Legal action likely against UB for financial aid policy change

Stung by the loss of their needed aid money, some UB students are preparing to fight.

Affected students, together with the assistance of SBI Legal Assistance, are looking into taking legal action against the university for a financial aid policy change the university adopted in June.

'I can say that SBI Legal is strongly considering bringing legal action to make the university undo their change and provide affected students with money as soon as possible,' said Brendan James Gilbert, director of SBI Legal Assistance.

Vice provost and dean of undergraduate education Michael Ryan told The Spectrum in its Oct. 9 issue that the shift was made due to a change in federal 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.'

Beginning June 13, UB changed its financial aid policy, leaving an estimated 2,000 students without the option of financial aid – meaning that more students than ever before are lacking a means to pay for school.

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. Previously, only completed credits were taken into consideration for financial aid. Now incompletes, resignations, withdrawals and failures count against the student when calculations are made as to whether to award aid.

UB attributed the change in policy to federal law, stating that it wasn't the university's decision but rather something that needed to be done to stay within the guidelines of federal regulations.

However, it was later determined by SBI Legal that the parts of the policy that UB changed were not, in fact, part of the federal regulations.

'Federal guidelines only state general terms for [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,' Gilbert said. 'UB changed the financial aid policy on its own discretion. Nowhere in the federal guidelines are UB's new guidelines outlined.'

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

Students are now looking for a way to make UB accountable for its actions.

'We want to do something about this injustice,' said Rashod Coston, a senior biomedical sciences and psychology major. 'It's not fair and it's not right. We're going to fight for the funds that we have a right to.'

If the students and SBI Legal decide to take legal action against UB, they would do so under New York State administrative law, article 78, which is part of the New York Civil Practice Law and Rules.

'Basically there is no broken law or rule. Article 78 just gives you the ability to challenge government officials' actions in New York and get them in front of a court,' Gilbert said.

While UB hasn't broken the law or stepped beyond its bounds, the law states that a state agency, such as UB, can be challenged about any decision.

'It's important that everyone knows how much of a wrong this is,' Coston said.

According to Gilbert, the whole point of taking legal action is to give students a venue to voice their distaste with the university's policy change in a neutral venue.

'When the court examines [the issue] they may look at [what article 78 states as] ‘whether a determination was arbitrary and capricious or an abuse of discretion.' If [the court] finds it was, then they might declare that [the policy] should be revoked or changed,' Gilbert said.

SBI Legal is hopeful for a change in the decision, as are students, though they are still in the process of building a case and gathering information.

Affected students can e-mail sbilegal@buffalo.edu or visit their office to file a report.

E-mail: news@ubspectrum.com