Haven't been here in long time. Back in 2011, my son was disenrolled for failing to meet weight standards, 3 weeks before commissioning and graduation with a NROTC scholarship in Engineering.
Long story short, hired a lawyer - lost about $5K getting pretty much no advice except for a letter that had little effect. Did not have an option to enlist. Literally, within a few months, received a letter saying my son owed $4000 a month. Got a repayment plan with DFAS. Each year, filled out a financial hardship form which is it's own kind of bureaucratic nightmare. Paid each month. Still paying. And today he gets a letter in the mail that he is in default - while waiting for his last financial hardship waiver forms to be processed. So will have to spend time trying to sort this out which really is yet another insult each month that my kid was willing to die for his country, but putting on 7 pounds shot his chance for a career he always dreamed of. Thanks, US NAVY!
To say that we are sorry that we ever considered this was a good move for him is an understatement. It was good while it was good, and since then has been it's own Dante's Inferno kind of Hell.
Parents and young people willing to put your lives on the line for the branch of service you choose - it is amazing and cool and when you get that big check, it may be one of the personally proudest moments in your life. But IF it all falls apart, be prepared to pay full list price of that university. Not the one your EFC would say you and your parents were on the hook for - no, the real price that the armed service pays for the privilege of your education. We would have made different choices had we known this was going to not work out.
Think very carefully - because this debt is not dischargeable. DFAS is a giant sucking bureaucracy and they really don't care about your personal life situation. They just want it paid back.
I thought this would be a blip for my kid and he would dust himself off and reinvent himself - but it really has impacted him for the last 8 years in more ways than we imagined.
Long story short, hired a lawyer - lost about $5K getting pretty much no advice except for a letter that had little effect. Did not have an option to enlist. Literally, within a few months, received a letter saying my son owed $4000 a month. Got a repayment plan with DFAS. Each year, filled out a financial hardship form which is it's own kind of bureaucratic nightmare. Paid each month. Still paying. And today he gets a letter in the mail that he is in default - while waiting for his last financial hardship waiver forms to be processed. So will have to spend time trying to sort this out which really is yet another insult each month that my kid was willing to die for his country, but putting on 7 pounds shot his chance for a career he always dreamed of. Thanks, US NAVY!
To say that we are sorry that we ever considered this was a good move for him is an understatement. It was good while it was good, and since then has been it's own Dante's Inferno kind of Hell.
Parents and young people willing to put your lives on the line for the branch of service you choose - it is amazing and cool and when you get that big check, it may be one of the personally proudest moments in your life. But IF it all falls apart, be prepared to pay full list price of that university. Not the one your EFC would say you and your parents were on the hook for - no, the real price that the armed service pays for the privilege of your education. We would have made different choices had we known this was going to not work out.
Think very carefully - because this debt is not dischargeable. DFAS is a giant sucking bureaucracy and they really don't care about your personal life situation. They just want it paid back.
I thought this would be a blip for my kid and he would dust himself off and reinvent himself - but it really has impacted him for the last 8 years in more ways than we imagined.