Goodbye Liberty University...free, free, free at last!

I was treated horribly by Liberty University's financial aid department several days ago. LU can keep the Ed.S. I was almost finished with. I am transferring to a secular public University. No more SBC affiliated schools for me.:wavey:

 

That's what I was thinking.

Abner

 

Well you could say that they did more than kill my dog. If you have the time to read this I will explain...are you ready? I completed 6 doctoral credits in Fall 2011 sub-term B w/3.89 GPA. I then dropped my single sub-term D course before the sub-term D began so I did not receive a "W" or other any other negative mark. Therefore, I completed enough credits for the Fall 2011 semester to be considered full-time. Last week I get an unexpected email from Liberty University's financial aid department that stated I had not successfully completed my coursework for Fall 2011 semester moreover that I withdrew from the University and that student federal aid was being repaid to the DOE. The email did not explain why. Over the last four days I have had my transcripts held, all my financial aid withdrawn, and my lenders notified me that I ceased Liberty University attending as of 08/24/2011 and must begin repayment on 02/26/2012. Strange because I attended Fall 2011 semester (sub-term B). I have requested a review from Liberty University's financial aid department action/determination and I have requested information on how to appeal the financial aid determination. No response other than being subjected to repeated negative action i.e holds, not allowed to register for Spring term, being placed in student loan repayment. So I could survive my dog being killed but cannot survive being required to repay a portion of my loan for Fall 2011 ($2000-4000?) in one lump sum before being allowed to register for spring 2012 classes. There is are few minor issues with Liberty University nothing that would take away from their overall quality though more in regards to my not agreeing with a few political/doctrinal positions. By the way the initial email from the financial aid department was in my opinion rude. I am wanting to attend a secular small university and now the times is perfect for leaving (being pushed out of Liberty University). When I started liberty 2.5 years ago there was about 40,000 students and now there is something like 63,000 I have noticed some lowering of quality of service, and in the quality of the adjunct/student interaction. While in the Ed.S. program (1 year) I only had one adjunct that was proactive and actually taught. The others have been just "graders". Perhaps Liberty university is experiencing growing pains and will come out fine. However, I will not be there when they do. Liberty is a good school, for many, but for me it is no longer a good fit.

 

Some of this is due to new DOE regs that just went into place. If a student does not complete the courses scheduled in a term (the entire fall term), then the student will be considered withdrawn unless you resume courses in the same term. Had you dropped a B term class but kept a D term class, you would probably be ok. IMO, the DOE really does need to revise this.

You probably had to have your loans returned because you would have completed 50% of the term. In order not to return funds, you must complete 60% of the term. As I understand it, had you taken your last course and dropped it mid-course, you probably would have been ok. The difference of a few weeks unfortunately can mean several thousand dollars of penalty. On this, LU has no choice but to follow DOE policy, as silly as it is. For doctoral students, 6 hours is full-time, and, IMO, whether or not that is in one subterm or two shouldn't matter. Unfortunately, schools do not have much leeway on this if they define their semesters as LU does.

The withdrawal date, however, does seem odd, and it is probably just an error. I would bet it had something to do with automated processing.

I am sorry to hear about your issues.

 

Thanks StefanM