I watched my student loan go up in flames...

[FirstLight]

Yesterday my balance was zero, and it showed a refund that would be due to me. I had even received a call from financial aid assuring me that student loans then go to the bank get rubber stamped and then the refund comes back to us.

This morning I looked and behold, my balance is back up to $6,000 and there's no refund at all! Poof! Gone! It's as if I never applied for student loans in the first place.

I have yet to see a comment from our school president, student government, or any other school affiliated group. I spent yesterday sending emails to all of the above asking whether or not we would be safe.

I have a midterm too today... I don't want to drop out, but I'll be damned if I'm going to end up owing money for an education that I didn't even receive! I'm so fucking pissed!

WHERE THE FUCK IS EVERYBODY?! IS THERE ANYONE STANDING UP FOR ANY OF US!?!? 😞🤬🤬😵‍💫

[CrispyQ]

1. Clear your mind & take your midterm.

Time to be pissed & take action afterwards.

[FemDemERA]

2. Try not to panic. Check with your financial aid office.

They are the ones in direct contact with the Department of Ed. It’s possible your aid may just have been put on a hold while they were waiting for clarification on what funding is exempt from the order. Or they could have had another reason for holding aid, something not related to the big mess at all. The financial aid office is really the only one who can explain their rules and procedures. Keep in mind that they are trying, like everyone else, to figure things out.

Yesterday, the Ed Department issued guidance saying the OMB confirmed that Title IV aid (specifically Pell and Loans) would not be impacted by the directive, so schools who were holding back have probably already begun the processing to resume disbursement, as long as the student otherwise qualifies.

Also, if you are already at midterms, you may already be past your school’s census date and would owe your tuition regardless of funding. Make sure you have all of the facts before making any decision about withdrawing.

Your financial aid office should be able to explain what’s up with your funding and what their rules are on withdrawing from classes.

I should probably add that financial aid offices are currently being slammed with requests for info, institutional meetings, and trying to get up to date information from the department, so try to be patient when attempting to contact them and try not to worry if it takes awhile to respond and sort things out.