Can't get one of my transcripts

I want to start applying to schools soon but there is a previous transcript I can't get. The college in question had screwed me on financial and I owe about 10k. I talked to them and they refuse to release my transcript even though I'm making payments. I've heard you can get your degree revoked if you don't list a previous college so I'm worried about that. It'll take a few years to pay off but I don't really want to wait that long to get working on my degree. Suggestions?

 

does that college contain any credit?

 

Pay it. Or don't. But you can't do both.

When you go to a college or university, you give two forms of capital and you receive two. The two you give are your intellectual effort and your money. The two you receive are an education and a degree (or credit for your work.) You aren't finished with that transaction.

Your credits are on lay-away, and you can't have them until you pay for them. In full.

As for subsequent schools, they likely consider your transfer credits a form of financial background check--if you didn't pay your bills somewhere else, they might be reluctant to take you on as a risk.

Can they revoke your admission if they find out about the previous school? Sure. Will they? I don't know; these kinds of things are not normally discussed in public in full. You can ask them, but bringing it up will remove your option to hide it. (I'm not saying it's a good idea, but it will no longer be an option.) As is attributed to Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis: "Sunlight is said to be the best of disinfectants." Consider being very open and upfront about this to your new school and take whatever ensues.

(Will the fact that you still owe a school money interfere with your ability to get new financial aid?)

 

Yes, 18 credits.

 

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you won't be able to hide your credits.

Because you accepted Federal Student Aid, you are part of a database that tracks enrollment at other schools. Where I work, we will provisionally accept a student, but if the student does not get an official transcript submitted, the student is not permitted to register for subsequent semesters.

You need to see what you can do with your old school. Payment plan, etc. Good luck.

 

I asked about credit, because it (for me) would determine how hard I wanted to find a legit work-around. For 18 credits, I wouldn't say that's worth going hard core. If you had 100 credits out of 120, I'd say you need to work really hard to make it happen, and for that, I would have a few ideas and specific schools that you might try. For 18 credits though, I'd say you're just going to need to pay that off.

 

A couple people have asked about doing a payment plan. I've been on a payment for several years and due to the amount of interest they are tacking on, its going to take at least 4 years to pay off.

I was attending a local state university following the school in question and I was able to transfer those credits before the hold was put on my account. I may just have to finish there.