(OK) My (public) university has charged me over $1,100 recently due to an overpayment by the Department of Veterans Affairs, which was caused by a reduction in my tuition from last year. I think an error has been made on the school's part, the school is currently not much help in resolving this.

Not really sure if I'm in the right place so if someone could direct me to a better place, that would be appreciated.

This starts with last semester (Fall, 2018).

Financial aid was applied to my bursar account (again, for last semester), except for a percentage amount of the total tuition and fees that the VA pays on my behalf directly to the school; this financial aid was not applied when it was supposed to be due to the VA's system being down at the time. So I paid the remaining amount, knowing I would be refunded. Everything was paid off, on time.

Earlier this semester, I received the refunded amount. I compared it with the activity and payment history on my bursar account, everything lined up. Everything has been paid for this semester, on time.

Earlier this month, I received notification that my school account has a bursar balance of $1,147. Going over my bursar activity again, I can see that something has changed, but I can't discern why or how.

After talking multiple times with both the bursar office of the school and the VA, the most I've been told is this, which all comes from the VA:

The charge resulted from an overpayment made by the VA to the school.

The overpayment resulted from the school sending an amended report to the VA stating that there was a reduction in my tuition from last semester (something that had already been paid).

Because of this reduction, the percentage amount that the VA pays on my behalf is also reduced, and the school has now become indebted to the VA.

Again I've not dropped/withdrawn from any classes, and I've remained in good standing with both school and VA standards.

For some reason, I'm responsible for repaying this debt that was caused by a change the school made. When I asked the school why this reduction in tuition was made, especially way after the fact, I don't get a definitive answer, aside from them telling me that I need to take it up with the VA to figure it out because they (the school) "don't have a workable solution."

I'm not accusing the school of intentionally trying to steal money from me, but I think an error was made on their end. They've been very unhelpful with the situation.

Normally, with an overpayment made by the VA, I would have the option of appealing it and/or filing a waiver to cancel the debt created by the overpayment. However, because this overpayment was made directly to the school (but on my behalf), and because the school originally incurred the debt, I can't directly appeal the decision or file a waiver with the VA, and I've yet to find out if I can do something similar with school.

Any advice or suggestions about more appropriate resources for this would be much appreciated.

Written By: RepressedOnism
Source: http://bit.ly/2PhDf9W