In the fall of 2007, I officially became a Loyola University of Chicago undergraduate student. In the fall of 2007, I also officially became nothing more than a walking bag of money to Loyola execs. Yes, they’re executives of a corporation. I am by no means religious but as far as I know, religion is supposed to be a positive thing, Loyola should be ashamed to claim the Catholic religion; it’s a money-hungry corporation on par with Wal-mart. Bernie Madoff cared more about his clients than Loyola cares about their students. Father Garanzini is a glorified CEO with funny clothing.
I should have run to the University of Illinois at Chicago when I received the president’s first letter addressing the tuition hike. Since then, there has been a hike every single year, without fail. Effective Fall 2007, tuition increased 4%; effective Fall 2008, tuition was increased 5.5%; effective Fall 2009, tuition was increased 4%, effective Fall 2010, another 4%; effective this coming Fall, tuition has been raised 3.75%. That’s over 20% is just 4 years. And, by the way, this is just undergraduate tuition; the room & board fee increases literally make me queasy.
Thus far, Loyola has cost me $127,000 and that’s about to go up another $40,000 by the time I graduate, if I graduate as planned, of course. Given the way I’ve been run-around with financial aid, I’m not so sure I will graduate in the spring of 2012.
A registration block on my account that I noticed last week prompted this little rant. Since I owed Loyola over $1,450, I was blocked from registering. The big problem here is in the why I owed Loyola that much money.
I am just 1.5 semesters away from receiving a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice and another in psychology and I'm starting to think Loyola is taking full advantage of the knowledge that I can't just leave the university if they piss me off enough; I have way too many credits that would go to waste so I have to stick it out regardless of how terribly they treat me.
Here’s what happened when I tried to resolve the registration block issue:
Back in late March/early April, I registered for a summer class -- one that is required for two other classes that are also required (lab classes which I was going to split up between the two remaining semesters so I wouldn’t be completely bombarded with the very time consuming work involved in labs). I’ve been dealing with the sub-par communication (rather, complete lack of communication) between the financial aid office and the bursar’s office for a while now so I made sure to call both offices, a couple of times, to be certain that I had the right info regarding my total dues for summer. They had screwed up and/or slacked off on some leftover financial aid so I had to keep calling to get that taken care of before someone could give me any real amount. Once that got all straightened out (a dozen phone calls later), I was given an anticipated aid amount. When I received my e-bill from the bursar’s office, I called to verify that amount and then to verify the financial aid amount so that I could do the subtraction and pay the difference. I deducted the financial aid sum I was given by the financial aid office, subtracted it from the sum for the class from the bursar's office and paid that difference, $589. I paid this on May 19, 2011 and thought I was set for the summer term. Classes didn't start until July 5th for a 6-week session (meaning very limited time to drop if something crazy goes down, like this fantastic situation)
In mid-July, I logged into my school account to figure out what my Spring 2012 schedule would be and saw that there was a registration block! I owed $1, 471 in addition to what I had already paid for the summer semester, obviously something went very wrong! They even charged me a lovely $21 late fee (I wish I could charge them for every late financial aid assistance they provide, which is pretty much every time).
I called Loyola on July 18th and the response I got was simply infuriating. I initially called someone at the bursar’s office and was informed that this was a financial aid issue. This is kind of how it goes at LUC, you get transferred from one office to the other in a never-ending loop. From the financial assistance office I was given a somewhat unclear answer and basically told that I should be checking my Locus account more often so that I could take care of these kinds of problems before it's too late to address them. Apparently, I'm supposed to be checking 'Locus', our online account system, on a daily basis ...in the summer... while I'm not in school. At this point, I wasn't sure if they took away the grant or the government ran out of money but the bottom line is, the aid is no longer there and now I owe the cash. When I asked Mark, the financial aid advisor, to do a conference call with me and the bursar's office, he snickered and said, "no, we're not going to do a conference call", in a sarcastic voice that insinuated I was a complete moron for even suggesting such a thing. Instead, Mark was going to email the bursar and see if they were willing to do anything for me and then he'd email me back when they responded -- whenever that may be. Had I waited for Mark to possibly get a response from the bursar, probably informing him that nothing would be done, I would be out even more money hence, I didn't think it was too crazy for me to request that we handle this in a more efficient manner but for Mark this was an asinine idea. After trying to explain to him that $1,500 wasn't pocket change for me and not getting anywhere, I asked to speak to his supervisor.
After waiting on hold for the third time (this one was 6 minutes), I was transferred to Tammy Patterson, who identified herself as the assistant director and told me that she "could help [me] out with, like, whatever [my] concerns are". I told her that my first concern was the feeling that asking Mark to do his job was a huge inconvenience and she said she would talk to him about his "attituuuuuude". When I told this woman that I don't have $1,500 extra to throw at one class, she told me to drop it. When I explained that I also don't have $400 to throw at the wind (the amount I would lose by dropping) and that this was a required class, she almost started laughing at my petty problems.
Since the 18th was the last day to drop the class and get a measly 33% credit, I reluctantly did. Tammy was completely unwilling to even try to get me a higher credit from the bursar given that this is a bit of a unique situation (although, I spoke to an alum friend who told me that this exact same situation happened to him when he was an undergrad at LUC). I'm really trying to keep sane here but I'm not totally discounting the fact that they know seniors have no choice but to suck it up and pay or waste a lot more time and money transferring to another college that won't accept all of those credits. It should also be noted that I did not receive any other bills stating that I owed anything else, not cool.
Anyway, I addressed the issue with the extra cost. I explained to Tammy that before making a payment, I had called both the bursar's office and the financial aid office so that I could figure out what the final amount would be, which ended up being a total of $589 (the amount I had promptly paid in full). From speaking to Mark, I understood that the financial aid was done for the summer -- getting more government aid was not an option anymore (which she confirmed). So I proposed dropping the class and receiving a full refund given that the only reason I'm in this mess is due to the inaccurate information I received from their office. Had it not been for my financial aid being taken away or inaccurate to begin with, I wouldn't have taken the class in the first place because I wouldn’t have been able to afford it. If I wait until fall, the cost will be significantly lower as I'll be paying one lump sum for being a full-time student instead of per credit hour as I paid in the summer. ...back on hold I went.
Tammy returned to tell me something I already knew (as she would do over and over again for another 20 minutes); she told me that this was the last day on which I could drop and receive a 33% refund. I again explained to her that I don't have $400 to throw down the drain, 33% isn't what I was looking for, and I wouldn't have dropped the class had this financial aid fiasco not occurred. She said information was sent out to students that you have to be at least half-time to receive any government funding and because I was only enrolled for 3 credit hours instead of the minimum 6, the financial aid "just sat there and not pay towards the account". Considering that I didn't get new e-bills, I was curious to know when/where/how this information was sent to me -- it makes no sense for me to ignore something like that just to screw myself over now. This has now turned into wasted time and money. Tammy's response was that during the online entrance counseling session (the one I looked over in 2007 as a freshman) it was stated that you have to be enrolled in at least 6 credit hours to receive financial aid. I asked her why the financial aid office told me I would be getting money that in reality, I wouldn't be getting, considering that they didn't read these documents 5 years ago and they deal with this everyday. She then said that, "information, like, from the government changed July 1 -- you have to be enrolled half-time ... to get the Pell" (she's a bit difficult to understand at times). My class started 4 days after this apparent change, or addition, or whatever it was and by the 18th, I was only eligible for a 33% refund -- 0% after that. I again asked why we couldn't discuss this with the bursar's office so that I could get my full refund considering that Loyola makes close to $40,000 per head whereas for me $600 will pay for 1.5 months of my rent. She then started giving me some numbers that seemed to have no basis, she said I had paid $367 at some point (I hadn't) and therefore, it would be more than $600, as if an additional $367 would break Loyola's budget. She said $1,986 was my tuition for summer and then she said it looks like I paid $148 (again, no idea where she got this number either). She kept mumbling and from what I could catch here and there it sounds like Loyola split up my payments for some reason. After 20 minutes of being on the phone with just her, she told me that for summer she was showing a balance of $1,471 -- the amount I apparently currently owe. ...right, I know, that's why I'm calling!
She then asked if I'd registered for fall yet and I told her that I had. (silence, again -- she often just goes silent without any indication that she would need me to hold. Not a big deal but really? This is the worst phone etiquette I've ever encountered) After the silence, I thought we might actually be getting somewhere. She came back and said, "ok, so, I mean, I can cancel that Pell off for the showing up for summer cause it hasn't been disbursed". Huh? How does this help me? She is going to cancel my financial aid Pell grant award so it won't show up in my Locus account. For some reason, this woman thought that taking away my $1375 Pell grant so that I could no longer see it in Locus would remedy this situation. I guess since they weren't going to give that money to me anyway, she thought I'd be happier if I just couldn't see it. Well that makes everything better. Thanks! Holding on to the belief that this woman had some idea of what was going on in the world, I asked her what happens after she takes the Pell grant away; does it change my balance in any way? She said that after she takes it away, I’d just owe $1471. We have now wasted about half an hour discussing something that was a known fact before she even opened her mouth. Mark already told me this and then she told me as well, repeatedly.
I told her that I don't understand the point of this as I am aware that I owe $1471, that's the whole reason for this never-ending phone call. She replied with, "well, the situation is you have to come up with the $1471" and then recommended that I take out an additional loan to the one I'd already be taking in the fall so that I could pay off the $1471. Now, I had been very calm this entire time but at this point, my patience started to seriously nosedive. Once again, I tried to explain to this woman that the problem is that I am now being forced to pay money I don't have for something I never anticipated paying since they had told me I would be getting financial aid! I was not given any inkling of doubt about this aid; no one ever said anything about having to be half-time, nothing! She told me that as it stood at that moment, there really isn't anything they could do. She said I'm already enrolled, I'm already taking it and..."like, I don't know" (I guess she thought that was a coherent and appropriate statement). Again, I explained that had I known any of this, I would never have taken the class which is why I am asking that someone call the bursar's office, tell them the situation, and see if we can do anything to get me a bigger refund. Her response, of course, was that I could get the 33% refund. When I told her that I don't want the 33% refund and that I don't understand why we can't try to figure out a way for me to get a full refund or at least something higher than 33%, she laughed and said that she was just going off what I'm saying, that I would drop the class. I explained to her what I thought was blatantly clear, I don't see another choice.
Just to make this clear, I explained it again: my two choices as I see them are 1) I finish the class and somehow come up with the $1471 or, 2) I drop the class and take it in the fall. Her exasperated reply was, "so finish the class"; she said I was going to owe the $1471 regardless. Huh? Why? She then agreed that it's a waste of money to drop the class since I would need to take it to graduate, so, "why not just finish the class?" I explained to her something she should already know, if I take the class in the fall, it wouldn't cost me an extra $1500 because the tuition is the same as long as you are a full-time student, which I would be, regardless of whether I take the five classes I was planning on or an additional one.
She then said she was trying to see this issue the way I'm seeing it but, apparently, this didn't make sense to her. So I explained again and she said that she doesn't know who I spoke with that told me I would be able to get financial aid being less than half-time. (Someone at the financial aid office, back in late March/early April!) She then told me that she "understands my frustration" - ha! What a joke. She then explained to me why I didn't get the Pell grant, for the 100th time -- are you getting irritated as well now?
I told her that although $1500 might not be a whole lot of money to her, it sure as hell is to me. Not only do I not have access to the $1500, throwing just $400 into thin air is just a bit on the painful side for me at this point in my life -- that's a lot of money for a broke college kid! It's especially uncool since this could have been prevented if someone would just have taken a second to tell me! Maybe if they weren't so busy being pissed off because they are required to do their job like everyone else in the world, this wouldn't have happened. If they weren’t constantly passing students off from one office to the other, as it's apparently impossible for them to just figure out one sum that they can all agree on, this could be prevented. When something goes wrong, the offices take zero responsibility. I mean, who doesn't remember every single word of their entrance loan counseling from 5 years ago? I am clearly just totally irresponsible and need to shut up and pay. Unlike Loyola, an institution/corporation that has not stopped raising tuition for more than one semester since I started in 2007, I am not a millionaire -- in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were way above the millions. Is it really this much of a burden for them to give me back my $589? Or, at the very least, try?
She again told me she does understand my frustrations (no, she doesn't) but per federal regulations, they can't give me the Pell grant. I know! I never asked for the Pell grant for that very reason. I told her I understand this, that's why I'm dropping the class. She then said that, "per regulations, it's a 33% refund" -- I didn't know Loyola had such stringent regulations!
I told her that if they can't provide students with accurate information regarding their balances, they should probably ease up on their "regulations". She got pissed now and asked me who I spoke to a few months ago which, in turn, pissed me off. I asked her if she kept records of every person she spoke to in April and she said, with great enthusiasm, that she does. Am I the only person who doesn't keep a record of every single conversation I've ever had and for an indefinite amount of time?! I asked if she has written down every single person that she has spoken to from every single company and she said, "yes, I take care of my business!" Well, I guess if I were her, I would too. She clearly thinks that everyone behaves the way she does and in that case, I can see why one would write down every single word of every single conversation and hang on to it until the day that they are buried with that information. She then told me that per federal regulations, she couldn’t make an exception for me. Apparently, Loyola is no longer a private institution and the Federal government tells them exactly what they can do with their money. Either that, or, she is back to talking about the Pell grant which I thought we had already agreed I would not be getting under any circumstance. I was fine with this. She then told me that, "that's the way it is". Well, thank you very much!
I told her that I have gotten myself into an enormous amount of debt on top of the tens of thousands that I've paid in cash to attend Loyola and that I am very disappointed in her complete lack of regard for my circumstance. She then told me that she is trying to tell me my options but I'm not trying to listen. Apparently, this miracle option that I was not listening to was to take out additional loans in the fall to cover the balance. Hello, is she aware of some loans that don't require repayment? If this is the case, I'd like to open up some credit cards that have such policies.
At this point, I told her that I was tired of hearing her tell me the same thing over and over again and not listening to a word I said so I would take it up with someone else. She then told me that I can call the director and I can call whomever I need to call. She then tried, one last time, to tell me that I was misinterpreting what she was saying so I went over everything with her again, very slowly, step by step, until she agreed that I did, in fact, know of the same two options that she did and had not misinterpreted anything. This apparently angered her quite a bit because she mustered the most sarcastic tone she could and said, "so why don't you send an email to the director and ask for your six hundred dollars then...why don't you do that...maybe that'll be a great option for you, that's your third option."
Lastly, I asked her if they recorded these phone calls, she said, "um, I don't know but they probably should start recording them". I expressed my agreement with that statement and she continued, sarcastically of course, to say, "yea, that'll be a great idea, I should recommend that to the director".
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