I just finished a bachelor's degree at Columbia College in Chicago. The school does not offer any science courses, so I decided to enroll at the community college nearby after completing my bachelor's degree. After being accepted, I enrolled in courses at the community college and was awarded financial aid in the form of federal loans and a pell grant.
The entire semester went by without a hitch. The pell grant was very handy in helping out with tuition. I registered for classes in the summer and fall terms at the same college. 2 days before the beginning of the summer session (yesterday), the school informs me that I never should have received the pell grant because of my bachelor's degree and that I have 48 hours to pay the money back otherwise they will drop me from my courses.
After meeting with the head of financial aid and the president of the school, they both advised that I drop out of school and work at a grocery store to try and save up the amount so that I can return to school at a later time. I am a pre-med student with a 4.0 GPA and this was the advice given by academic leaders at the school. The head of financial aid has said he will go to the extent of declining any applications for loans to help, even outsider private loans.
It is now too late for me to transfer to a different school for the summer and fall terms. On top of this, the school is even refusing to send official transcripts until the amount is paid, forcing me to consider re-taking the same courses I just completed a few weeks ago, wasting an entire year.
Can a school do this? If they made the error by awarding the grant when they shouldn't have, it should be their responsibility to pay it back, right? I was essentially lied to all semester long, being told everything was fine. 2 days before the start of summer, I'm effectively being thrown out of school for something I did not do. They keep saying that my FAFSA wasn't correct, that it did not include that I had a bachelor's degree. The second I received confirmation of my degree, I updated it so that it showed that I had one.
What should I do? I only wish to continue my academic career, but the academic leaders at Harold Washington College in Chicago appear to not want that for me. They are unwilling to help even with scholarships to try and cover up their errors, regardless of me receiving straight A's last semester. Should I hire a lawyer?
↧