College Tuition & Closing Of Colleges - WWYD

I have spent $40K this year on my daughters College. That includes food, her dorm etc.  It boils down to 20K per semester.  We just got the notice that they are not going back to school this year.  We only completed about 1/4 of the second semester.  They are saying that they will be completing there studies on line.  I call BS.  My daughter is a biology major and most of her classes are labs. You can not do labs at home.

Also what about the scholarship $$$$ she got that the school has.   That was another 40K or so.  I am going to be responsible for paying that back?

If I wanted my daughter to go to an on line school like those you see advertised on late night TV.  I could have done that for a small fraction of what I have paid out for her education.  The bottom line is I don't feel like I am getting what I paid for.  

I can see this being a really big problem for students and there families.  I can also see the Colleges being very squeaky about giving the $$$ back and instead wanting to issue some sort of credit.  With the financial uncertainties at the moment I want the $$$$ back in my daughters bank account not being held by some institution for an extender period of time.

I don't think this has been thought about by many but I can see it becoming a big issue for many.  Currently the way I se eit they are holding about 30K of my $$$ (Includes Scollership $$$) for services not rendered and moving forward I am definitely not going to be getting the services I paid them for.  

So what would you all do.  I want to be in front of this as I think one people wake up to this there is going to be a big problem / panic

There is another Issue that I am not happy about.  My daughter came home with only a backpack worth of close as she was only going to be home for a week.  All her stuff is at the dorm. Most of her close, school books, school papers, personal items, personal documents, computer equipment,  and we have been told that we are not allowed to get her stuff until some time in mid/late May (10 weeks from now).  I really don't fell like replacing all this stuff.  I could cost me several more thousand dollars If I have to.  I mean she needs something to ware more than the three changes of close.  Have you ever shopped for close for a 18 year old Girl?  There prices are nuts compaired to close for boys.   I also can see how by holding her stuff hostage they can then now charge me for her room and that is not sitting well with me.  I am thinking of putting them on notice that we are willing to pick up her stuff now so they can no hold that over me (that is worth about $4K).

I don't want to get a attorney but my spidey censes are tingling at the moment with respect to all this and the little voice of reason in my head is not coming up with any good reasons not to.  We are not talking small $$$ here.   

So What would you all do? 

Call them?  Ok there will be no record of the conversation.

I am thinking having my attorney craft them a letter. At least there will be a record of my notifying them of my concerns and my want for getting the $$$$ squared away ASAP.  Also a letter from may attorney may actually get there attention.       

Not sure where to go with this but again I don't want to let it ride.  I want resolution now and I want my daughters stuff back.

Same here, but we need to empty the dorm by end of month, and they are reimbursing the room, board, and food part of the tuition. She came home with enough stuff for a week, like yours did, then they canceled. 

I am REALLY not happy about this. I paid the $$$$ up front for the whole year.  Next semester I am going to do the payment plan just so they are not holding my $$$.

On the other side of the coin my son starts teaching as a professor at a university in the fall.  He wouldn't be happy being told he's off the payroll until October if he was currently teaching.  

I think they should credit you but in the end I don't have any skin in the game.  

Dean

That sounds like a LOT of money. I feel for you. still, You are a business owner who exchanges consulting services for money.  Hopefully those services are outlined in contracts. I think you should read the contract for your daughter's education.

I'm in a much smaller boat... A State university. This week, prior to the Coronavirus, I intended to sign a lease for my son's next semester college apartment. As of this date, I'm going to take my chances and wait. Not signing a damn thing that commits me to spend money. 

Datsun310Guy said:

On the other side of the coin my son starts teaching as a professor at a university in the fall.  He wouldn't be happy being told he's off the payroll until October.  
 

I think they should credit you but in the end I don't have any skin in the game.  

No comparison.  He is not owed any $$$.  People loose jobs every day.  It sucks but it is reality.  Now if your son paid them 30K to work there and then they said sorry and kept the $$$ we can talk.  I am just not feeling any relevance to  your comparison at the moment.

In reply to dean1484 :

I feel for you though. My youngest is in 11th grade and headed to an engineering school in 17 months.  I'm a big debt free guy so I'll be helping her get through and paying thru the nose for school.  

I hope they make it right.  

OHSCrifle said:

Dean

That sounds like a LOT of money. I feel for you. still, You are a business owner who exchanges consulting services for money.  Hopefully those services are outlined in contracts. I think you should read the contract for your daughter's education.

I'm in a much smaller boat... A State university. This week, prior to the Coronavirus, I intended to sign a lease for my son's next semester college apartment. As of this date, I'm going to take my chances and wait. Not signing a damn thing that commits me to spend money. 

You are absolutely correct and that worries me ALOT. On the other hand I did not sign a thing I just payed the bills.  My daughter being 18 signed an acceptance letter.  However I am sure some where in some form there is going to be something about this. IF that is the case we go legal and I will get my state rep involved and call teh local TV station.  This may sound weird but I was wondering if there is any recourse through FASA as they seem to be the keeper of the $$$ with all things schools related.

Her is hoping the school does the right thing but because of my buisness background I am not counting on it.  

Write them a letter to inquire, they should respond in kind, and you will have something in writing regarding their intentions.  There is probably language in whatever contract you have with them for education that indemnifies them for this sort of thing, natural disaster clause or something.  I would write them now rather than later.  No doubt you are a little bit furious, but be as neutral as possible in your letter.  If you have an attorney send them the initial correspondence, it will be on like Donkey Kong.

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to dean1484 :

I feel for you though. My youngest is in 11th grade and headed to an engineering school in 17 months.  I'm a big debt free guy so I'll be helping her get through and paying thru the nose for school.  

I hope they make it right.  

That is exactly why I am paying the bill.  You can not succeed with huge college debt.  I swore that I would never put my kids in to that situation.

FAFSA Forms = nightmare to me.  

In reply to Toebra :

Ohhh I am well versed in the "be nice" tactics you need to use to get what you want.  Smile and thank them for there time and understanding and all that.  And yes I need to get in front if it.    I can kiss a&& with the best of them.  

This whole thing just sucks

Datsun310Guy said:

FAFSA Forms = nightmare to me.  

Well Maybe I can make there lives more like ours. LOL 

Actually we did not have any issues with them.  My tax's were pulled in electronically and I think I filled out one or two very basic formes and maybe uploaded one PDF.  I think my daughter and I got it all taken care of in maybe an hour?

While on a much smaller scale, we have the same issue for my two kids and their daycare/Montessori preschool.

I was worried some parents would feel like you and yell and scream and get a discount, while other parents that had already paid the whole year wouldn't be offered any refund unless they asked.

I wrote a quick email to the woman who runs the thing asking explicitly for her to send an email to all parents and set our expectations collectively for how payments were going to be effected by school closure. She sent an email to everyone in less than a business day.

Now, she is a small business and you are dealing with a big business college, but I see more similarities than differences. In general, people are trying to keep themselves and their communities safe right now, not plotting to steal your money.

For 8-10 weeks I'd probably just suck it up.  The services are still being rendered.  She still has the same quality professors.  I would expect she is still going to learn the necessary material.  She may have to work at it harder (which in itself is a valuable learning experience).  She will definitely lose lab experience and I would expect or request some adjustment there.

Its a crappy situation, on both sides.

The dorm situation sucks and I would be yelling about that for sure.

Im in a related situation.  My son is in pre-k and the schools have shut down.  His tuition is paid, but teaching is greatly reduced (4 year olds don't learn online all that well).  But more importantly, one of the big things I am paying for at school is effectively day care.  Now my ex and I are alternating taking care of him.  Its impacting our ability to do our jobs, but at the same time, we are paying for it.  However, do I want to see his teachers go without pay, or his school's budget drop?  No.  In the short term I look at it as "I can afford this, there are many many people in far worse situations"

Again, crappy on both sides :(

Example college contract language. Pretty sure they anticipated a lot of possibilities.. so beware throwing good money after bad. 

dean1484 said:

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to dean1484 :

I feel for you though. My youngest is in 11th grade and headed to an engineering school in 17 months.  I'm a big debt free guy so I'll be helping her get through and paying thru the nose for school.  

I hope they make it right.  

That is exactly why I am paying the bill.  You can not succeed with huge college debt.  I swore that I would never put my kids in to that situation.

Many of us have done exactly that, paid off our debts,  and still managed to do extremely well. 

Robbie said:

While on a much smaller scale, we have the same issue for my two kids and their daycare/Montessori preschool.

I was worried some parents would feel like you and yell and scream and get a discount, while other parents that had already paid the whole year wouldn't be offered any refund unless they asked.

I wrote a quick email to the woman who runs the thing asking explicitly for her to send an email to all parents and set our expectations collectively for how payments were going to be effected by school closure. She sent an email to everyone in less than a business day.

Now, she is a small business and you are dealing with a big business college, but I see more similarities than differences. In general, people are trying to keep themselves and their communities safe right now, not plotting to steal your money.

The amount of email I have got form companies trying to make a buck off the current situation is crazy.  Companies playing on peoples fears is really out of control.  

Cotton said:

dean1484 said:

Datsun310Guy said:

In reply to dean1484 :

I feel for you though. My youngest is in 11th grade and headed to an engineering school in 17 months.  I'm a big debt free guy so I'll be helping her get through and paying thru the nose for school.  

I hope they make it right.  

That is exactly why I am paying the bill.  You can not succeed with huge college debt.  I swore that I would never put my kids in to that situation.

Many of us have done exactly that and done extremely well.  

Agreed for sure but I also know that my life would have been much better/different had I not had to pay back student debt. If I was able to save that $$$ into retirement accounts back then I could probably have retired now or at least not have to work as much.  Saving when you are young is key to having a much better time late in life.  Time is the key to investing your $$$.  It took me 10 years to pay off all my debt.  That is 10 years of not putting $$$ towards savings or retirement.  Back then it was allot of $$$.  Now if that $$$ had 20-30 years to amortize it is a really big pile of $$$.  I want my kids to have the latter scenario and I can most likely make it happen due to my hard work.  It is me trying to break the cycle and make future generations of my famly have a better life. I hopfully will give my kids the ability to pay for there kids school so those kids can do the same.  Pasing it forward generations is what I am hoping to do.     

Online classes aren’t all bad. They’ve come a LONG way. Not sure how it will work for labs, but I wouldn’t look down my nose at them. But it will require your kid to want it to work and work hard at it. Just because it’s online doesn’t mean you’re on YouTube watching a video of a dog pooping on a cat. 

mtn said:

Online classes aren’t all bad. They’ve come a LONG way. Not sure how it will work for labs, but I wouldn’t look down my nose at them. But it will require your kid to want it to work and work hard at it. Just because it’s online doesn’t mean you’re on YouTube watching a video of a dog pooping on a cat. 

All probably true but they are not providing me with what I paid for and I don't think it is the same value for my $$$. 
 

I looked up the school refund policy and there is no verbiage about this kind of thing so as far as I can tell they are going to have to refund my $$ and the scholarship $$$. 

Current college student here. I do not live in dorms anymore, but we got an email today from our Chancellor stating a discount of up to 45% of the housing bill for this semester if they are completely checked out by March 24. I imagine a lot of schools will offer some sort of similar offer, but I obviously have no idea. A few phone calls may help out, but university employees are not the easiest to deal with in my experience. I can not imagine they won't let people come pick up their belongings, but the dorms at my school are still open if students absolutely have nowhere else to go. 

As for online classes, I'm personally not a fan and I think it will make things more difficult for me with projects and labs and such. But as a graduating senior, I don't really care anymore. 

Both my kids are in college right now (different schools). They both got emails yesterday about moving out and getting a pro-rated refund for their housing costs. Their classes have continued online for the most part, with varying degrees of success. My son's astronomy class is basically suspended since they need the school's observatory for lab work, and my daughter has had to "perform" for her drama teacher over Facetime.

My attitude is that everyone is figuring this out as they go along, universities included. We are in uncharted waters, and while you do need to look out for your financial well-being, you need to understand that the administrators of these schools have never had to deal with this type of situation, either, so I'm trying to be patient and understanding of them, as well.

So how is this going to affect everyone with student loans? Are they still going to be on the hook for the whole semester? Interest doesn't apply while you're in school, does that still count if the school is closed during class time?