Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We are requesting the removal of room and board charges for ******* ******, student ID ******. He moved out of the dorm and stopped using the cafeteria. We were proactive and clear about our intentions and reasons for him moving out. We confirmed with multiple people that room and board would be refunded. Nobody we spoke with at Charleston Southern University led us to believe there was any chance that the room and board charges would not be removed. Further, we made it clear before school started and before the add/drop date that without additional financial aid he would not be able to stay. We also requested information about moving about before the add/drop date and if we had been informed of this policy then, he would have moved out immediately. 1. We verified before moving out that room and board would be refunded. I spoke with multiple people and all of them confirmed room and board charges would be removed. 2. We received email confirmation that room and board was being refunded (see emails below). 3. We only ever moved in because we were under the impression that we would be awarded additional resources through the special circumstance letter. The special circumstance letter was submitted before school started. The moment we found out that we were denied (which we only found out after repeated follow-ups), ******* moved out. If we had been informed before school started, he never would have moved in. 4. I asked specifically about the financial impact of moving out again on September 5 and 6. We were assured more than once that room and board would be refunded, but that his academic scholarship amount would go down $1,000/year as a commuter student. We were never told of any remote possibility that we would have to continue to pay for room and board after he was moved out. If that was the case, then with the lower scholarship it would have been more expensive to move out than to stay. 5. We spoke with multiple people in multiple departments, not one indicated in any way that housing would stay on the bill. 6. We were told specifically to make sure we turned in the housing form so student accounts would know to remove room and board. 7. We have emails from August 25, asking our enrollment counselor and financial aid about the financial impact of moving out, because we had not heard back on our special circumstance letter (see below). 8. We have emails showing we followed up again on September 5 and 6 because we still had not received a reply. We then called on September 6 at 9:10am and spoke with people and again on September 6 at 12:28am to speak with more people. Every time we were told the steps to move out and forms that needed to be filled out so the room and board would be removed from his bill. Not once did anyone indicate any possibility that room and board fees would not be removed. 9. On September 12 Financial Aid responded confirming that housing was removed from his account. 10. We heard nothing about any chance of having to pay housing for the whole semester until, after repeated emails with no response, ******* went into the Student Accounts office to get the bill sorted out. This was over a month after moving out. Please remove all room and board charges of $5,795 so we can pay our remaining balance. Thank you, *** *** ******* ****** August 25 – email to *******@csuniv.edu Hi Shelby, We haven't seen anything back on the special circumstance letter yet and I'm guessing a payment is due soon. What does it look like financially if ******* just moves back home and continues classes, so we remove the room and meal plan? Thank you, Dan August 25 – response from Shelby: You would need to reach out to Financial Aid. Shelby ****** '19 Senior Enrollment Counselor & Athletic Liaison August 25 – email to financialaid@csuniv.edu We submitted a special circumstance letter for ******* ****** and have yet to hear back. We assume payment is due soon but we have yet to see any information on his account. ******* is now considering moving back home and continuing classes as a commuter student to keep his debt down. We need to see a prorated bill that removes the room and meal plan with a move out date as soon as possible. How do we go about doing that? Thank you, *** *** ******* ****** September 5 – email to financialaid@csuniv.edu after receiving no response to our August 25 email. Hello, We are following up on this as we have not heard anything yet. Thank you, *** *** ******* ****** ###-###-#### September 11 – email to financialaid@csuniv.edu We are trying to pay the bill for ******* ******, student id: ****** We have emailed several times and have not heard back. The bill needs to be updated to reflect: -No student loan -The student leadership scholarship -Removal of room/board Thank you, Dan ****** ###-###-#### September 12 – email from financialaid@csuniv.edu Hello, We added the student's BucMail due to FERPA—to confirm, we have removed housing from his budget, but we have added Student Accounts to further assist with his charges. Additionally, the SLU scholarship is in the process of being disbursed. Finally, *******, if you are declining your loans for this academic year, please confirm by replying to this email with your BucMail. Let us know if you have any questions. Financial Aid Charleston Southern University

  Business response

  11/14/2023

  Page 33 of the handbook which can be located here: 2023-24-csu-student-handbook.pdf (charlestonsouthern.edu) specifically states that only food charges will be refunded and that room costs will not.  When the enrollment counselor below responded via email, she stated that it would be removed from the budget as it related to financial aid needs, but student accounts would address the charges specifically.  Charleston Southern does not refund room charges (similar to rent) if the student has moved out past the drop/add period.

  Customer response

  11/15/2023

  We specifically asked about removing room and board BEFORE the add/drop date and we were not advised that if we were going to do so the timing was urgent.  If we would have been informed of that at that time, we would have moved him out immediately.  Further, how does it make any sense to remove a bill that we are still responsible for from our financial need burden, while leaving it on our actual financial burden?

  Business response

  12/14/2023

  Mr ****** and i have spoken and resolved this complaint.  Even though appeals are not applicable to room fees, the insitution has provided a one time exception and provided a credit on the students account.

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