Responsibility of Financial Aid Counselors

Is there a governmental body that governs what Financial Aid Counselors
(at the college level) must do for a student, or is it a free-for-all?


The reason for the question - A few years ago I went to a private
college. Every year I met with the Financial Aid Counselor and got the
"standard" treatment which resulted in paying for school 90% with
federal loans. Then, in the planning for my senior year, when I was
having some serious issues with coming up for funds, the FA Counselor
'discovers' that I technically lived with my grandparents. I had
always noted this on previous years' information, but only when I would
be pressed to possibly drop out did they figure this out. Lo' and
behold - since I lived with my grandparents, I was entitled to a lot
more grant aid (100% of the tuition) instead of having to take out
loans. I was young and didn't think much of it at the time, but now it
seems a little suspicous, and it's irritating knowing that I
realistically shouldn't have had to take out loans for any of my years
of college. Is there anything I can do at this point, or are people at
the mercy of the FAC?

The government has rules only for federally provided financial aid -
Pell grants, Stafford loans, etc. Colleges are free to do what they wish
with their own money - because it's their own money.

Federal funds have time limits during which they may be awarded and
there is no way to get it retroactively in a later year, regardless of
the reason.

From the info you gave it isn't clear why your "technically" living
with grandparents, rather than with parents or on your own, should have
made any difference. Maybe because of your particular situation they
made you an independent student, which is a special condition that can
be granted by the college in certain circumstances of missing parents or
abuse. If that is the case, the student would have to specifically point
that out to the financial aid office, provide satsfactory documentation,
and request the special consideration.


Steven B. Blank
College Financial Aid Consultants
29 Ives Hill Court
Cheshire, CT 06410
(203)250-7761


cdplam wrote:
> Is there a governmental body that governs what Financial Aid Counselors
> (at the college level) must do for a student, or is it a free-for-all?
>
>
> The reason for the question - A few years ago I went to a private
> college. Every year I met with the Financial Aid Counselor and got the
> "standard" treatment which resulted in paying for school 90% with
> federal loans. Then, in the planning for my senior year, when I was
> having some serious issues with coming up for funds, the FA Counselor
> 'discovers' that I technically lived with my grandparents. I had
> always noted this on previous years' information, but only when I would
> be pressed to possibly drop out did they figure this out. Lo' and
> behold - since I lived with my grandparents, I was entitled to a lot
> more grant aid (100% of the tuition) instead of having to take out
> loans. I was young and didn't think much of it at the time, but now it
> seems a little suspicous, and it's irritating knowing that I
> realistically shouldn't have had to take out loans for any of my years
> of college. Is there anything I can do at this point, or are people at
> the mercy of the FAC?
>