Around October of 1992 I applied for a student loan to attend New England Institute of Technology (NEIT). It was not a very lengthy course but I could not afford to pay for the school and so I applied for student financial aid.

It was a long time ago and my memory is fuzzy on some details. The parts that I do remember clearly are the most important. I did not have a high school diploma, GED or any documentation as I never graduated high school. I applied for the loans and was administered and “Ability to Benefit” exam which I passed.

It was made extremely clear to me that the loan I had applied for and was granted required that I obtain my GED within one calendar year of receiving the loan. It was stated that this was a requirement of the loan itself, not the school.

With that I began attending not only NEIT but adult classes to obtain my GED. This was slow going as I was working two jobs, attending college and adult classes at night. At NEIT I was doing great; 3.4 GPA and at the top of my class. I was still working on my GED and had completed 2 of the 4 tests required to pass.

After attending NEIT for three months I was called to the administrator’s office and advised that I had to submit my GED by the end of the week or I could no longer attend school.

Even if I magically managed to take the remaining three tests that night, which I could not, and passed them, I still would not have received a GED for at least a month. I had no choice but to stop attending school. I could not come back.

With that anger set it and I ignored the student loans right up until they found me and the letters and phone calls began with a vengeance. They wanted $100 a month; funds I absolutely did not have. I started paying $20-25 a month and that seemed to calm them down although they occasionally demanded more. My business savvy side was all too aware that as long as I am paying them something, they typically do not attack you with wage garnishment and tax refund seizure. This has been the case since 1996.

Today RIHEAA handed off the loan to a CA whom we all know is far more aggressive in collection tactics. I submitted a letter disputing the loan and they responded by stating, “We’ve received your letter of dispute, please pay the loan in full.” Literally. No explanation as to why the dispute was declined. Nice.

At this point I am fed up with this loan situation. The school is of no help and they will not provide documentation citing it being hidden in a basement somewhere. I am fed up with the collection agencies ranting and raving about paying back a loan for an education I was cheated out of by being deceived.

Some research reveals that I have a Stafford subsidized student loan. According to NSLDS I never attended the school. And still further research shows that a high school diploma or GED are NOT requirements to receive a Stafford loan, only that you MUST pass an Ability to Benefit exam.

So I was forced to stop attending a school due to not having a high school diploma that was never required.

Every resource says that you must dispute the loan with the lender. How do you dispute a loan with an organization that wants the money? They will never grant a discharge or forgiveness.

How does one go about fighting this?

Can anyone provide some insight as to what I am up against or what I can do?

Thank you,

Dean

You are legally responsible for the loans. Your loan holder did not guarantee you an education nor did they cheat you out of one. Your beef is with the school....you cannot hold your loan holder responsible for their promises.

I have never heard of a GED within a year being a requirement for loans....it would be very difficult to go back and take the loans away if you did not complete your GED.

The GED might have been a school requirement, but since you passed the ability to benefit test, it would not have been loan requirement.

Plus you can be garnished if you are sending in nominal payments that are not agreed upon by the CA.

I would pay the loan, and also contact the ombudsman's office to see if there's any recourse regarding the school and their ignorance about requirements. You can also contact an attorney and find out if there's anything you can pursue legally against the school.

If you feel strongly that you were wronged, I think it is better to attempt to do something about it rather than accept that you have no options. Good luck!

Lynn, I can't thank you enough for the response. It means a great deal to me.




Ok, my beef is with the school. Excellent point. The rest of that is just collection agency talk but at least I now know that I can focus my attention on the school. But they have been less than cooperative and not willing to provide documentation of any kind.



Agreed, this is my thinking at this point. None of my research has shown that my loan required a GED when the ATB test was passed.



Actually, no. As I stated in my original post, they "made it very clear" that the GED was a requirement of the monies being loaned. They told me "You have one year to obtain your GED. It's a requirement of the loan and in order to legally receive the monies, you must have a GED." If this is in fact incorrect, could this not be construed as illegal, especially the part about terminating my attendance and keeping the money.



More collection agency rhetoric.

I sure wish you could elaborate more on the issue I have with the school and discuss how I can obtain cooperation from the school and have them provide information that I need to address this issue. Who I owe, what I owe and how they are going to get it from me; I receive letters in my mailbox that explain all of that. You don't really need to go into that stuff.