing money problem.