I just graduated college with my associates degree and after completing, I was told I needed to pay $1000 to get my degree. Does anyone know why I have to pay to receive something I went to school 2 years for and completed all the courses? I think something's wrong with that. If you have any information or any ideas, I would really appreciate it.

your profile shows you're in the states so o guess you'd have to ask the administration of the school you attended.
maybe you owe tuition fees? don't know.

I know in other countries you have to pay registering fees withthe state or country in order to make things official

I talked to financial aid and they told me that it was because I didn't bring in my tax return or apply for another loan but I fail to see how that has anything to do with my degree. They never told me I had to pay a registration fee so I'm not sure about that. With tuition fees, they can hold your degree? That doesn't make sense. I can understand paying $40,000 for a student loan but paying for a degree I don't think so, that's what I attended 2 years for and I should be able to receive it regardless.

Yes they can hold your degree until you are completely paid up for your education.

the contract works like this, you pay the school to teach you, they teach you and you prove you are learning by passing classes, after you pass all the classes you still are only meeting 1/2 the contract, You still have to fulfill the other half the payment part

not sure what you mean here hon
college I attend will drop you from classes two weeks into semester if you do not have fin aid to cover your classes and books or you have not made payment arrangements with billing dept
they can hold that degree for one unpaid parking ticket on campus if they want to

its called pay to learn..... in order to get a good job to make big bucks..
you first have to go into debt..
to receive the education to go out and make the big bucks..
so you can pay off your debt..

. what a world we live in.lol

I never heard of a school holding your degree until you're completely paid off. Others have gotten their degrees so I doubt that's it. If going to classes and passing is only 1/2 the contract and paying is the other 1/2, they should've really mentioned that before I attended. I would've attended if I knew that was the case

I know what you're talking about, I had to pay every month other wise I couldn't attend school but the people who own the school I attended, got into major trouble with the government and they stop accepting payments. If they're holding my degree because of the payments I couldn't submit, that's not my problem.

maybe contact an attorney that specializes in class action lawsuit because then you can get legal help on a contigency basis.

Hey, I think we went to the same school! Seriously though, something similar happened to me. I went to a community college (mistake#1) for radiography, to be an xray tech. When I signed up for classes they told me there were 40 seats twice a year (fall, spring) to get into the program and I had to maintain a 2.0 to get in.Once I was in if I was struggling the school would send me to tutoring if necessary so they could certify all 40 students. It took two years of full time to get my GI Bill and student loan, 15-17 credit hour semesters including the summers and when I finished my prerequisites I went to register for the program. I knew the 2.0 was bs because there were a limited amount of seats. I had a 3.4 at the end of those two years. With my GI Bill paying the school and high rent and utilities despite very modest living I needed more money to make ends meet so I applied for another loan. I took some prefilled application forms to financial aid (mistake#2) and asked them which one they thought would be most likely to approve me. They took my folder back into the office, called me back minutes later and told me I couldn't get another loan because I was already at budget for a community college student. Fast forward a year and a half and that's when I found out the truth about the program I wasn't a part of. There were only 18 seats in fall, period. They told me my grades weren't good enough and I asked if they were confusing me with someone else. They said there was no veterans preference andthe lowest scoring seat had a 4.2, so I would have had to gotten a 4.3 gpa. I had (according to them) a 3.0 because they don't count points. The soonest I could have gotten in was 2016 after I had taken all of my classes again because they were only good for 5 years. My back-up plan phlebotomy, was booked until 2017. This was in 2010. When I asked them what degree I could get with my current credits they said I could be an English major and that's all they had. That would have taken me an additional 3 years to total 5 years to get a 4 year degree from a '2 year' school. After having been out of school six months I found out they took another loan in my name and didn't disperse it to me. I even went to the better business bureau and they closed my complaint. A few days later i got an email from the schools alumni association. Seriously.

Make sure no one goes to

WAKE TECHNICIAL COMMUNITY COLLEGE

To speak directly to your problem, most schools won't allow you to register if something hasn't been paid whether it's the parking fee or tuition. You don't have to pay for a student loan, you receive that money through the school to pay your tuition and fees. You pay the interest if you can while your in school or
more if possible to the lender. You have scheduled payments after you leave the school whether you graduated or not. Either way this doesn't sound right. Colleges take money, and have been doing so quite well for a long time. This sounds like they forgot to take your money. Your student loan disbursements come from the school, not the lender. If you have any outstanding fees it comes out of the loaned amount before any gets released to you.
It would be like winning a $500 shopping spree from your grocery store, they give you $500 cash and you get 20 minutes to grab whatever you can. At the end of it they bag up your groceries and forget to ring them up and carry them to the car for you.
Paper trails tell stories. Get every bill check stub, bank statement etc. You'll need them. Welcome to the club.

I'm assuming this is one of those for profit colleges, Phoenix, De vry,
Carthage, ITT, one of those types. So yes if you don't pay your bill they can and will hold back your paper.
Most state universities and non profit private colleges do charge a graduation fee of sorts, usually a couple hundred bucks, more like a title registration fee for your car, to cover all the paperwork and etc for your certificate.

Reread any contracts you signed with the school. Or beg, borrow, or steal the thousand, get your paperwork straightened out, get a job and chalk it all up to experience.

Yup, you are correct. It was a for profit colleges(Everest College). I never knew that a school could hold your degree. I wish I would've known that at the beginning. Lol, begging, borrowing, and stealing isn't my thing. I do have a job but I'm not about to drop 1000 on a piece of paper. If I can just get my transcripts for proof, I'll be good.

Your transcripts WON'T show 'degree granted' most places the 'require' a degree ask for copies of the DEGREE...


College's do hold your degree if you're not paid up, non-profits, state, doesn't matter, 3 people i graduated with, walked their graduation but weren't actually given their degree until they were square with the financial aid department, all though some like you felt they were 'entitled' to it because they did the work, but they still had to settled up with financial aid.

I've attended 4 different colleges, and have a combination of 4 degrees from 2 of them. It's been the same everywhere, if you're not paid up, the degree is theirs to hold on to until you are.

If they are in trouble and CAN'T accept payments(now) then you're right it's not your problem. However, if they can accept payments(now), and you're just refusing to pay...then it IS your problem.

But there is another option as well, many of the for-profit schools have been caught 'extending' degree programs by adding classes that weren't on the original program, they were doing this mainly because of GI Bill students so the could collect more money.

My advice find out what was on the original program you signed up for, and look at same program for the year you graduated, if they did ADD courses, you aren't required to pay for those, those should have been tuition free if they made you attend, if they are not, often you can have that money credited back to you tuition, but that all depends on if they were actually doing that or not.

There are different kinds of loans, and it sounds as if you are unsure about quite a few things. Students should not leave it up to schools to "explain" things because counselors and advisers can be mistaken--not even that they lie, but they are just mistaken. Often, they have hundreds of advisees, and it is too much to keep track of.

But back to the loans. My daughter-in-law dropped out of college over a decade ago and defaulted on her federal loan. However, the feds took their share out of her income taxes until they were paid. She also owed other loans directly to the school, and until she paid them, she could not register to attend classes there and couldn't have gotten a transcript.

If you owe the school money, then the school is legally within its rights to hold your degree. If their practices were unethical but the government/courts did not rule that they had to refund tuition, you still owe them the money and they still have the legal right to hold your degree.

It is the responsibility of students to investigate practices of schools, and with the well publicized scandals of schools for profit, students are even more responsible for doing so.

I am not saying that you have done so, but those who default on student loans just plain SUCK. I have been paying on MY loans for over 11 years and will pay on them for years to come. Defaulters make it hard on everyone. And if the institutions can, they will garnish wages: karma.