Things your financial aid office won't tell you

The upper classmen at most universities know the tricks and games behind financial aid. They know the forms must be completed early. The earlier, the better, they're told.

One of the running games at my major university was student loan money, often substantial amounts, was "delayed," when the tuition was due. This could happen even when applications had been completed months before.

Tuition couldn't be paid when the GSL money had not arrived and if your class wasn't paid for you lost your seat and/or could not attend the university. I know more than a few students in Iowa who were forced out of school that way. Fortunately, we could depend on the university to loan us emergency funds. This came with another financial aid application, demonstrated proof that you had pending financial aid, and a nice little administrative fee.

My loans were typically $1500-2000 a semester. I paid my way through school with hard work- often three or four jobs at once. Anyhow, the processing fee I paid was in the ballpark of $300. Now, multiply that by 20,000 students. Don't know how it happened, but the government's Guaranteed Student Loan program was guaranteed to get there, but frequently guaranteed to be late- even though the actual money often came from the same state.

Just one example. See the link below to avoid other pitfalls.
Link: http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/rip-offs/10-things-college-financial-aid-offices-wont-tell-you-15281/

Source: Smartmoney.com