Immediate Action Required
Miami's Student Loan Problems
Brandon Hoelle Photos By Olivia Otten
Issue date: 10/19/09 Section: Scene
With today's economic uncertainty looming, students across the nation are struggling to find ways to pay for college and are turning to their local financial aid office when the solution isn't always clear. For most, problems with financial assistance can be solved promptly, but for two Miami University students, help was hard to come by.
When Miami sophomore Amanda Jarman was informed via e-mail she would be immediately dropped from her classes if she were unable to pay for tuition, she turned to Miami's Office of Student Financial Assistance but did not find the help she expected.
"Miami financial aid office workers had nothing helpful to say to me and in fact yelled at me, saying that my classes were going to be cancelled," Jarman recalls.
Jarman's case is not unique. Senior Joshua Mack received similar treatment from the financial assistance office at the beginning of the semester.
"It took me three days to figure out what was even going on," Mack says, shaking his head with a sigh. "My classes were dropped … my registration for this semester was completely dropped … I had to re-enroll at the university. It was difficult."
Mack's problems arose when he received the same e-mail as Jarman, informing him of his financial standing.
"I've never had problems like this before and was surprised when I received that email," Mack says.
The e-mail, with the words "Immediate Action Required" emblazoned across the top, warns students that unless payment is made promptly, classes will be cancelled and the use of their student ID card "may be affected should cancellation become necessary."
According to Chuck Knepfle, director of financial assistance, this e-mail is the last in a series of warnings sent out to students with financial difficulties who suddenly find themselves unable to pay tuition costs.
"Many students, in my experience, don't pay attention until you do something drastic," Knepfle says. "And it has taken that drastic step for students to come in and pay the bill."
The threatening language of the e-mail was too drastic, Jarman says.
"They sent me the intense emails, knowing that if they insisted my classes would be cancelled, then I would pay," she says.
Jarman says it was the inconsiderate nature of the e-mail that was most disheartening.
"I mainly freaked out in concern that I would have to leave," Jarman says. "They didn't think that it would make me seriously stressed out and concerned during my first few weeks back at school."
Virginia "Ginny" Layton, THE Miami bursar, is surprised at Jarman's reaction to the e-mail and says she would "take into consideration" the idea of including more helpful information in the final e-mail notice.
"We work carefully on the letter and the message that we give, and we try to invite people to communicate their problems with us," Layton says. "Each person may have a different set of circumstances so it's hard to customize the e-mail."
Jarman says her frustration centered on misleading information provided by a student worker in the office of student financial assistance. After her private loan request "fell through the cracks," Jarman went to the office and was told she was eligible for federal aid.
"They told me they had not received my loan request, but I had $27,000 from the government that I could apply for instead," Jarman says. "They said this was the smarter option."
It was after applying for federal aid that she began to receive the e-mails.
"I went to the financial aid office again, and they told me that the government had only granted me $4,000, which coming from out-of-state is a joke," Jarman says.
According to Jarman, a major focus of frustration was dealing with student workers in the office of financial assistance. "Having undergraduate students work in the office of financial aid is a joke," Jarman says. "Those kids know nothing about the situation at hand and can only tell you that you are or aren't paid and that your classes are going to be canceled."
This caused her problems.
"The student working who I first dealt with told me I had all this money from the government that I didn't actually have, so she made me feel like I was fine," Jarman says. "You'd think that I would be all set, but I was wrong."
Mack agrees with Jarman's sentiments. "(The student workers are) handling sensitive material about people that they are not necessarily suited to handle without extensive training," Mack says.
But Knepfle insists having student workers in the financial aid office is not a major problem, although it is a concern that wrong information could be provided.
"We've never had a problem," Knepfle says. "(Student workers) all sign confidentiality statements and are instructed not to work with students they personally know. Probably early on someone may give out misinformation, and if we find a student who is, then we obviously address that."
Despite the setbacks Mack and Jarman have felt, most students are experiencing a more helpful financial assistance office than last year, according to Knepfle.
"We drop 700 students from class (a semester)," he says. "My guess is 80 percent of those are reinstated because they come in and pay their bill."
Layton supports this information and says this year is actually better than last year in terms of providing help to students in need of financial aid.
"We typically warn about 3,500 students in the beginning (of the semester)," Layton says. "Now, this semester, that number is 737 students who really have problems. We've actually cancelled classes for, I'd say, 20 fewer students (than last fall)."
Despite his initial problems, Mack was able to make sense of his situation and solve his problem in a short period of time.
"Once I found somebody to talk to, it only took a day to fix," he says. "Everybody was helpful once I found somebody to talk to."
Although the Office of Student Financial Assistance is working hard to help those students with financial troubles, Jarman and Mack don't think enough is being done. "I was just disappointed that instead of helping me figure out what was happening financially, they just told me my classes were going to be canceled, with no explanation or help," Jarman says.
Both students insist their feelings about Miami have not been compromised. "I love Miami and I just hope they are more able to effectively assist their students (in the future)," Mack says.
Jarman agrees.
"Knowing that this could happen, I will be applying for loans way more than two months in advance," Jarman says. "It hasn't changed my emotions toward the school."
When Miami sophomore Amanda Jarman was informed via e-mail she would be immediately dropped from her classes if she were unable to pay for tuition, she turned to Miami's Office of Student Financial Assistance but did not find the help she expected.
"Miami financial aid office workers had nothing helpful to say to me and in fact yelled at me, saying that my classes were going to be cancelled," Jarman recalls.
Jarman's case is not unique. Senior Joshua Mack received similar treatment from the financial assistance office at the beginning of the semester.
"It took me three days to figure out what was even going on," Mack says, shaking his head with a sigh. "My classes were dropped … my registration for this semester was completely dropped … I had to re-enroll at the university. It was difficult."
Mack's problems arose when he received the same e-mail as Jarman, informing him of his financial standing.
"I've never had problems like this before and was surprised when I received that email," Mack says.
The e-mail, with the words "Immediate Action Required" emblazoned across the top, warns students that unless payment is made promptly, classes will be cancelled and the use of their student ID card "may be affected should cancellation become necessary."
According to Chuck Knepfle, director of financial assistance, this e-mail is the last in a series of warnings sent out to students with financial difficulties who suddenly find themselves unable to pay tuition costs.
"Many students, in my experience, don't pay attention until you do something drastic," Knepfle says. "And it has taken that drastic step for students to come in and pay the bill."
The threatening language of the e-mail was too drastic, Jarman says.
"They sent me the intense emails, knowing that if they insisted my classes would be cancelled, then I would pay," she says.
Jarman says it was the inconsiderate nature of the e-mail that was most disheartening.
"I mainly freaked out in concern that I would have to leave," Jarman says. "They didn't think that it would make me seriously stressed out and concerned during my first few weeks back at school."
Virginia "Ginny" Layton, THE Miami bursar, is surprised at Jarman's reaction to the e-mail and says she would "take into consideration" the idea of including more helpful information in the final e-mail notice.
"We work carefully on the letter and the message that we give, and we try to invite people to communicate their problems with us," Layton says. "Each person may have a different set of circumstances so it's hard to customize the e-mail."
Jarman says her frustration centered on misleading information provided by a student worker in the office of student financial assistance. After her private loan request "fell through the cracks," Jarman went to the office and was told she was eligible for federal aid.
"They told me they had not received my loan request, but I had $27,000 from the government that I could apply for instead," Jarman says. "They said this was the smarter option."
It was after applying for federal aid that she began to receive the e-mails.
"I went to the financial aid office again, and they told me that the government had only granted me $4,000, which coming from out-of-state is a joke," Jarman says.
According to Jarman, a major focus of frustration was dealing with student workers in the office of financial assistance. "Having undergraduate students work in the office of financial aid is a joke," Jarman says. "Those kids know nothing about the situation at hand and can only tell you that you are or aren't paid and that your classes are going to be canceled."
This caused her problems.
"The student working who I first dealt with told me I had all this money from the government that I didn't actually have, so she made me feel like I was fine," Jarman says. "You'd think that I would be all set, but I was wrong."
Mack agrees with Jarman's sentiments. "(The student workers are) handling sensitive material about people that they are not necessarily suited to handle without extensive training," Mack says.
But Knepfle insists having student workers in the financial aid office is not a major problem, although it is a concern that wrong information could be provided.
"We've never had a problem," Knepfle says. "(Student workers) all sign confidentiality statements and are instructed not to work with students they personally know. Probably early on someone may give out misinformation, and if we find a student who is, then we obviously address that."
Despite the setbacks Mack and Jarman have felt, most students are experiencing a more helpful financial assistance office than last year, according to Knepfle.
"We drop 700 students from class (a semester)," he says. "My guess is 80 percent of those are reinstated because they come in and pay their bill."
Layton supports this information and says this year is actually better than last year in terms of providing help to students in need of financial aid.
"We typically warn about 3,500 students in the beginning (of the semester)," Layton says. "Now, this semester, that number is 737 students who really have problems. We've actually cancelled classes for, I'd say, 20 fewer students (than last fall)."
Despite his initial problems, Mack was able to make sense of his situation and solve his problem in a short period of time.
"Once I found somebody to talk to, it only took a day to fix," he says. "Everybody was helpful once I found somebody to talk to."
Although the Office of Student Financial Assistance is working hard to help those students with financial troubles, Jarman and Mack don't think enough is being done. "I was just disappointed that instead of helping me figure out what was happening financially, they just told me my classes were going to be canceled, with no explanation or help," Jarman says.
Both students insist their feelings about Miami have not been compromised. "I love Miami and I just hope they are more able to effectively assist their students (in the future)," Mack says.
Jarman agrees.
"Knowing that this could happen, I will be applying for loans way more than two months in advance," Jarman says. "It hasn't changed my emotions toward the school."
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