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  1. #1
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    Sep 2016
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    Default Contacted by a Debt Collector After Dropping Out of a Private College

    A student was enrolled in a private college that was having serious financial problems. During the semester, a number of instructors were fired or quit, and the new instructors didn't understand the curriculum. The student dropped out. Now she's being contacted by bill collectors who says that she owes the balance of tuition for the rest of the semester. Does she have to pay?

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2005
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    98,846

    Default Re: Contacted by a Debt Collector After Dropping Out of a Private College

    On the surface, colleges enter into contracts with those students. Those contracts define what the student will pay in tuition, and set deadlines for withdrawal. Depending upon the date of withdrawal a student may be able to obtain a full or partial tuition refund, but if the final deadline for withdrawal is missed the student owes for the full semester even if the student did not ever attend a class.

    The student in this case may have a counterclaim for breach of contract, based upon the college's failure to provide qualified instructors. That's something that would have to be evaluated based upon a detailed review of the situation.

    In the short-term, the student can expect that the tuition debt will appear on her credit report, and that she will be contacted by debt collectors unless she instructs them to stop. She should investigate to see if any state or federal action is being taken against the college and, particularly if other students in her program are in a similar situation, should consider getting help from a law firm that might take legal action against the college for its failure to live up to its end of the bargain. If she is sued over the debt, she can consider counter-claiming based upon a theory of breach of contract.

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