Financial aid investigation continues

            Rashod Custon has bags under his eyes. He's been juggling 27 credits, a part-time job and trying to find a way to pay for college after being notified last June that he was losing his financial aid. He's no longer accustomed to getting sleep on a regular basis.

            Custon looks downtrodden but not defeated. Because he lost his financial aid in UB's financial aid policy change that went into effect on April 16, Custon owes UB over $14,000 and can't register for classes next semester, putting his hope of graduating in serious jeopardy.

            However, the terms behind this policy have been found to be somewhat ambiguous.

            After reading 'Digging deep' in The Spectrum's Sept. 23 issue, Sub Board I Legal Assistance decided to investigate the terms of UB's change, which is estimated to affect upwards of 2,000 students. SBI Legal has found that, contrary to UB's claims, the change of policy was not federally based and was completely left to the discretion of the university.

            SBI Legal has received estimates that between $360,000 and $380,000 have been withheld from students because of the policy change.

            The new financial aid policy makes it harder for students to be eligible for federal aid. Students now need a 70 percent completion rate, as opposed to the previous rate of 65 percent, and must have within 150 percent of the institution's required credits for graduation, which at UB is 180 hours.

            Also, the calculated number of credits is now 'cumulative,' according to the updated Undergraduate Catalog on the Student Response Center's Web site. The change has yet to be published in print.

            All credits that a student has registered for now count – it used to be that only completed credits were taken into consideration for financial aid. Now even incompletes, resignations, withdrawals and failures count.

            Students were notified of the change on June 15, after UB completed their annual review of Satisfactory Academic Progress, which is the basis for federal financial aid eligibility.

            According to Michael Ryan, vice provost and dean of undergraduate education, the shift in financial aid policy was not a UB decision but merely a change in order to comply with federal financial aid guidelines.

            'We had to make the change in the financial aid policy in order to be in compliance with federal guidelines,' Ryan said. 'The federal government has a set of standards for financial aid eligibility and we must follow them.'

            According to SBI Legal's research, however, the change was not a matter of federal guidelines.

            'Federal guidelines only state general terms for SAP [Satisfactory Academic Progress]. Students only need to be within 150 percent of the required credits to graduate and must comply with the institution's set percentage of credit completion,' said Brendan James Gilbert, director of SBI Legal. 'UB changed the financial aid policy on its own discretion. Nowhere in the federal guidelines are UB's new guidelines outlined.'

            These new guidelines have left many UB students without any options for paying for school, except payment plans with large monthly payments or high interest rate loans.

            Some students are even being denied payment plans because they simply owe too much, according to Custon, who is working to pay off his own debt to UB so he can register for spring classes.

            Custon is a senior clinical psychology and social sciences health and human services major. He was hoping to graduate with his dual B.S. and B.A. degrees as soon as possible, but because of his financial aid status he doesn't see that happening.

            'It's just really frustrating that I've been working hard, but because of a UB policy change I can't walk away with my degree,' Custon said. 'I feel like it's all for nothing, and yet I'm stuck here.'

            Custon is 'stuck' due to another one of UB's recent policy changes – the decision to 'freeze' credits. According to Custon, even though he can't afford to attend UB, he can't transfer anywhere else because UB won't release his earned credits until he pays the balance on his tuition.

            'Even if I can get financial aid at another school, I can't transfer because UB has a hold on my credits,' Custon said. 'I know I owe money, but all of my credits except for those from this semester are already paid for. I should be able to transfer them.'

            There used to be a policy in place where a student who fell on economic hard times could appeal to UB and cut a deal, releasing the credits before he or she paid off their bill. But the university no longer offers that policy.