Multiple students withdrawn from classes at GSU

ATLANTA — Local college students on financial aid are concerned after getting an alert they would be dropped from classes if their tuition wasn't paid.

Georgia State University student Bunmi Sowunmi is angry, because she's worried she'll have to sit out for the rest of the fall semester.

"I got an email on my phone that all five of my classes have been withdrawn as Oct. 20," Sowunmi said.

Sowunmi said she was in class Thursday when she received the email from school officials.

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"I paid 75 percent of my tuition and board, and you still dropped me from my classes?" Sowunmi said.

She's just one of many students who are finding themselves at the financial aid office waiting to talk with an advisor about what to do. Especially when their aid comes from scholarships, grants and stipends.

"I would like to graduate at some point. I don't want to be kicked out or left behind, because of some financial aid issues," student Philip Astet said.

Astet's problems started at the start of the school year when hundreds of students on financial aid were concerned that a snag in the system would prevent them from starting the fall semester.

GSU merged with Georgia Perimeter College making it the largest university in the state.

At that time, university officials said the volume of students was causing delays in processing paperwork during the first semester after the merger.

University officials say the problem students are dealing with now are not a widespread issue.

Georgia State released the following statement:

"Students who are being withdrawn from courses this week are not being withdrawn due to a failure of Georgia State to process student aid, and there is no glitch. It is a matter of students who have insufficient aid, and unpaid balances, and students who have failed to sign for loans and failed to compete other necessary steps for completing their financial aid."

Students like Sowunmi aren't buying it.

She says she filled out all her paperwork and adds, the school knows they will be paid on the 26th when the stipend she gets from the time her mom served the country clears.

"So you don't care about education, you care about your business," Sowunmi said.

Georgia State officials say they will be working with the affected students to correct these issues on a case-by-case basis.

Cox Media Group