Financial woes plague students

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH ALABAMA - More than 200 University of North Alabama students had their fall schedules voided for lack of tuition payment, an issue that could force them to withdraw from the school for the semester and delay their education until spring.

Controller Donna Tipps said the number of students isn't unusual, but it's a problem that often affects students who have failed to complete their loan paperwork properly or who failed to pay the amount they owed that was not covered by their loan or scholarship.

"They have until (today) to rectify the situation, and 120 of those affected have already done so," she said.

Tipps said that probably 50 students will actually leave the university as a result of having their schedules voided and being unable to pay tuition this fall, a situation that would have a minimum effect on the school's overall enrollment, which is just below 7,000.

Students, however, say the university failed to communicate with them about their paperwork issues.

Cody Farrar, a sophomore from Florence, was among the students whose schedule was voided. He has since officially withdrawn from classes and picked up more hours at his part-time job to save money for next semester's expenses.

"I basically got the run-around from Chase, and then the university didn't give me a chance to make it right before they voided my schedule," he said. "I'm out the $700 I paid for books, and I've already been in class for more than a month."

Chase is among the dozens of financial institutions that are student loan

lenders.

Students affected by the situation were asked to pay an additional $75 to reinstate their schedule and their privileges to certain UNA-specific things, including their UNA e-mail account and access to classes.

Farrar said he was unable to pay the tuition amount for the fall or pay the fee to reinstate his schedule.

"The whole point of getting a loan was so I wouldn't have to ask my parents for help," he said.

In a separate but related issue, EdAmerica, the nation's eighth largest education fund provider, has still not provided money for all of the 430 UNA students who sought loans from the institution.

Ben Baker, director of student financial services at UNA, said money has been received to cover 389 students; those still affected are freshmen.

These students' schedules would not be voided as the university waits to see if EdAmerica comes through with the money by the end of the week.

Michelle Rupe Eubanks can be reached at 740-5745 or michelle.eubanks@TimesDaily.com.