Dreams Deferred

Students with past-due balances of $500 or less are able to access transcripts.

State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield) and Del. Betsy Carr (D-Richmond) introduced legislation this year that would have banned that practice in the state. Both proposals were left in the House, though a study on the issue may be ordered.

Nearly two decades after leaving the school, Maurice Donikin El found out that VCU was attempting to garnish his wages over a $1,569.50 financial aid check they say they sent him in August 1999 to help pay for his living expenses.

Sen. Ghazala Hashmi's (D-Chesterfield) legislation to ban the practice of transcript withholding at Virginia’s public colleges and universities cleared the Senate, passing 25 to 15.

Burke had only attended classes for one week in fall 2017 when she decided it wasn’t the right time. When she left VCU, she says she was told she didn’t owe any money for tuition. But even though Burke occupied her VCU dorm for less than two weeks, she was still charged for the entire semester’s dorm rent.

VPM reached out to over a dozen lawmakers about our recent Dreams Deferred series to get their thoughts about what else needs to be done to address the direct-to-school debt crisis.