Some students may have found themselves dropped from their classes this semester if they were unable to make their tuition payment on time. Due to financial aid delays, one student found herself dropped from all her classes and unable to attend CSUN for the entire semester.

“This semester I had difficulty getting into my classes,” said Lizette Gomez, a broadcast journalism major. Due to financial aid issues I got dropped out of my classes.”

Gomez, 26, completed registration on time and reserved her spot in all the classes she needed for graduation. After turning in her financial aid documents, she got an e-mail stating that signatures were required on a few pertinent tax forms. Since she had filed her taxes electronically, signatures were not necessary for filing.

“I turned in all my information for the financial aid and they e-mailed me back stating I needed to sign all my tax information,” Gomez said.

After submitting the signed tax documents, Gomez was notified that processing time would be an additional eight weeks. The delay exceeded the deadline to pay her tuition to CSUN. Gomez tried to register using her credit card but she was already dropped from her classes and her reserved spots were forfeited.

Gomez said, “I was going to try and register with my credit card but by the time I tried registering the classes were all full.”

Despite her efforts to explain her situation to the department and professors, she was unable to get her spot back in the classes she needed.

Due to the class limitations from recent budget cuts, the professors told Gomez that they understand but there was simply nothing they can do. Gomez tried to get the help of the department, but they advised her to discuss her situation with the professors. The professors told her to talk to the department.

“The department said that you have to wait until the first day of school and talk to the teachers, but the teachers would tell me to talk to the department,” Gomez said.

In spite of her complications, Gomez decided to remain productive during her semester out of the university.

“I had to still continue being involved by working and applying my acquired skills at my internship,” she said.

Gomez works full time at a tax law firm to support herself and is an intern at Clear Channel radio station on the weekends. She works on a morning show for Hot 92.3 doing research, setting up interviews and maintaining online promotional items.

“I am using my time to develop my experience,” said Gomez. “A lot of friends are telling me that they are not getting hired due to their experience.”

Gomez stressed that other students in her position should not let situations like this bring them down.

“There may be other people in my position, but the best thing to do is to work toward your goal instead of letting it get you down. Don’t give up on your school or trying to finish up,” Gomez said.

If students are depending on financial aid, it is best to stay on top of the company servicing the loan to ensure the check is received on time as Michael Senderovich, a communications major, realized.

“There were instances where I had to call and find out why my check was taking so long,” said Michael Senderovich, 23.

“Make sure you know when your deadlines are to pay for classes. You don’t want to be in the last-minute position,” Gomez said.

Gomez will be delayed a semester from graduating, but she will be returning in the spring to complete her education.