What is this mischievous problem?

What should I do about my college financial aid problem, still have not received it?

• I've been having an unusual problem with my financial aid. I was approved for financial aid in Fall 2011 and accepted my grant and student loans for Winter/Spring semester 2012 at my junior college. Semester started in January and to this day, I still have not received any money from my student loans or grant. I have been unable to buy my textbooks and school supplies and if I had the money in the bank, I would have bought them already. I have repeatedly spoken to the financial aid advisors and told them about my situation, but they act as though I'm a nuisance and simply tell me to "be patient," and "your financial aid will come soon." The typical canned responses I'm assuming they are told to give to students. I regularly attend my 3 classroom classes, but have been unable to start my online class, which requires an expensive book and separate instructional CD-ROM. Until I am able to purchase this book and the CD package, I can't start the class lessons. I'm not one to enroll in a class and not do any work, as that would be a complete and total waste of time and would give me the appearance of being careless or lazy, which I'm not. It gets worse. Today, I received a message notifying me that my financial aid would be reduced because I have "not attended" 1 of my 4 classes, the 1 being my online course. I can't even begin my online class until I receive the funds to purchase required materials for the class. If I don't receive my financial aid soon, I could eventually fail the online course. Not to mention, I need my financial aid to pay for basic living expenses and a reduced amount will make the situation even more complicated. I would like to hear from someone who has had this problem or knows of the best way to handle the problem. I'm an undergraduate with a good gpa with no reasons for this to be happening. I have family and friends who attend other institutions where they receive their financial aid at the beginning of the semester and are able to buy textbooks/supplies and pay rent either on-time or within a week of the semester starting. Not sure why it's different in my situation. Now, in the 5th week of classes, I still have received nothing and the financial aid advisors are not being cooperative. They aren't motivated to help me and they minimize the seriousness of my situation. What are my options? Is there anything I can do to remedy the situation? I have thought about going to my local news station to see if they would run a story about this problem, as other students have done this and they put together a news story on this subject. I will go to the news station if necessary, but honestly, I just want to correct the problem instead of causing trouble or potentially making things worse. I would appreciate any suggestions you might have about this strange problem. Thanks for your time and take care.

• Answer:

  This happens sometimes when the school's financial aid office is slow. They are just going to send you 1 check for both semesters sometime this semester. The school didn't processes it last semester and they took the winter off.