I have a significant other who was put into a program for Business Administration and IT with AIU online. To start with they called constantly, which was expected, and they set up a number of student loans and grants he was elgible for.
All went well until he finished his first degree in Business Administration with a 3.5 GPA. Because of unforseeable circumstances we were unable to keep up with their cash agreement and made them well aware of this fact and they were like don't worry it is ok we can make arrangements with you to pay off the past balance and continue on with your degree in IT.
They informed us the week of graduation that he would not be able to receive his degree until the balance was brought down to around $1000 but they set up arrangements for a higher amount to pay each month and set him up to continue on with his IT degree, which stacked a new cash agreement which would run through 2007 even though he would graduate from that program in early 2006.
They told us we needed to try for a Sallie Mae loan, which honestly this is the second time it's been applied for and I have my doubts as to how easy it is to get even with a co borrower. Anyway, we were turned down with the only co borrower we had available.
They then set up arrangements with us to make a high payment for the month of June and payments exceeding the balance of current cash agreement for each month following and he was told that as long as he kept up with this agreement he could pay towards his previous balance and continue working on his new degree at the same time.
However half way into the first class of the new program he received an email stating that he needed to contact them by the following week, however the year was set as 2003 rather than 2005. And before we could get to the date stated he was locked out of his class he'd already started.
We contacted the school, go the run around between student accounts and financial aid in which we were told that the agreement we had made with them was invalid and we would have to pay them a lump sum of over 1500 in order to continue, even to finish the class he was already in.
Upon further discussions with student accounts and financial aid we were told by student accounts they would investigate further and told by financial aid that unless we paid that lump sum either by payment or finding a loan that would cover the entirety of both programs then he would not be able to finish and that it did not matter what student accounts told us, they could not allow him in class until the balance was paid.
What really is the kicker here is that he was led to believe, to the point of agreeing to a new cash agreement for the new program and beginning class when nothing had changed in the past balance at that time and they were aware we could not get Sallie Mae, that he would be able to finish.
Only to get in the middle of the class for the new program with the new cash agreement alongside the payments for the past due balance and be locked out of it with an A average, nonetheless. I mean I understand the idea that due to unforseeable circumstances we were unable to keep up with the previous agreement from the previous degree.
What I don't understand, and what seems like a ripoff is the idea of how we were misled to believe that all was going to be ok, so he continued on to start the new program and then all of a sudden with no changes the agreements we'd made were invalid and we'd still have to pay not only for the past balance to get the degree already earned on paper, but also for the new one which he could not even finish the first class.
They tell you they can work things out with you and they will tell you they have only to come back and slap you in the face and say we can't do any other agreements, including the loans already validated until a large sum is paid off, but we obligated you to another agreement for another program anyway.
0 comments