Denied Financial Aid Because of 182 Credits.

[Hotdogman1]

I graduated last year with FAFSA Pell Grant money from UMPI after transferring in 184 credits with transcripts from 5 different Universities/CC and ACE credits (Sophia, Coursera, Straighterline). A friend also graduated this Summer 1 with over 200 credit hours and Pell grant, so I think its very unlikely that the amount of credit is the reason your FAFSA got declined. Since you also never used FAFSA before and have only 4 RA credits, there is no possible way you exhausted all your aid.

I work at a CC testing center and the most common reason I hear about rejected FAFSAs from new students is from errors. There are so many possible sources for errors: your FAFSA application, UMPI, or even the government (citizen status, IRS tax return, etc.). I'd recommend looking at your FAFSA application and verify everything is correct (SSN, Income, personal info). If there is anything wrong with the application, you can make corrections. If you applied for Summer 2, make sure you complete the 2023-2024 FAFSA application. If you are 24 or older by 1/1 of the school year, you are an independent student. You need a high school diploma or equivalent. Once you verify (Triple Check) there are no errors on your end, access your FAFSA dashboard where you should be able to see any issues in To DO Tasks that need to get resolved. If you don't see anything in the FAFSA website, the only option is the UMPI financial office. It's possible that UMPI made a mistake. I've been declined FAFSA twice and the second time was after I transferred to another CC and the previous school still had me as an current student. Since you can only use aid at one school at a time, my aid to the new school was declined. While most of my experience doesn't really apply to your situation, my point is there may be a clerical error on UMPI's end.

I don't understand why UMPI would send an appeal unless you guys already verified everything was good on your end which I very highly doubt judging from your reasoning. In fact, it kind of sounds like UMPI just did the bare minimum. If you are unable to resolve this via UMPI financial aid office, you can try applying at another school (University of the Cumberlands, TAMUC, and the other schools on this forum).

I'm thinking of paying the entire lot on my credit card, it'll be an extra 2.95% though... They have payment plans, you can split this into 3 payments... However, you missed the deadline, so you can only split it into two now...

Exactly, easy CC points. I get finances can be tough but these degrees are so freaking cheap (and are an investment right?)  and people here hem and haw over something which is 1% the cost of many colleges.  There are a billion ways to make it work.

While you may think there are a billion ways to make it work, that's just not the case for many people. Many people don't have credit cards or hte available credit on a credit card to spend $1700 and hope that's all they need to spend. Many people are from other countries and finances are nothing like in the US.

We should also consider that OP can still qualify for Pell Grant awards and it is only $1500-1700 if Adam54321 completes everything in one semester.

[Duneranger]

I'm thinking of paying the entire lot on my credit card, it'll be an extra 2.95% though... They have payment plans, you can split this into 3 payments... However, you missed the deadline, so you can only split it into two now...

Exactly, easy CC points. I get finances can be tough but these degrees are so freaking cheap (and are an investment right?)  and people here hem and haw over something which is 1% the cost of many colleges.  There are a billion ways to make it work.

While you may think there are a billion ways to make it work, that's just not the case for many people. Many people don't have credit cards or hte available credit on a credit card to spend $1700 and hope that's all they need to spend. Many people are from other countries and finances are nothing like in the US.

I understand the foreign country thing (especially with countries with poor exchange rates) but if a person is in the US and there is no possible way they can fund a payment plan, personal loan , CC, private scholarships (there are a million for people with low incomes/1st gen students), piggy bank money, or saving a bit from each paycheck and they aren’t objectively homeless then there is no excuse. They have either massively screwed up in life or aren’t looking/trying hard enough. I won’t budge on this.

People don’t know how easy they have it when the only option to get a 4 year degree not too long ago was taking moderate to massive debt, be a college athlete or join the military. I had to do all of these.

[ss20ts]

I understand the foreign country thing (especially with countries with poor exchange rates) but if a person is in the US and there is no possible way they can fund a payment plan, personal loan , CC, private scholarships (there are a million for people with low incomes/1st gen students), piggy bank money, or saving a bit from each paycheck and they aren’t objectively homeless then there is no excuse. They have either massively screwed up in life or aren’t looking/trying hard enough. I won’t budge on this.

People don’t know how easy they have it when the only option to get a 4 year degree not too long ago was taking moderate to massive debt, be a college athlete or join the military. I had to do all of these.

You're very judgmental about people's finances. Personal loans are not easy to get and they typically have high interest. Credit cards have very high interest. Private scholarships are almost impossible to get. I was low income and 1st gen college student back in the 90's and all we had were state and federal grants. Those state grants only apply to in state tuition. Piggy bank? You do realize that the vast majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, right? This doesn't mean that they aren't trying or aren't looking. It means they don't earn a great of money. 

To someone who is behind in rent, utilities, car payments, etc., the $1700 tuition would be a significant debt to take on for them. Many people on this forum are trying to make a better life for themselves because they have worked low paying jobs because they don't have the silly piece of paper that says they have some brains. Many people are struggling to keep a roof over the head and don't have many options in life. 

Many of us didn't have the opportunity (or desire) to be a college athlete or to join the military. I know more people who were discharged (some not honorably) from the military than who stayed in for 4 years. The military is not for everyone.

[Jonathan Whatley]

I know more people who were discharged (some not honorably) from the military than who stayed in for 4 years. The military is not for everyone.

Similarly the military is not a guaranteed employment program, though it's often treated as such in discussions of how young people should get ahead. Many people interested in serving are disqualified for medical conditions, often conditions that preclude few if any jobs outside the military.

[Duneranger]

I understand the foreign country thing (especially with countries with poor exchange rates) but if a person is in the US and there is no possible way they can fund a payment plan, personal loan , CC, private scholarships (there are a million for people with low incomes/1st gen students), piggy bank money, or saving a bit from each paycheck and they aren’t objectively homeless then there is no excuse. They have either massively screwed up in life or aren’t looking/trying hard enough. I won’t budge on this.

People don’t know how easy they have it when the only option to get a 4 year degree not too long ago was taking moderate to massive debt, be a college athlete or join the military. I had to do all of these.

You're very judgmental about people's finances. Personal loans are not easy to get and they typically have high interest. Credit cards have very high interest. Private scholarships are almost impossible to get. I was low income and 1st gen college student back in the 90's and all we had were state and federal grants. Those state grants only apply to in state tuition. Piggy bank? You do realize that the vast majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, right? This doesn't mean that they aren't trying or aren't looking. It means they don't earn a great of money. 

To someone who is behind in rent, utilities, car payments, etc., the $1700 tuition would be a significant debt to take on for them. Many people on this forum are trying to make a better life for themselves because they have worked low paying jobs because they don't have the silly piece of paper that says they have some brains. Many people are struggling to keep a roof over the head and don't have many options in life. 

Many of us didn't have the opportunity (or desire) to be a college athlete or to join the military. I know more people who were discharged (some not honorably) from the military than who stayed in for 4 years. The military is not for everyone.

For undergrad there are literally thousands and thousands of scholarships for 500-1000 bucks that barely anyone applies for. Only when you to grad school it becomes more difficult. But by then you shouldn't expect free money. Everything you brought up is easily mitigated in most situations. I was borderline homeless at one point early on in my life and could make it work. 

These degrees are literally pennies and you are drumming up every possible way someone couldnt scrounge up 50-100 bucks here and there to afford a life changing degree. Even making minimum wage in the 00s I could pay CC tuition with proper budgeting. Personal and private school loan interest rates are THAT much higher than student loans unless your credit score is complete trash, a loan for 1500-1700 would not be much interest at all....

10 years ago a college degree at minimum was going to be in the 10s of thousands and now its less than the average paycheck.

I am not budging on this.

Honestly if you know more people who couldnt even last one contract, I would say thats pretty sad honestly.. Its not that difficult unless you make it difficult.  The people I met who couldnt adapt werent going to adapt to anything in life and the results were as predicted. You have to try to get a other than honorable discharge....that says a lot about a person.

---

I know more people who were discharged (some not honorably) from the military than who stayed in for 4 years. The military is not for everyone.

Similarly the military is not a guaranteed employment program, though it's often treated as such in discussions of how young people should get ahead. Many people interested in serving are disqualified for medical conditions, often conditions that preclude few if any jobs outside the military.

Not really. I used to process medical waivers for the military. I even got one myself. Most people arent qualified because they are overweight or out of shape or actively on psychotropic medication (you can be on them while in).

There are TONS of waiver possibilities.

[ss20ts]

I know more people who were discharged (some not honorably) from the military than who stayed in for 4 years. The military is not for everyone.

Similarly the military is not a guaranteed employment program, though it's often treated as such in discussions of how young people should get ahead. Many people interested in serving are disqualified for medical conditions, often conditions that preclude few if any jobs outside the military.

Several people I know were medically discharged for  issues that didn't appear until they were in training or just completed it. One of my friends had asthma as a child, but had not any problems with it in over a decade so they didn't think anything of it until they ended up in the hospital a few weeks into boot camp. Funny thing is he had no problem getting a job outside of the military that impacted his asthma. He went into the military to make his dad proud as he was a vet. That didn't work out at all.

[Adam54321]

I don't see any existing credit limit for students who have not completed a bachelor degree on the Student Aid site, but what is your previous school GPA? I know you have only 4 credits to transfer, but if you have a college credit (exclude the alt credits) GPA of <2.0 that could be a problem. Meaning if 'way back'  you failed two or three courses but passed one (even with an A) the total GPA may be too low for Federal Aid.

This is the response I received. 

Good Morning,

Thank you for your patience as your account was reviewed further. Based on our website, " The American Council on Education provides recommendations on college credit to be received for workforce training, courses, or exams offered by a wide variety of organizations, from businesses and unions to government and the military. UMPI follows these recommendations in awarding college credit to students who have successfully completed these trainings." 

These credits have been attempted and successfully completed for college credit to be earned so the number of transfer credits are calculated in the review of Satisfactory Academic Progress. If I'm reviewing your account correctly, I don't see that a bachelor's degree has been earned at a prior institution so requirements are not met for financial aid. I  am happy to review an appeal if you decide to submit one. Your appeal and Degree Progress Report will be reviewed to determine the courses you have remaining for the degree to be earned. I have attached the appeal form for your convenience. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. 

---

I graduated last year with FAFSA Pell Grant money from UMPI after transferring in 184 credits with transcripts from 5 different Universities/CC and ACE credits (Sophia, Coursera, Straighterline). A friend also graduated this Summer 1 with over 200 credit hours and Pell grant, so I think its very unlikely that the amount of credit is the reason your FAFSA got declined. Since you also never used FAFSA before and have only 4 RA credits, there is no possible way you exhausted all your aid.

I work at a CC testing center and the most common reason I hear about rejected FAFSAs from new students is from errors. There are so many possible sources for errors: your FAFSA application, UMPI, or even the government (citizen status, IRS tax return, etc.). I'd recommend looking at your FAFSA application and verify everything is correct (SSN, Income, personal info). If there is anything wrong with the application, you can make corrections. If you applied for Summer 2, make sure you complete the 2023-2024 FAFSA application. If you are 24 or older by 1/1 of the school year, you are an independent student. You need a high school diploma or equivalent. Once you verify (Triple Check) there are no errors on your end, access your FAFSA dashboard where you should be able to see any issues in To DO Tasks that need to get resolved. If you don't see anything in the FAFSA website, the only option is the UMPI financial office. It's possible that UMPI made a mistake. I've been declined FAFSA twice and the second time was after I transferred to another CC and the previous school still had me as an current student. Since you can only use aid at one school at a time, my aid to the new school was declined. While most of my experience doesn't really apply to your situation, my point is there may be a clerical error on UMPI's end.

I don't understand why UMPI would send an appeal unless you guys already verified everything was good on your end which I very highly doubt judging from your reasoning. In fact, it kind of sounds like UMPI just did the bare minimum. If you are unable to resolve this via UMPI financial aid office, you can try applying at another school (University of the Cumberlands, TAMUC, and the other schools on this forum).

I'm thinking of paying the entire lot on my credit card, it'll be an extra 2.95% though... They have payment plans, you can split this into 3 payments... However, you missed the deadline, so you can only split it into two now...

Exactly, easy CC points. I get finances can be tough but these degrees are so freaking cheap (and are an investment right?)  and people here hem and haw over something which is 1% the cost of many colleges.  There are a billion ways to make it work.

While you may think there are a billion ways to make it work, that's just not the case for many people. Many people don't have credit cards or hte available credit on a credit card to spend $1700 and hope that's all they need to spend. Many people are from other countries and finances are nothing like in the US.

We should also consider that OP can still qualify for Pell Grant awards and it is only $1500-1700 if Adam54321 completes everything in one semester.

This is the response I received.

Good Morning,

Thank you for your patience as your account was reviewed further. Based on our website, " The American Council on Education provides recommendations on college credit to be received for workforce training, courses, or exams offered by a wide variety of organizations, from businesses and unions to government and the military. UMPI follows these recommendations in awarding college credit to students who have successfully completed these trainings." 

These credits have been attempted and successfully completed for college credit to be earned so the number of transfer credits are calculated in the review of Satisfactory Academic Progress. If I'm reviewing your account correctly, I don't see that a bachelor's degree has been earned at a prior institution so requirements are not met for financial aid. I  am happy to review an appeal if you decide to submit one. Your appeal and Degree Progress Report will be reviewed to determine the courses you have remaining for the degree to be earned. I have attached the appeal form for your convenience. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any questions. 

[bjcheung77]

"If I'm reviewing your account correctly, I don't see that a bachelor's degree has been earned at a prior institution so requirements are not met for financial aid."

Respond to them immediately, you're going for your first degree and that's the reason you need financial aid. What other requirements are needed to get financial aid? Individuals apply for financial aid to finish their degree, I'm confused why I need a degree in the first place before I get financial aid.

[Adam54321]

I graduated last year with FAFSA Pell Grant money from UMPI after transferring in 184 credits with transcripts from 5 different Universities/CC and ACE credits (Sophia, Coursera, Straighterline). A friend also graduated this Summer 1 with over 200 credit hours and Pell grant, so I think its very unlikely that the amount of credit is the reason your FAFSA got declined. Since you also never used FAFSA before and have only 4 RA credits, there is no possible way you exhausted all your aid.

I work at a CC testing center and the most common reason I hear about rejected FAFSAs from new students is from errors. There are so many possible sources for errors: your FAFSA application, UMPI, or even the government (citizen status, IRS tax return, etc.). I'd recommend looking at your FAFSA application and verify everything is correct (SSN, Income, personal info). If there is anything wrong with the application, you can make corrections. If you applied for Summer 2, make sure you complete the 2023-2024 FAFSA application. If you are 24 or older by 1/1 of the school year, you are an independent student. You need a high school diploma or equivalent. Once you verify (Triple Check) there are no errors on your end, access your FAFSA dashboard where you should be able to see any issues in To DO Tasks that need to get resolved. If you don't see anything in the FAFSA website, the only option is the UMPI financial office. It's possible that UMPI made a mistake. I've been declined FAFSA twice and the second time was after I transferred to another CC and the previous school still had me as an current student. Since you can only use aid at one school at a time, my aid to the new school was declined. While most of my experience doesn't really apply to your situation, my point is there may be a clerical error on UMPI's end.

I don't understand why UMPI would send an appeal unless you guys already verified everything was good on your end which I very highly doubt judging from your reasoning. In fact, it kind of sounds like UMPI just did the bare minimum. If you are unable to resolve this via UMPI financial aid office, you can try applying at another school (University of the Cumberlands, TAMUC, and the other schools on this forum).

I'm thinking of paying the entire lot on my credit card, it'll be an extra 2.95% though... They have payment plans, you can split this into 3 payments... However, you missed the deadline, so you can only split it into two now...

Exactly, easy CC points. I get finances can be tough but these degrees are so freaking cheap (and are an investment right?)  and people here hem and haw over something which is 1% the cost of many colleges.  There are a billion ways to make it work.

While you may think there are a billion ways to make it work, that's just not the case for many people. Many people don't have credit cards or hte available credit on a credit card to spend $1700 and hope that's all they need to spend. Many people are from other countries and finances are nothing like in the US.

We should also consider that OP can still qualify for Pell Grant awards and it is only $1500-1700 if Adam54321 completes everything in one semester.

Pell Grant is financial aid. I have an associate degree. I do not have a bachelor's degree.

---

For financial aid, the difference between NA and RA isn't significant. If I were appealing, I would concentrate on how much aid I had received (hopefully not much). If you've already received 4 years' worth of aid, I can't see that they would grant you more.

My other take is that the main reason we recommend these schools is because the tuition is so reasonable. If you can't get the aid, I'd hope you'd find a way to make it work anyway.

Thank you for responding. I do not have NA credits. I have never received financial aid of any sort.

It's possibly 1500-1700 dollars for an entire degree. Get a small personal loan and suck it up. They payments would be extremely minimal. This isnt some 100k in-person 4 year BA like I did years ago. They even have payments plans if you want to do cash. You are making this way harder than it needs to be

You are not helpful. This is about people who use ACE credits being denied financial aid because they chose this route.

[ss20ts]

I haven't seen anyone denied financial aid because of ACE credits. This is so weird! Have you tried calling the financial aid office? That might be easier than communicating via email.