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Thu 24 May, 2007 07:18 am
So I took out some unsubsidized stafford loans this tri-mester to pay for my school tuition. Right now I am taking pre-reqs and plan on starting a chiropractic program full time this september. The school offers pre-req classes at a 50% off rate, if you commit to their chiro-program after you finish pre-reqs.
A little background on the school before I get to the moral dilemma part. The school has been around for over 100 years and puts out a lot of good chiropractors. The actual teaching/learning aspect of the school is very good. However, the administration side of running the school is an absolute disaster. It is the most unorganized achool I have ever seen. There is no communication, constant delays, and usually total chaos when it comes to dealing with financial aid/business office/ registration/ etc.. I had to spend hours on end riding my admissions counselor just to get admitted to the school because she wasn't doing her job. I had already sold my house, signed a lease on an apartment near the school and my wife quit her job and found a new one closer to where we were moving before I was officially admitted. The counselor kept telling me there was time left and it was no big deal... she didn't seem to understand that it was a VERY BIG deal to me and how it affected my life.
So... on to the dilemma. I got an email from the business office yesterday that my refund check was in and I could come pick it up. This wasn't much of a surprise because I knew that tuition was a little less than the loan I took out. However, when I picked it up, it was around $800 more than I was expecting. Due to their usual incompetence, I think they gave me 2 credits for the pre-req discount. So instead of getting 50% off... I got like 98% off and only paid like $200 for the whole trimester.
Normally I am a very honest person and would immediately bring up the discrepancy... but haven't done so yet in this instance. I know this is just me trying to justify not being honest, but I feel that this is a little bit of pay back for the troubles they have put me through so far. Plus I could really use the extra cash right now.
So what do you think... keep the money or give it back?
Of course they may actually find their mistake and this could correct itself, but given their track record so far... I kind of doubt it.
It's not your money, so you should give it back.
Consider if you will that their incompetence is such that someone will suffer from the lack of that money because they have disbursed it and no longer have it for a more legitimate purpose than your personal good fortune. Someone else may genuinely need that money as much as or more than you do, but won't get it, because it is not available to be disbursed. For however incompetent these people may be, even if it is a privately run institution, it will have to submit it's books to one or more accountants at one time or another. It is not necessarily likely that accountants would go so deep into accounts as to identify your good fortune as an error which they will then expect you to correct. But i suspect they go into accounts far enough to know how much money there is available to be disbursed in such a manner. I suspect they track tuition and fee money separately, and the lack of those funds is not something which can just be shrugged off.
It's not your money, give it back.
How do you know they aren't right? Maybe you got the special super saver rate.
Yeah.
It's too high of a possibility that they'll figure it out at some point -- that's not the kind of money you could reasonably have not noticed. And you'd probably have to pay it back with interest, etc...
This happened to E.G. recently, he was due bonus payment for something he'd done but the amount was about 3X what he was expecting. He marched right down to the payroll people and said, "Uh, I'd love it if this isn't a mistake but I think it is..." The chair of his department happened to come in as the whole thing was wrapping up, and was filled in by the secretary, and E.G. got some points with the chair (and the chair can make things happen that are worth much more than the extra $$ E.G. was returning...)
You can pursue some sort of action against their incompetence if you want to, but I think that has to be separated from keeping the extra money.
Also, there's always the chance that there is some wrinkle you're unaware of and you really are entitled to that money -- if you get that figured out, you can keep it with a clear conscience plus get any actual or karmic honesty points.
Ask first. 'Are you sure this is correct' will put the ball back in their court then follow their lead.
("Yeah" was to Set, hadn't seen cjhsa before I made his same point...)
I got a double referral bonus one time. Truth was and is, the woman I referred in was like getting two employees for the price of one.
Setanta wrote:It's not your money, so you should give it back.
When you're right, you're right, set. I knew I should, just helps to hear someone else say it sometimes.
If it is a Federal loan, keep it. If you don't steal the money, some a-hole in Washington will.
I wish that didn't sound so, I don't know, grouchy/paranoid. Because I think it's true.
I mean, think about it, your government takes 3 months of your salary per year, and most of it goes to fund some goofy-ass war.
Who's really getting ripped off?
<claps hand over mouth to avoid making chiropractry jokes>
Gargamel wrote:If it is a Federal loan, keep it. If you don't steal the money, some a-hole in Washington will.
I wish that didn't sound so, I don't know, grouchy/paranoid. Because I think it's true.
I mean, think about it, your government takes 3 months of your salary per year, and most of it goes to fund some goofy-ass war.
Who's really getting ripped off?
I'm not technically stealing anything (from the government anyway)... I still have to pay the loan back, plus interest. But it sure would feel good to stick it to the man.
Setanta wrote:sozobe wrote:Also, there's always the chance that there is some wrinkle you're unaware of and you really are entitled to that money -- if you get that figured out, you can keep it with a clear conscience plus get any actual or karmic honesty points.
This is a good point.
It's a mistake. I'm 100% sure of it.
And karma is BS. What goes around rarely ever comes around.
Keep it till they askfor it back then play Mr innocent "Oh I didnt realise, I expected you to know what you were doing."
Bank it and keep the interest. Just make sure its available for them Immediately.
jpinMilwaukee wrote:Gargamel wrote:If it is a Federal loan, keep it. If you don't steal the money, some a-hole in Washington will.
I wish that didn't sound so, I don't know, grouchy/paranoid. Because I think it's true.
I mean, think about it, your government takes 3 months of your salary per year, and most of it goes to fund some goofy-ass war.
Who's really getting ripped off?
I'm not technically stealing anything (from the government anyway)... I still have to pay the loan back, plus interest. But it sure would feel good to stick it to the man.
Okay, so by taking the loan you'd actually be
giving them more money eventually--theoretically.
Well whatever you decide, I applaud your conscience.
Me, I'd put the money to good use--adding to my staggering stuffed animal collection, for example.
JP--
I'm with the majority. Query and then return if necessary.
You'll sleep better at night.
doing the right thing is the right thing but nowhere does it say you are required to be cheerful about it....
Is it morally right to keep - of course not - it is pretty much stealing in a moral sense.
Would you be in legal trouble to keep it - of course not. Keep it if you have little morals or return it if you have morals.
When I was in college doing a work study program - I received a paycheck that was double what I was supposed to be paid. I went up to the person in my group responsible. She checked it out and all the work study in the department were doubled paid - I was the only one to mentioned it. She said that this error would have been found out eventually when payroll does their monthly reconciliations.
I would guess that the school would eventually find the error.
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