The ongoing complications between the Unversity of Kent and SallieMae appear to be over. I just checked my financial aid status online and the money is finally on its way. I have never used financial aid for college before, so this has been a new and unpleasant experience for me. The learning process started when I realized that I would not be able to pay my tuition on my own (due to our paychecks for May and June remaining unpaid). I did some research and found that Stafford loans are the best financial aid for graduate school, with super-low interest rates and flexible repayment schedules. Most European schools don't accept U.S. financial aid, so I really expected to be taking out a personal loan. Around mid-June I checked the University of Kent's website to see what my options were. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that the university would accept U.S. federal Stafford loans, so following the school's instructions, I filled out the appropriate forms and sent them to the financial aid office. They processed them and sent them to SallieMae here in the states. The forms were mailed from England on July 10 and received by SallieMae on July 18. I heard nothing for weeks. Finally, in mid-August I figured I better check on the progress of my loan and contacted SallieMae. After what may have been the longest phone call ever, I learned that the school had neglected to tell me which lenders they would certify and did not indicate on their form which I was supposed to use. My loan had not progressed at all. Frantic emails between SallieMae, the UK and myself eventually resulted in the selection of a lender that we all could agree on and I thought this would solve the problem. I waited a week and heard nothing. So, I called again (the second longest phone call ever) and was told that the university had put two different dates for my end of loan/graduation date. The dates must be the same, so again, my loan was halted. SallieMae apparently was unable to compute the time difference between the east coast and the U.K., and could not get any answer from the school. By the time I contacted the school and the school faxed SallieMae, another week had gone by. The problem this time? The people at SallieMae read the dates wrong on the forms - because Europeans write the day and month in opposite order of what we are used to. It makes me wonder how anything involving different cultures in different countries ever gets done! I'm just happy that this is something I don't have to worry about any more! Yay!
~K