University Wants Tuition for Classes My Daughter Never Attended

[jen doe]

My question involves education law in the State of: Texas

Hi :-)

My daughter attended one Fall semester at a university, and failed every class. She had also signed up for the next Spring session, but gave up because she thought she would just fail again. Being 20 and paying for college herself, she didn't realize there was protocol for formally withdrawing, as there wasn't such at the junior college she attended prior.

Now the university is saying that she owes $1200.00 for these classes, which is actually just the first of what would have been 3 payments which were set up in a payment plan. And though she didn't meet with her counselor to formally drop out, the school is apparently aware that she didn't attend the classes, as she didn't receive grades for them - not even F's.

The university also transferred the payment plan into a "student loan" category - something they did 6 months after my daughter stopped attending. So now all of a sudden, this looks like a student loan on their records, which is something my daughter never signed up for...

I think it odd that the school is demanding any payment since no grades were given, and even more odd that they transferred her payment plan into a "student loan". Is there anything she can do in this matter, as this sounds fishy to me.

Thank you in advance :-)

[Mr. Knowitall]

Tuition is payable as a matter of contract. If your daughter signed up for classes and chose not to formally withdraw, she will owe her tuition under the contract. Even when you withdraw, there are typically a series of deadlines that must be met for withdrawal, with the amount of any potential refund decreasing after each specified deadline.

A debt for unpaid tuition is not a student loan debt.

[jen doe]

Hi Mr. Knowitall

Thanks so much for your response. May I ask if you find this circumstance odd at all? I mean, I understand that she did enter into a contract, but it's how they are wanting to settle it that I find disconcerting - especially since she never attended a single class...


** There is no indication of grades on her school records anywhere - no "0", no "incomplete", no "dropped"... As it looks, she didn't take the classes at all... I would think that if she pays for a class, she would have a grade of some sort, or some other indication showing that she took it in the first place, shouldn't she?

** They are only asking for the first installment payment, and not the entire semester cost. On their web site, it says that the debt is due in full, but mentions nothing about it being due if a student never attends classes. So I would think that the entire debt would be due, not just the first installment payment.

** They rolled over her initial intent to pay into what they originally called a "student loan", and are now calling the debt a "promisory note"... They have also reported it on her credit report that this was an unpaid loan... Is that even legal?


This really sheds a negative light on the education system, as it seems they are taking advantage of naive students...

[jk]

Thanks so much for your response. May I ask if you find this circumstance odd at all? I mean, I understand that she did enter into a contract, but it's how they are wanting to settle it that I find disconcerting - especially since she never attended a single class...

I don't see anything odd about it. In fact, what you have described is quite typical.

I find it extremely unlikely she was not informed of the requirement to withdraw from the classes by some specified date in order to receive a full refund/credit. I don't know any school that doesn't operated that way, including the 4 or 5 junior colleges in my area.

** They are only asking for the first installment payment, and not the entire semester cost. On their web site, it says that the debt is due in full, but mentions nothing about it being due if a student never attends classes. So I would think that the entire debt would be due, not just the first installment payment.

it might be. I would ask to be sure. If they do charge less than the full amount, it is either due to their policies or they are being nice and had considered her to have withdrawn from the class at some point.

** They rolled over her initial intent to pay into what they originally called a "student loan", and are now calling the debt a "promisory note"... They have also reported it on her credit report that this was an unpaid loan... Is that even legal?

she needs to read the contract she signed. It could have easily included such an action should the debt not be paid in full within some specified period of time.

This really sheds a negative light on the education system, as it seems they are taking advantage of naive students...

Have you read all of the paperwork concerning this issue? Have you even gone to the schools website to investigate their registration and withdrawal policies? I suspect you have not educated yourself concerning the schools polices and are simply accepting your (ADULT) child's statements as indisputable truth. As I said, I don't know of a college in my area that does have some fee owing if you do not formally withdraw from a class by some date after the class starts.

If you would care to list the school, I would be more than glad to attempt to ascertain their policies concerning this issue.