402 karma · joined October 31, 2023
1) Funds took a while to be in my account, it arrived mid of 1st week of semester. 2) Procedures from the international students office -- they placed a hold on my account for not buying international students insurance from their provider, which is mandatory, and no you cannot buy the insurance somewhere else. note that this happened after the classes were dropped, it was possible to fix it and keep my enrollment had the bank not closed my banking account. 3) Simply because it was a capstone class (final major related class), the seats get full really fast so after being dropped of the class i was attending it became full, and even after receiving the funds, i paid the tuition, removed the holds, contacted the professors where there was available seats to allow me enrollment (have to have their sign off to enroll past a certain date) they refused to allow me enrollment (2nd week approaching third).
If the bank did not close my account, I would've paid my tuition before the deadline, paid the universities insurance, secured a shelter, wouldn't have my classes dropped.
Regardless, it is a tough experience, it taught me a lot and i came out of it stronger.
Please refer to the FAQ from the university i was studying at. #10 to be exact https://sbs.fullerton.edu/about/FAQs.php I was late to pay the tuiton, only because the bank account was suddenly frozen, on a long weekend.
This is the program i was talking about, you can review the eligibility, which states that the student must be currently enrolled. https://www.fullerton.edu/basic-needs/
The $200 would've helped guarantee food and gas, it wouldn't cover shelter, i was studying in California, the cheapest hotel was $130~ a night. I also tried explaining the situation to the university, but unfortunately you are considered a current student only if you paid your tuition.
There were also programs to help students in crisis (provide them with place to stay, food) but its only available to students who paid the tuition.
PS: As of that situation happening, now i have 6+ accounts with different banks, emergency cash, I do not want it ever happening to me again.
I had to go back to my country, without a degree, was not able to land any job. Unfortunately, good places require degrees. Stayed unemployed, hit with chronic depression as anyone would. Lost 4+ years of professional progress. When covid came, i was able to complete my degree online and graduated in 2021, but because all fresh grad programs require a certain age; i did not qualify. Was able to finally land a good job in 2023.
This issue needs a resolution, what happened to me might not happen to everyone, i know my situation is different. but financial institutions should be held responsible for actions like this, imagine someone else who needs to pay for his/her medication...
I couldn't fill up my gas. Called and they told me to come to the bank with two forms of ID. When I arrived to the bank the fraud department was operating in NY (3hrs ahead) and they were closing, so they told me to come next tuesday (it was a long weekend).
I went homeless for 1 week with no food. It was my last semester in university and couldn't pay for tuition because my bank acc was locked, so the university dropped my classes and i was not able to graduate, as failing to stay enrolled (international student) i had to go back to my country.
- 3 days before i received a transfer from my brother (6k usd) to pay for tuiton and new place
- no unusual transactions, never reported any fraud before, just was hit with the "per our agreement we can close your account without notification." and they provided me the balance 1 week later.