In fact, officials realized had they been more aggressive this year, they could have recovered about $900,000 from the nearly 1,400 students who dropped out. By law, Sinclair is required to refund to the federal government the financial aid the students forfeited by dropping out and go after the students to repay the school.
Last month, Sinclair passed a new policy to correct this accounting problem and go after students who owe.
At a May board of trustees meeting, Trustee Robert Connelly said the rising uncollected student debt had “become too significant to not” change the policy. It is also aimed to discourage students from dropping out as the state ties more of its financial support to whether students complete classes and earn credentials.
The change is expected to have a “positive effect” because “the more serious students will be less inclined to withdraw from a class, knowing that they will be obligated to pay the charges not covered by financial aid,” according to Sinclair.
“We think this change will incent students to maintain their registration throughout the term,” said Sinclair spokesman Adam Murka in an e-mail to the newspaper.
He said the amount Sinclair has written off has substantially increased in recent years because of a surge in enrollment and increasing financial aid to students. With more than 23,000 students, Sinclair is one of the largest community colleges in the country.
During the past year, about 15,000 Sinclair students received federal financial aid totalling between $80 million and $90 million. The cost of attendance for a full-time student is about $10,000, which includes tuition, fees, books, transportation and living expenses. Sinclair records show some students who pay between $3,000 and $4,000 for tuition receive much more than that in federal financial aid.
While Sinclair has not tried to collect tuition and some bookstore charges, the college has worked to recover financial aid that students received and used for living expenses and other bookstore charges. In 2012, Sinclair wrote off $1.2 million for those uncollected charges.
Other local colleges, including Wright State University and Clark State Community College, attempt to collect all money owed from students directly and then through the Ohio Attorney General’s Office Collection Division, the institutions said.
Since Jan. 1, 2012, Clark State has turned over 1,475 accounts worth nearly $1.3 million for collection to the attorney general, while Wright State sought collection on more than 2,110 accounts worth nearly $5.3 million.
Sinclair’s new debt collection policy comes six months after they removed Carlyn Bozeman, the school’s longtime director for financial aid and scholarships. In recent months, Sinclair has also removed the top three managers of the financial aid department, hired two expert interim managers on contract through the end of June and charged a special consultant to review the department’s operations.
The school has a nationwide search underway for permanent financial aid leaders.
Murka said the new policy, Bozeman’s departure and the other major changes are not related, though her office was responsible for collecting student debt.
In the trustees’ resolution to approve the new policy, Sinclair officials noted, “The write-off practice is not required by federal financial aid regulations. In fact, federal regulations require institutions to treat financial aid students the same as non-financial aid students, which is not the case with this practice.”
Bozeman’s personnel file showed she was removed from her position on Nov. 1. She was informed that her “services … were no longer needed,” according to a letter in the file. “Specially, you were informed that you had failed to demonstrate the administrative leadership the department required.”
Bozeman’s 2012 performance review indicated that she met or exceeded expectations in all areas. She could not be reached for comment.
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