Hello,

When my student account had been sent to Central Collections and I first went to Financial Aid (I believe on Dec. 4) to see what I needed to do, I was told that my loan that I had requested (a Signature Student loan from Sallie Mae) was for the full year, but I could write a note in the office to have it changed to a spring-only loan so I would get the full amount of the loan ($6000) all at once. At the time I was just waiting for it to be disbursed to my account, and there were no other forms or anything that I needed to fill out. Furthermore, I was told that since my account was sent to Central Collections the Financial Aid office could have the loan applied directly to the Central Collections account, leaving me to pay the difference plus any fees (a total of $2130.35). I paid this at the Central Collections office on Tuesday, Dec 16.

I called Financial Aid yesterday (Dec. 17) to see about having my account set up so I can register for classes because I have paid the amount that I was told that I needed to pay and was just waiting for my loan to be processed by the Financial Aid office. They informed me that my loan was set as a spring-only loan, and since this was the final day of classes if I called the lender to change the loan to a fall-only loan, have them fax a note to the Financial Aid office saying that I had been pre-approved for a $6000 fall-only loan, and then call back to the Financial Aid office this would not only speed up disbursement but allow them to remark in the system that I was eligible to register for classes.

I called the customer service number for Signature loans (800-695-3317) and made the change to the loan, but when I requested for them to send a fax to the school I was informed that “because of the school’s demographics” they were unable – they could fax a copy to me, or I could have the school call them to request a fax instead. I then tried to call the Financial Aid office back to let them know of this, but only reached a recording that all the lines were busy for almost an hour. This was then after closing time, so I figured I would call again in the morning.

I called the Financial Aid office this morning and briefly described my situation and was told that because my account had been sent to Central Collections, they were not only unable to apply my loan directly to my account (they would write me a check when the loan was processed so that I would pay it myself), but until it had been paid at Central Collections they could not remark that I was able to register for classes.

I feel I’ve been given the runaround and told three different stories three different times. What is the correct information regarding loan disbursement for accounts sent to Central Collections? Am I able to register for classes since

Thanks in advance,

Glenn Fitzpatrick

SSN# xxx-xx-xxxx