Non-Transferrable College Credits

Once graduated from high school many students ponder their future. Some enter the armed services, some the work force and others dream of acquiring a college degree or two. At some point in life there will be instances when life moves through obstacle courses such as a pregnancy or the death of a close relative.

Scenario 1: My sophomore year I became pregnant with my daughter, and I took time off from college due to the birth of my child. Scenario 2: My junior year I lost my grandmother and that was extremely traumatic. That death was a very low point in my life's journey that turned me mentally upside down. Needless to say I left college and moved back home to Miami, Florida. At the age of 21 I married, and my husband and I purchased a single family home. Yes, life starting moving very fast and those were happy times. After two children and 6 wonder years that marriage ended and I moved to Atlanta, Georgia after a job layoff.

My 1st college experience earned me 102 credit hours in the quarter system. My 2nd college experience, I transferred my transcript to a junior college (JC) in hopes of acquiring an Associate Degree, but that was the beginning of losing college credits. Only 43 credit hours were accepted of the earned 102, but I earned 28 new credits at the JC institution. My employer at the time was involved in projects that caused an increase in my work hours to include weekend scheduling. As a result, I had to withdraw from classes and eventually stop attending that institution. Due to my inability to physically sit in classes I later began attending classes online through a 3rd institution. In my 3rd college experience, 51.98 credits were accepted from 1st institution and 24.64 credits were accepted from 2nd institution. There I earned 9 credit hours. Unfortunately, those 9 hours earned at the 3rd institution were not accepted at the 4th institution. The 4th and hopefully final institution accepted a total transfer of 88.264 credit hours from those colleges.

Although I am currently accepted to two 4-year institutions, the joke is really on me now. Due to my repeated attempts to acquire a degree I have accumulated credit hours that have taken me over the limit to quality for a Federal Pell Grant or any other Federal funding. I had to file an Appeal for Financial Aid Appeal, and I am waiting for a final determination. In the meantime I am endlessly applying for college scholarships based on my previous 3.33 GPA, but I am running into age cutoffs on scholarship applications. Those scholarships that are available to me are being applied.

The journey continues...