“Dear Steve,
I was attending an on line university, had Pell grants and student loans, I dropped my last two classes, due to a unbelievable amount of stress I was under. Now, I am trying to enroll in a local university, I need my transcripts. The online college claims I owe them $3100, I do not understand how. My loans are through the government- not the college. How do I argue this and how do I get my transcripts?
Jennifer”
Dear Jennifer,
I’m going to give you some homework to do. After you do it, come back and update me in the comments section.
Call the university and ask for a copy of your financial account so you can see what exactly they are claiming that you owe.
Next, see if your student loans show disbursement for this debt they say that you owe.
I have a sneaking suspicion that either they never applied for the loans or that they misapplied the funds. This is just going to take some sleuthing around to figure out.
Until this is resolved, you don’t get to get your transcripts.
Steve
Another thing you can do without having to hire a lawyer is to contact your local State Student Financial Aid group. For Illinois, this is the Illinois Student Assistance Commission (ISAC). If you were getting state aid along with federal aid (PELL) they may be able to ask for the forms for you. If not you can complain to the State board of higher education. Each state has one and they may be able to quickly resolve your problem or at least find out where you stand in regards to the costs.
Kelvin Wing
ISAC Commissioner
2007-2010
State of Illinois
Good tip. Did this work for you?
They refused to give me a copy of my financial account. They just wanted to send an email that stated how much I owed in total rather than what I’m being charged for separately.
Maybe you need to hire a consumer attorney to represent you to get some answers. Look at http://naca.net to find a local attorney.
I am trying
to begin college again at my previous college. I did some online classes at
Grand Canyon University for a year and decided to stop and get a job. Now I am
trying to reapply @ my previous college only to find out I can’t because Grand
Canyon says I owe $3000.00 for classes I didn’t take. Now they won’t send my
transcripts from Grand Canyon University to the college I am trying to apply
too. Please advise me on what I should do and how to handle this. Thanks