I have a school loan, well I took a semester off.

I took out a student loan the financial aid workers at the college lost my paperwork?

• I took out a loan a few years ago for college after a month or so of attending the college I had not heard anything regarding my loan. I went to the financial aid office to find make sure I handed in everything. At that time the school worker told me I didnt hand in my note that had to be signed and dated. She then printed the note for me as I signed it and handed it to her. I then said, "do i have everything I need for my school loan and she replied yes." I completed my semester with no problem and the following year I received a letter stating that my semester at the college had never been paid for. I called the school asking what was going on and they replied I did not turn in all my paperwork and that it was too late to file for a loan now and I would have to pay out of my pocket. As a student I do not have that type of money. They then sent my bill to a collections agency which tacked on over $800.00 onto my bill. It was the colleges mistake that I did not receive a loan because they misplaced my paperwork. It is not the first time they have misplaced paperwork either! One of my friends is in the same situation and she had no knowledge of this until she went to register for another semested and found the news out she owed money and would not be able to attend college because they misplaced or lost her paperwork. What should I do and what can I do about this? I have no problem with paying the college bill but I refuse to pay the extra 800 the collection agency tacked on.

• Answer:

  If you completed a FAFSA Federal Student Aid Application, you can go online and see if you added your college as a school to receive your financial information. You can do that my visiting https://fafsa.ed.gov/FAFSA/app/fafsa?locale=en_US. Next, they should have given you copies of your paperwork as far as the promissiory note that you signed declaring that you will pay the money back when the time comes; if you signed a promissory note electronically you still get a copy of it. Also when you do student loans it usually goes through a lender such as Suntrust bank or JP Morgan bank if you know you lender check and see if they sent money to your school. Also I would vist the National Student loan Databse at http://www.nslds.ed.gov/nslds_SA/. This website "The National Student Loan Data System (NSLDS) is the U.S. Department of Education's (ED's) central database for student aid. NSLDS receives data from schools, guaranty agencies, the Direct Loan program, and other Department of ED programs. NSLDS Student Access provides a centralized, integrated view of Title IV loans and grants so that recipients of Title IV Aid can access and inquire about their Title IV loans and/or grant data." Lastly, I would also inform someone higher at this school like the Director of Financial Aid they need to be aware if this is happening to other students.