Grand Canyon University [GCU] review: financial aid/disbursement problems 80

I've had the same problem. I'm just so tired of it. Semester after semester it's the same thing. And now that they've "upgraded" the system they use, it's even worse. I, too, am in the sixth week of this semester without any sign of the aid. My counselor is very nice but this is just ridiculous. Other colleges give you your aid on the first day of classes. Why is it so difficult with GCU? Day after day I check my account and still nothing. This is my last class for my master's degree but I think I'll look to another school to complete my student teaching. I just can't take this anymore! =(

Hello dhec34,

If you'll kindly contact me personally as well I'd be happy to do all I can to help you resolve this situation. I apologize for any inconvenience you've experienced.

Many Thanks,
Robyn Itule

Grand Canyon University
Social Media Strategist

[protected]
ritule@gcu.edu

Hi Jenna,

Would you kindly contact me directly and I'll ensure that someone in senior management is advised of your situation.

Robyn Itule
Social Media Strategist

[protected]
ritule@gcu.edu

Wow, the statements made above are alarming. I feel as though everyone else has described my situation. I have had nothing but stress and empty promises from this school. I have attended other schools and am very familiar with the financial aid process. My experiance with GCU has led me to believe no one there know's what they are talking about or they are a bunch of liars. It is either one or the other. I have pleaded for assistance from them but never get anywhere. I will now be going on as many complaint boards I can find online to make sure everyone knows what a scam this school is !

To GCU:
What can you do to further assit me ? I have gone down this road and have gotten nowhere. It's just a waste of my time and a let down that someone will help. I is t kind of disappointing that you would respond so quickly to my complaint on here but you have not answered my emails. Your offer of assistance is not geniune . It's just GCU trying to do damage control, unfortunatly it's too late !

Hello,

I received an email last night at 8:48pm Arizona time. With all GCU offices now open, I have brought that email to the attention of our Student Resolutions Team and someone will be contacting you shortly with regards to that email.

Thanks!
Robyn Itule

Social Media Strategist
robyn.itule@gcu.edu
[protected]

I have experience the same problem that all the other students have described. Since GCU changed over to the new system. Thus far I received two refunds one in August and another in November; I started my second Master program on June 24th. I have had to contact the financial aid department continuously. To make matter worse, I just started receiving letters and emails stated that my loans are due. Needless to say I was shocked, since I completed my 1st Master in May 2010. I have been in school since June 24th. I was told the matter would be corrected, but the letters keep coming. I do not want my financial aid or my ability to complete my education messed up. I have requested a hard copy of all communication to the providers for my records, a simple fact that should be done without asking. This along with the other issues must be corrected. As a consumer I should be able to view my disbursement amount and date on line. I should not have to continuously call my advisor. After the numerous emails, about my financial aid disbursement; to receive a letter requesting payments was the icing on the cake. To find out that the providers were not informed that I am in school set off numerous warning signs. I have talked with the financial aid director who promised to correct this matter, as of this date the letters continue .

For-Profit University Agrees to Pay $5.2M For Alleged False Claims Act Violations
by fraudblawg on August 19, 2010
Whistleblower claims that for-profit online universities have employed illegal and misleading marketing practices have prompted Grand Canyon Education Inc., to pay $5.2 million, the company announced Wednesday. According to the allegations in the qui tam action, Grand Canyon wrongly paid its recruiters incentives causing them to make false promises to students and ultimately causing the federal government to waste millions of dollars in financial assistance that will never be recouped. Busisnessweek reports that:
Lawmakers have criticized aggressive marketing practices and allegedly misleading conduct by recruitment counselors in the for-profit education industry. Since 1992, it has been illegal in most cases for schools getting federal financial aid to compensate recruiters based on how many students they get enrolled. A rule proposed by the DOE this summer would eliminate the remaining exceptions.
The qui tam whistleblower award could be as much as $1, 300, 000. To report false claims involving government programs, contact Frohsin & Barger.

Hello ConsumerGCUStudent,

If you'll kindly contact me directly at robyn.itule@gcu.edu, I'd be happy to assist you in regards to the matter you detailed above.

Thanks so much for reaching out to me.

Robyn Itule
Social Media Strategist
Grand Canyon University
robyn.itule@gcu.edu
[protected]

I am having the same issues with GCU. I have been attending since July 2010 and have never received a disbursement check without having to call every day. My GCU retention credit NEVER credits to my account without my having to call and now I am on the 2 payment period of my academic year as of December 12. Up until now my award letter (online, since they don;t actually send you one in the mail like any other college I have ever attended) has stated that my next disbursement date was December 12. Now, all of the sudden, it has changed to say December 26. I called my financial aid officer who told me that he does not know why it would have ever said December 12 because disbursement dates never happen on the first day of class. Then, proceeded to tell me that I needed to call the lender to find out why they had December 12 listed as the date and now changed it. I advised him that I spoke to the lender on December 12 and they said that the school determines the disbursement date. He continued to say "I don't know why they said that, they determine the disbursement date". I have never in my life been told that they lender determines the award letter information and the disbursement date. If that was the case why does the award letter not come from the lender? Why does it come from GCU and is only available online at GCU's student portal? The only answer I can ever get from them is it will be about 2 weeks or "I don't know". It is so frustrating! I am doing what I need to do and GCU needs to hold up their end of the deal. I have 4 kids and I use the stipends from my financial aid funds in order to supplement the income in my home so I can go to school. But, when you have not even somewhat of a specific time frame as to when you expect anything from the school it make it that much harder to do. I am very close to dropping out of GCU and going to another school because of these issues. It just really sucks because GCU is a good school besides the fact that they give students the run around when it comes to their financial aid. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law attend GCU right now too and they have many of the same issues. Maybe, GCU can get their act together eventually.

Hello beyondaggrevated,

We'd be happy to assist you as well. Please contact the Student Resolution Team directly by emailing resolutionteam@gcu.edu or calling [protected] with the details of your issue and someone will reach out to you via phone or email within one business day. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to resolve your issue.

Also, feel free to pass this contact information on to the others you indicated may require some resolution assistance, as we'd like to be of assistance to them too.

Hi GCU, why does it take you all so long to process the financial aid disbursement, when other universities and colleges process their financial the same school begin. Maybe you all need to find out how other universities are doing, so that you all can be more proficient as well. This will help with student moral.

Another school year and the same problems. When will these problems be fixed, how long will it be before the school address the issues of financial aid disbursement? There are students who can't afford to pay for their book before classes begin, and when the financial aid is delaid, it put more pressure on the students. Is there any way that there issues can be resolved.

Same here...this has been ongoing since I began and strange things occur when there is a personal problem; something I do not want to get in to right now but disturbing.

I agree with the above statement. It takes a good 3-4 months just to see a posting, which makes you wonder if GCU holds onto the loans for interest. I think this private University is designed to suck blood and money from the student, turn them our prison style, then leave them bleeding on the side of the road with no real eduacation. Robin, you can contact me!

I strive so hard to keep my grades up to an A average and to think that every time it comes to the disbursement of my stipend and financial aid it is always a head ache I am becoming frustrated with the whole experience I believe that in this situation something needs done to better assist students and though my student advisor is nice and we get along this is ridiculous and needs to be addressed and resolved no one should have to be emotionally drained and stressed out over this I have attended other schools and never had this problem. I will further complain until something is done.

Great, now I feel really nervous. I just finished second week of class. I'm hoping I have it asap! Anyone know what it means when it says ready to certify?

(Be advised that I am writing this from my cell phone.) I too have had a few problems with my financial aid. I was one of the lucky students selected for verification. My documents were rejected 4 times! I just had to fill self-employment taxes for last year for monies made babysitting since it totaled over $400 for the year. As a single mother, enrolled full time in a university, trying to better the life for myself and my 3 little boys, this is exhausting and I am to the point of tears. I was told I would have a disbursement a month ago and I've still got nothing but denied paperwork. I have/had plans for my pell and TEACH grants that effect my ability to properly continue with my schooling (I have a broken computer). The longer this process takes, the more time I have to spend on the computer at the library, away from my children. This is frustrating. However, my student advisors have all been extremely helpful, with the exception of my finance advisor not getting back to me in a timely manner. The verification process is a joke.

All I can say is that I am beyond frustrated with GCU at this point because like many of you I have dome everything that I am supposed to do and yet each time I wait and hear excuses. Yet again I am in the same process. My federal website says the money was transferred to them on October 1 and yet NOTHING as of today has posted to my account. Mind you my financial aid sat in a ready to certify stage for months. I have emailed and called and been told the same things that it takes weeks and yet they have the money already. After this term I am seriously not sure if I am going to continue with GCU. I work hard full time as a singe parent to keep my GPA up and work full time. I wanted to pursue my MBA immediately after this but dealing with this and waiting and constantly having to check and yes needing the stipend is draining and frustrating...and they are not being honest at the end of the day. I should have had my stipend already and they haven't even applied the money yet...I am beyond tired and frustrated trying to communicate with them has lead to nothing...thanks GCU!

I am currently a GCU student AND is having the same problems as everyone else. I transferred from another college thinking this college would be a better fit for me since my mom Also attends here and loves it. I started class since oct. 19th 2015 and my funds posted to my account oct. 27th, 2015 and I was told that I would get a check in the mail with my remaining funds. Now it is almost a month into the class and still no check. I never had a problem with my FA refunds. It really concerns me that they are keeping money that I have too pay back from me and are trying to say that I won't recieve anything until I complete my third course. I want to withdraw from this school because I think is a comlete rip off.

Schools that take money before you start classes are not to be trusted. Thankfully GCU has been the complete opposite. As long as you are passing classes you will no problems with financial aid. I have recieved two degrees from GCU and have had zero problems.

I just started my program on Thursday. I am very disturbed by what I've read. There is NO reason for FA to take this long. I need the excess money to upgrade my laptop so I can keep up. I am seriously considering withdrawing from this school. I was told it would take 4 to 6 weeks to receive a check which I find ludicrious.

I have never had a problem with GCU up until now! I am so fed up and frustrated with the way things are going at the moment, it seems like when they changed my advisor everything went downhill from there. I have yet to receive my pell grant I have already finished one class and this is my last week in my second one. I have been told so many different stories that I don't really know what to believe anymore. I am at a lost, I need a new laptop and I have to go to the library to get any work done, needless to say it has been a lot of work. My advisor had the nerve to tell me that I might just need to take a break from school once this class is done until I can save up enough money to get my laptop repaired. Why would I do that, isn't that what my financial aid is for?! I was told there was a problem with my financial aid info, no problem sent in the paperwork they asked for still nothing. I was already approved and received both my sub and unsub loans and was told I had to wait until July 1 until the start of a new pell year. How is it they didn't catch a problem until now? I am so confused, it has been almost two weeks since I sent in the paperwork and still nothing. I have come too far to give up, I only have four classes left before I graduate and the way things are looking it's going to be longer than expected.

I just started at GCU in June and am already considering asking for a refund. My student advisor, Mike was amazing and helped me a bunch. He kept in contact with me and let me know updates via email. Then I get moved over to the financial aid advisor and she is a complete joke. She never keeps in contact with me. I have to call her myself, and then she doesn't answer my calls. She takes days to respond to voicemails and emails. I am still waiting on my disbursment of extra funds and I am thinking that It almost is not worth it anymore. I have a full time job that will pay me enough that I don't need a degree.

Disgustedonceagain,

I am attending GCU and I had so many problems getting my financial aid disbursements each semester however I notice that there has been to rewards missing from my account yet GCU is covering it up at this moment. I had not received those checks in the mail and sometimes the envelopes were open when I view them in the mail. Jason Winchester is a lair lair pants on fire. I don't know what this kids problem but he needs to stop lying and taking money from students. You do not have to pass a class in order to get financial aid and he has lied to me for the last time period. I know I suppose to get a disbursement each time class ends or starts. I am military veterans who is a reservist and I think GCU is a scam however using student for their benefits like the G.I Bill. IF I have to I will file a class action suit against them and the lenders for letting GCU get always with murder. You cannot help me in this situation because I am tired of the abuse and games so do not send your email or phone number. I want my financial aid and I will not stop until get it from this scam college either it court class action suit or withdrawal from this peace of crap school. I had enough of reading the reviews of the same people who have the same problems I have from the University.

Hello,

I am new to GCU, they have account information on the Student Portal. The drawback I see is that I don't think it is updated much because on mind it says I owe a certain amount (technically that would mean I don't have a disbursement). Secondly, I think they rely on snail mail to issue disbursements instead of perhaps electronic deposits -- this maybe the best option for them as far as security goes. Third, if you have a disbursement, you get an alert, unfortunately, it does not let you know the amount of your disbursement -- that is also a disadvantage. Thus far, I don't know when and where and how long it will be for my disbursement (I got an alert indicating I had one) and I accepted on Monday of last week (MLK) day, as of Saturday, I have not gotten anything. I think there is a 14 day disbursement period...I don't know what happens after that. I'll update you all if I learn something new. But reading all your post, I feel for your experiences. I hope that all your issues were resolved and I hope I don't fall into the same cycle as many of you have :-(

GCU financial aid department was very messy. I recieved a reimbursement check before the financial department took out all the funds needed to cover the semester Instead of being notified immediately of this "oversight" they wait until the semester has ended and I am ready to schedule my next classes. Then I receive an email stating I can not register for my next classes until I pay $2500 . mind you I m at the halfway mark for my degree at this point but dont have $2500 to pay to be able to continue. Now I have received a grant from the school sustem where I work to go back to school. Because. The financial aid department screwed up I have to start all over at the communtiy college level taking classes I have already taken at GCU because I cant get my transcript.

September 2017 and GCU still has not worked out the "kinks" in this problem. My financial aid has not been processed due to them not receiving my undergrad transcripts. I've been in contact with my undergrad university and they have the proof of when the transcripts were sent out, which was 27 days ago! I constantly call and attempt to speak with a financial aid representative but have been informed that I am not allowed to speak with them and that I need to go through my student services counselor. I have never spoke with her directly as she is ALWAYS busy, thankfully I have been lucky enough to speak with relatively competent members of her team.

Same here. When I attend Walden University, I always received my funds quickly. When you call Grand Canyon, you will never be allowed to speak with the financial aid department, your call will be forwarded to the student service counselor assigned to you. The answer will be the same every time, give it a few more weeks. I think after the first few classes I might enroll back @ Walden University