ComplaintsforCleveland State University

• Initial Complaint

  06/03/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My son started CSU back in 2021. We received a phone call stating there was money owed but no explanation as to why we owed this money. We went on the FSFSA and added CSU ( thinking that would take care of the problem). We received a letter in the mail stating that close to $6,000 was owed to CSU. Once calling around and speaking to different people we were told that it was because he son SSI number was entered into the system incorrectly. We tried to get this resolved but the blame was only towards my son and we did not find out about the wrong SSI entered until May 2022. After speaking to a bunch of people some of the money was waived but not all. There is still a balance of $1,832.58 that has still not been resolved. I have spoken to Veronica H********* and Michael A***** and Mr. A***** was very very rude and empathetic to our situation blaming everything on my son. Stating that it was his fault he did not see that he owed money and that the financial aid was not there. We have been through alot and we do not need to be spoken to in since a matter of disrespect.

  Business response

  06/07/2022

  Although the student did attend all 3 classes that he was registered for and instructors have provided confirmation of his attendance, CSU is willing to waive the tuition because of confusion concerning the students providing the wrong social security number which would have provided him with financial aid.  The adjustment to the account was processed today 6/7/22 and the account will reflect a $0 balance.  If the student receives any correspondence from the state, it can be disregarded.  ********* ******** has been notified regarding this update as well.
  

  Customer response

  06/07/2022

  [A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
  
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
  
  Regards,
  
  ********* ********
  

• Initial Complaint

  04/04/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  1. On march 17, the school owed me a credit of 2,728$, as per the attached email. I have been emailing them about it with no reponse. 2. The second issue is that the 1098T the school issued me is written in a way to suggest that I received over 24k in scholarships or grants but I never did. The school requires us to pay tuition to a “third party” organization called *** ******, the organization then pays the school that money. I paid my full tuition for the semester prior to enrollment in ***. Yet my 1098T shows that I received a scholarship or grant for a higher amount than the tuition even though I never received anything. The money the third party organization uses is what I paid them in advance. I am in the process of filing my taxes and this is creating a problem for me and my spouse because we have to pay taxes on this “ scholarship” amount that we never received. The ****** office is not responding to their emails and I live in New York and can not visit in person.

  Business response

  04/19/2022

  Dear complaint reviewers:

   

  The complainant in this case received a form 1098T from Cleveland State University as required by the IRS.  From the perspective of the IRS a scholarship and a sponsorship appear the same.  The complainant expressed concern that the data included in “box 1” and “box 5” on the form are different, and he believes this is inaccurate.  The information *** has provided in Box 1 and 5 is in fact correct.  We are reporting this student’s educational costs correctly, including ESL courses which are documented as educational cost even if a student does not receive course credit.  In this case it resulted in a $5000 difference between tuition costs documented in these two data boxes, although both numbers are true and have been documented accurately as required by the IRS. 

   

  The complainant also believes he is owed a reimbursement from Cleveland State University.  This is not accurate.  On January 30^th 2022 Cleveland State University authorized a tuition adjustment to this student’s record for Spring ’22 semester to clear his balance completely.  That does not result in a refund.  He never paid the University anything, therefore we would have no reason to refund him anything.  Cleveland State University is not responsible for any payments this student may have made to ********** (a third party provider).

   

  We have shared this information with the complainant on multiple occasions but will be happy to do so again.

  
  

  Customer response

  04/25/2022

  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and have determined that this does not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.
  
  [To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, we would like to know your view on the matter.] 

  I never interacted with third party (********** ) in the communication, the email provided is from cleveland ****** team that they are located in Cleveland state university and all their emails (@clevelandstate******.org). 
  

  If cleveland state university feels that cleveland ****** office is a third party provider and is independent of them, then they should provide the full name of the LLC and headquarter office so we can write the complaint directly to this third party provider.

  Regards,
  
  ******* ****
  

  Business response

  05/03/2022

  
  *** ****** is the local affiliate of ********** Education, LLC. These parties provide recruiting and support services for international students at the undergraduate level and for a variety of graduate programs as part of a revenue sharing agreement. *** ****** recruits students through the use of agents and works the leads through the application process. These students pay tuition to *** ******, which in term remits payments to Cleveland State University according the terms established via contract.
  
  Regarding the present complaint, representatives from *** ****** present the following timeline of events: student paid his initial deposit on 10/15/2020, then paid a balance on 12/31/2020 with the remaining balance (still owed after deduction of bank fees) cleared on 2/21/2021. These payments were made directly to *** ******, not to Cleveland State University.”  We have asked our partner *** ****** to refund Mr. **** $2728 as Mr. **** had overpaid his tuition for Fall 2021.  A contract that Mr. **** signed indicated that the overpayment would be applied for the Spring 2022 semester. Mr. **** decided not to attend Cleveland State University in Spring 2022.  Even though the contract that Mr. **** signed clearly indicates the overpayment is not refundable, we have asked *** ******/********** to refund the money.  They have agreed to do so.  Mr. **** has filled out all proper paperwork for this refund and it is scheduled to be issued to him on May 13, 2022.
  
  Since Mr. **** paid his tuition in 2021 to *** ******/**********, the IRS requires *** to indicate the amount paid in the Scholarship box on the 1098T form.  There is no other option for ***. We must comply with federal reporting requirements. 
  

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