So, I'm entering my second year of college. Last year I was lucky enough to be given financial assistance to go to college. Since I go to one of the biggest community colleges, a lot of people do the same. Hundreds I'm sure. This summer we had to renew the financial aid papers. Now, This little basic standard procedure turned out to be a complete fiasco, on the colleges part.
After several long, chaotic visits to the financial aid office to get all the documents right I finally turned them in the first week of July. July 2nd to be exact. My classes had to be paid for by the 22nd. Last year this was so issue. July 22nd came and I still was not approved for financial aid. The website read "Received Pending Approval". My mother called the financial aid office and they apparently knew they had a problem with processing all the forms of all the students so they extended the pay date til the 22nd of August.
Last week, the website still read "Received Pending Approval". My mother called and they said that the papers that were turned in the first week of July would be reviewed that week. We left it at that.
On Wednesday, that status was still the same. My mother and I decided to pay the office a visit. We had to wait 5 hours before being seen. Unfortunately I was forced to sign a short term loan. They told us our papers were not reviewed, they didn't know when they would be reviewed and that I might not even get it at that. Now let me vent on those 3 points the woman made.
1) papers were not reviewed- I realize that there are hundreds of these files being reviewed. I also realize that this isnt new. This is standard procedure. They should have the effectiveness and the resources to do this in a timely and ordered fashion.
2) they didn't know when they would be reviewed- this, to me, seems like a cheap excuse. A better way of saying "don't expect us to do it anytime soon like we actually care about doing our job or you for that matter"
3) I might not even get financial aid- This is where i KNOW they don't know what they are doing. Financial aid is based on income. The less income, the more financial aid. Well nothing has changed with my mothers income ( I am a dependent). The only thing that has changed is the campus I attend.
Schools begins on Monday. I was lucky enough to have money saved up to be able to be for the short term loan and not get dropped from my classes. On the other hand, i know many others are not as fortunate. Because of the economy and their already low family incomes, they did not have the money. They NEED the financial aid from the college. Many people will not be able to go to college because the college is slow with processing the papers.
Is this legal? Can something be done about it?
I decided to write to all the local news stations to see if some light could be shed on this problem. Hopefully something can be done.
