Vocational School did not Process Student loan

[Torra]

I have a very odd situation. My 18 year old son went off to a vocational school in another state. My son is dyslexic, he is classified as severely disabled because his dyslexia is so sever. I made the school very aware of this and he was to receive accommodations for his disability. This never was flowed through with. When he had been in school for six months he contracted Swine Flue and had to withdraw and return home.

We received a bill from the school for payment in full for his tuition. I had applied for a Pell Grant and a Stafford loan for my son. The school never completed the loan and grant applications. They do have a signed enrollment agreement. They wrote a note on the bill for tuition that he needed to provide more paper work to complete the loan process but never did. He, because of his disability can not read or organize paper work. I read for him and the school was aware of this. I also had contacted the school regularly during the six months he was there and never made me aware that there was additional paper work needed.

My question is - can my son put his tuition in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy of his own? I am currently in bankruptcy myself and we are in dire circumstances. My understanding is that I can not include his schooling and medical expenses on my bankruptcy because he is over 18. I do claim him as a dependent. No request for paperwork were sent to me. There are no educational loans for this tuition federal or privet. There is not promissory note, only the signed enrollment agreement. My son qualified for, and had received before, a Pell Grant. He was also eligible for a Stafford loan We were not planing to pay the full tuition. We were planing that he would make payments on a Federal Loan for the amount over his Pell Grant, that he could afford after his training. The school is charging him over $14,000 for six months. This is over 1/2 of the full tuition for the 18 month program he enrolled in.

If there are no loan papers, isn't there no loan? There is nothing is his Federal Aid showing any money given to this institution, only funds awarded for his earlier schooling.

[lrprn]

Federal and private student loans are not dischargeable in bankruptcy by law, so if you are wondering if that's an out for your son, it's not.

The school very likely has every legal right to ask for the full semester's tuition since he declared his intent to attend for the semester. Take a look at the signed tech school contract. I'm betting it has a clause or two about owing part or all of the tuition if the student withdraws after a certain date.

Given your son's disability, this is a terribly unfortunate situation. However, as difficult as it is to hear this, it is really not the school's responsibility to remind your son or you about his loan applications. As an adult (even an impaired one), he (or you as his proxy) were responsible to keep on top of the loan applications and catch that they never were submitted before he dropped out.

Have you had a face-to-face conversation about this situation with the tech school yet? If you haven't, then it's definitely time to do that. If you already have talked with the school, what did the school representatives say?

[Torra]

I have had three children who received Pell Grants and Stafford loans. I have never had a school not contact me or them if they needed more information. My son has received financial aid for a Community College and they always sent a letter if they needed documentation. I applied for his FASTA on-line. I entered the school codes he was interested in and the information was sent to them. I have always understood, and it has been my experience, that the financial aid office at the school handled the application once it was submitted. I also made his disability very clear and that I read his agreements and paperwork for him. We only applied for a Federal Loan. He is protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act. I understand he owes his tuition according to the agreement. I think that because there is not any loan, he can put his tuition in a bankruptcy.

I did find an earlier thread that this question was asked and there was a response saying tuition can be put in a bankruptcy, but not loans.

I am assuming that I am correct that I can not put his tuition in my bankruptcy, even though I claim him in my taxes as a dependant, because he is over 18. Does anyone have any experience with this?

[Exployer1234]

If you are the co-signer you have to include in the bK. If your name is not on the loan then no you may not.

Pell Grants are not something you pay back when you go to school, so unless he left early on, you should not have to pay those back.

Any type of federal loans can not be discharged. Federal loans are different from private loans and tuition loans. They can not be discharged. On your loan papers you should have terms and it will say what happens if you file for BK and whether it can be discharged. At my 341 meeting my student loans were not discharged. The trustee told me flat out that they would not be discharged in BK.