Alabama A & M University

Date: Jan 28 2010
Major: Mechanical Engineering (This Major's Salary over time)
I was excited about starting my education experience at A&M, But when I had been a student for about one year my attitude completly changed. I attended the university on the veterans vocational rehab program, meaning that my tuition and books and supplies were paid for by the VA. Because I am not your average college student , in that I am 42 years old I did not live on campus, I have a family and children to take care of. AS a result I would utilize my pell checks to assist me in providing housing and food for my family. Now at the Jr College level this was never a problem, but when I started attending A&M my finaceual situation went h-ll. It never failled every simester there seemed to be some problem getting my refund checks. This happend to the point that I got evicted from my appartment twice, waiting for my refund checks to be dispersed.I have now aquired statments from the federal government showing what grants and loans that were aworded to me while attending A&M and statements from the College shoeing how much they have paid me and there is a discrepancy of over 3000.00 dollors owed me that I havent been paid yet. (understand my tuition and all expences are paid by the veterans assotiation, and I am supposed to be refunded 100% of all pell gtrants and student loana) I dont understand why they continue to hold my money which is now going two semesters late. At this time I am in the spring semester and I have yat to get my pell check for this semester. Even though it is 4 weeks into the semester. The financual aid and the buisness offices are horably run. The professors are mostly forign and nearly imposable to understand. Trying to drop or add a class takes an act of congress. At one point I noticed that they had put me down as out of state, I tried to rectafy the problem by showing them my birth certific , my voter ID, and transcrips from my Jr College but this continued for two years, and the extra tuition that was paid to the university as a result has never been repaid to me or tothe VA. They only changed it whin I threatoned to quit the college and then it was all of the sudden changed. Another time I had yet another pell chech dredfully late and al they would say well we set it out to you, when in fact I finally located it on the desk of one of the admin officials. (it had set on her desk for over5 weeks.) I beileve that they hold out on giving checks as long as they can put the student off to collect intrest on all that money there getting from the government. The experance while attending has been a nightmare, my own professors say that its so bad that they are going to quit.They recieved all my transcripts from Jr college but have not applied them correctly. You cant drive your vehicle on campus unless you are handycap which leaves you at the mercy of the campus bus system. (good luck getting to class on time using the bus). The book store never has any of the books for your classes. The complete university is run with the mantality of "I got my job and there is nothing anybody can do to threatin my position so we will do what we want to, so damd the topedos and full steam ahead". IF your thinking of attending A&M do yourself a big favor DONT! Don't do it, you will be sorry I promice you. every thing that you have read on these blogs that is negitive is completly and 100% true. Stear clear of Alabama A&M University.