Getting Transcripts From College Wanting Money (maybe)

[xXAnonymousXx]

So, about 3 years ago I went to ASU, I have about 2 years worth of credits, dropped out because I couldn't afford it, even with financial aid. After I dropped out, they suddenly told me that I owed them money for things I had already paid for, because they retroactively took away the financial aid (I specifically asked if this would happen when I dropped out, and they said it wouldn't, but whatever).

I ignored it, and after a couple years of having bad credit, it disappeared from my credit, and I don't get any calls about it. It's been gone for at least a year, maybe 2 by now.

Now I'm considering making a degree plan and using CLEP tests and such to finish a degree, and it'd be really nice to get those credits from ASU, but I'm afraid that they won't give me the transcript because maybe I still have an outstanding balance with them. Even worse, I worry that having any contact with them at all will get them to start trying to collect again and will ruin my credit. Maybe I should just let sleeping dogs lie and count my blessings. On the other hand, if it disappeared from my credit score, maybe they don't have it listed as an outstanding balance anymore? I'm pretty sure they sold the debt to a collection agency, if that matters.

Any advice? It's a very strange situation, I know. To be clear, I've never taken out a single loan in my life. These are not student loans, just money that ASU may or may not think that I still owe them. I appreciate any advice.

[nomaduser]

So, about 3 years ago I went to ASU, I have about 2 years worth of credits, dropped out because I couldn't afford it, even with financial aid. After I dropped out, they suddenly told me that I owed them money for things I had already paid for, because they retroactively took away the financial aid (I specifically asked if this would happen when I dropped out, and they said it wouldn't, but whatever).

I ignored it, and after a couple years of having bad credit, it disappeared from my credit, and I don't get any calls about it. It's been gone for at least a year, maybe 2 by now.

Now I'm considering making a degree plan and using CLEP tests and such to finish a degree, and it'd be really nice to get those credits from ASU, but I'm afraid that they won't give me the transcript because maybe I still have an outstanding balance with them. Even worse, I worry that having any contact with them at all will get them to start trying to collect again and will ruin my credit. Maybe I should just let sleeping dogs lie and count my blessings. On the other hand, if it disappeared from my credit score, maybe they don't have it listed as an outstanding balance anymore? I'm pretty sure they sold the debt to a collection agency, if that matters.

Any advice? It's a very strange situation, I know. To be clear, I've never taken out a single loan in my life. These are not student loans, just money that ASU may or may not think that I still owe them. I appreciate any advice.

I had similar issues. I was awarded scholarship when I got into a 4-year private university.
When I tried to transfer to another institution after about a year and half, they cancelled my scholarship ($16k) and asked me to pay back that money. It's a typical scam at US universities. Just ignore them.

Forget about ASU if they claim you have debts to pay off. It's totally ok to lose ASU credits.

Try NAU's competency-based program:
https://nau.edu/online/competency-based-online-degrees/

They allow you to pay $3k one-time subscription price and take as many courses as you want within 6 months.
There was a user who said his friend finished the entire degree within that 6 months term. However, make sure to not mention anything about ASU when you apply to NAU.
Here's how NAU's diploma will look like:



or try to get as many credits as possible within that 6 months subscription term and transfer the credits to other institution that will accept the credits. UoA's global campus will accept up to 90 credits.
https://www.uagc.edu/

[rachel83az]

It depends on what kind of degree you're hoping to get. NAU isn't bad but they don't offer a wide variety of choices when it comes to degrees offered.

[ss20ts]

ASU is going to have your attendance in the national student database so most schools are going to demand those transcripts. They won't care that you may/may not owe money. It sucks when this happens. I feel for you. I really do. Unfortunately, dropping courses has a major impact on financial aid. It can be a real pain as you've discovered.

[bjcheung77]

Your only option is to contact ASU to find out what is happening with your transcripts and if there are any pending payments that you owe. You need to work this out with ASU and any other college in regards to your transcripts, as you can NOT OMIT your previous studies. They will have everything about your previous studies in the National Student Clearing House. There has been many horror stories for those who tried to OMIT their previous transcripts...

Here are a few threads, the post links may or may not work, but I just did a quick search and it gave me a few, here are 4 of them.
Link 1: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...transcript
Link 2: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-Degree-Revoke?
Link 3: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...t-a-School?
Link 4: https://www.degreeforum.net/mybb/Thread-...s-Colleges

[nomaduser]

Your another option is getting a UK degree.

Even if you have debts at ASU, UK universities don't care. They don't need to know because they're in a different country.

Try to get an online degree from University of London:
https://london.ac.uk/ways-study/distance-learning

or Middlesex University, London:
https://www.mdx.ac.uk/courses/undergradu...ems-top-up

Once finish your online UK bachelor, get an online MBA from Heriot-Watt:
https://ebs.online.hw.ac.uk/

Potentially, you can move to UK and live in UK.

[innen_oda]

Potentially, you can move to UK and live in UK.

Emphasis on the word 'potentially'. Potentially, you could win the lottery, but I wouldn't bank on it.

[rachel83az]

Potentially, you can move to UK and live in UK.

Emphasis on the word 'potentially'. Potentially, you could win the lottery, but I wouldn't bank on it.

Agreed. Moving abroad is hilariously expensive. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvzTOmEPYyE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcG5WuJ6edo This is not something to be undertaken simply because you may or may not have a college who thinks you owe them money. You've got to want it for serious reasons to not only pay the various associated fees but also to deal with the extreme hassle of all the red tape.

[innen_oda]

Agreed. Moving abroad is hilariously expensive. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvzTOmEPYyE and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rcG5WuJ6edo This is not something to be undertaken simply because you may or may not have a college who thinks you owe them money. You've got to want it for serious reasons to not only pay the various associated fees but also to deal with the extreme hassle of all the red tape.

Getting the visa to live and work is an often underrated aspect of moving abroad. Student visas are bad enough (not only are you limited to a certain number of hours of employment per week, but employers are wary of hiring someone who is far less likely to stick around than a 'native'), but I think there can often be this idea that if you have a degree from a country, there's some sort of shortcut to permanently settling there. There are, in some countries, 'pathways', but by no means are they shortcuts. The hard road, maybe.

And then there's the culture shock, which, unless you've lived abroad and know what to expect (a 6-month exchange in college, or 2-month holiday, don't count), can be quite the shock. Many people never get over it.

Since we're talking about the UK, they've been going nuts raising their visa fees in the last eight years, and closing the gates on post-qualification work visas. A distance degree will not get you the student visa you need to study and build a network in the UK for your post-qualification job, and an in-person degree will be expensive enough you're better off just paying your outstanding fees to your American university. To study in the UK, you also need to prove a substantial level of savings, which if you have them, just pay off your outstanding tuition.

[nomaduser]

You can still get an online UK degree and you should be totally OK.

UK universities won't be interested in your ASU debt as long as you don't talk about it.
They don't get access to National Student Clearinghouse because they're not in US.

UK degree is still respected in US and Canada. Don't think you'll have any problem finding employment with a UK degree.

or try to get a degree from Japan... or other non-English speaking countries lol