Outstanding Bill, should i pay?

Why should I pay a tuition bill to a school that never gave me credit for classes I attended and passed?

• In 2006 I was accepted to a small college in Central Florida. After registering for classes and submitting my FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), I began attending classes in August of 2006. At the end of September, I received a tuition bill for over $13,000. Immediately I went to the school's financial aid department and asked about the bill and my FAFSA. I was informed the FAFSA would cover a large part of the bill, however there was a problem with my father's SSN and the FAFSA had never been approved. I resubmitted. A couple weeks later, I inquired about my FAFSA's status and was told there was now a problem with my father's SSN and birthdate matching. I resubmitted again. By the end of November, while still attending classes, I sat down with a counselor to pick courses for the Spring semester. However, a hold had been placed on my account due to the tuition bill never being paid. Back to the financial aid department I went where I spoke with a director. I explained the situation to this person and their response was, "Nothing can be done until the tuition is paid". I finished the fall semester with all A's and B's in the five courses I had taken. I did not receive credit for these courses. In the spring (2007), I again spoke with the school's financial aid department but got nowhere. To make a super long story short, I missed the spring, summer, and fall semesters of 2007 while waiting to hear a response or see resolution to the issue. I even went as far as emailing the president of the college about the situation, twice. I finally received a reply from her months later with the same response as the financial aid director, "Nothing can be done until the tuition is paid". At this point (late 2007), I decided to cut my losses and attend the University of South Florida, where I ultimately graduated earlier this year. However, in March of this year, I received a phone call from a collection agency requesting payment of the old school's $13,000 tuition bill. Embarrassed and nervous to tell my husband, I kept this phone call a secret and began communicating with a friend who held a director position with the school in question. He spoke with the financial aid director and a reduced tuition amount of $5,000.00 was agreed upon. At this point the collection agency tacked on a fee of over $1,800.00 and tried to work out a payment plan with me of $50.00 a month. I agreed and began paying monthly. This plan would only be in effect until August of this year. In late August the collection agency began calling again and at one point called my husband's parent's home as well as his cell phone. In the end my husband found out what had been going on, and after a "little discussion" we've decided we should fight this debt and look for ways to eliminate it. Are we justified in trying to do so? Our case relies on: (1) The negligence of the school's financial aid department led to the FAFSA never being submitted correctly or approved. The reason I call this "negligence" is due to my experience with my alma mater. Submitting the FAFSA for aid at the University of South Florida was honestly one of the simplest and easiest experiences, with no issues ever arising. (2) The uncaring attitude and responses from the higher level personnel of the college in regards to my situation. Remember this is a school I wanted to attend and hoped to graduate from. However their approach to dealing with my matter ultimately led me to seek my education elsewhere. (3) The fact that I wasted an entire Fall (2006) and Spring (2007) semester with no academic credit to show for it. If you flip the tables around, due to the delay in continuing my education, I ultimately ended up graduating one academic year later than I could have. With recently being hired as a elementary teacher immediately after graduation, I feel it is safe to say my delay in graduation by one year frankly lost me one year's worth of income as a teacher. In my eyes, the school I have issue with now owes me, but I'll cut them a deal: I'll drop my request for reimbursement if they drop theirs. What do you think? Any and all suggestions or advice would be appreciated, but I only ask that they are serious and constructive. Thank you so much, in advance!

• Answer:

  (1) It is not the schools fault you did not know how to submit/resubmit your FAFSA with the correct SSN, name and birthdate of your father so it matches what is on file at the social security office. This is not negligence on the schools part. You submitted and resubmitted the fafsa, and you are responsible for making sure it is correct and passes all the required data matches. You are also responsible for following up on this to make sure it does go through... when you didn't well, you are responsible for the bill. (2) Uncaring attitude? Honestly, grow up. If someone borrows $16,000 from you and after 3 years still doesn't pay, would you give them a caring attitude when your kids are hungry and you can't pay your electricity bill? (3) Unless you had someone twisting your arm, making you enroll in classes without a financial aid package in hand (money to pay for your schooling) BEFORE you enrolled, you've got no case. What a bargain, cut them a deal and drop your request for reimbursement (rolling out of my chair laughing maoa).... yeah, whatever. (4) What do I think? - I think you are lucky your state income tax returns haven't been seized to pay your debt at this school. I also think you are lucky your unpaid debt at this school didn't keep you from attending and graduating from the second school. I think your managing to get your debt reduced by $5,000 is a great accomplishment. None of these feats would have ever happened in my world. In short, be glad you graduated and pay your old debt. Make sure your children learn from YOUR mistake. Never enroll in a college without a financial aid package offer IN PLACE. Most students have their aid packages from SEVERAL schools long before they ever enroll. How on earth would you decide where to attend if you didn't have this information?? Pay your debts. I would say cut your losses, but nothing you ever said made me think you had any losses, if you never got any credit for those classes and was somehow still able to continue school, it was because you didn't report these credits to your second school.. and that is an offense that would have consequences.... even now!