(Kevin Kan | Staff Illustrator)

Over the summer of 2024, then-rising-junior Kayleigh Hernandez was confronted with a notification that shocked her: She had an outstanding balance of $50,000 owed to WashU. As a first-generation, low-income (FGLI) student, Hernandez normally paid a greatly reduced tuition that ranged in the hundreds of dollars.

The year before, Hernandez had attempted to take a medical leave of absence during the fall semester of her sophomore year after experiencing a severe seizure, but she missed the deadline, which also resulted in her failing her classes. She was able to secure a medical leave of absence for the following semester — which meant she didn’t have to pay tuition for it.

Hernandez had assumed that she did not need to reapply for financial aid each year as a student, believing instead that all four years of tuition were covered from one financial aid application.

The $50,000 fee resulted from those two issues — if Hernandez had been able to successfully apply for a medical leave of absence during the first semester of her sophomore year, she would not have had to pay tuition at all. Additionally, if she had re-applied for financial aid, her fee would have been mostly covered, due to her low-income status. 

“I didn’t realize that this debt had accumulated. When I realized it was real, I was crushed,” Hernandez said.

As it stands, Hernandez is unable to return to the University due to the outstanding balance incurred for the semester in which she had to return home due to her medical issues. She started a GoFundMe to help pay the fee, but it has only reached 6% of her goal.

Coming into college, Hernandez said that she was determined to chase her dream to graduate. However, she began experiencing roadblocks soon after she got to school in the fall of 2022. 

In spring 2023, as a freshman, she began experiencing seizures of an unclear cause. A close friend of hers also passed away around that time.

“At the time, they were the only person I cared about,” Hernandez said about her friend. “I was heading towards a bad place, and I felt powerless to stop.”

The issues she was facing would soon compound. After going home to Florida over the summer after her first year, Hernandez was confronted with feelings of shame when she was told by loved ones that leaving for college meant she was abandoning them. 

Hernandez began performing poorly in her classes upon her return to school in fall 2023, the start of her sophomore year. Her seizures did not stop, and she contracted COVID-19. She wasn’t sure what to do about her medical conditions and assumed she would not be able to afford care.

“I wasn’t a bad student, but I was going through bad things,” Hernandez said.

In November of 2023, during dinner at Bear’s Den, Hernandez experienced a severe seizure that hospitalized her, which led to her deciding to return home. She said she was “unable to complete [a medical leave of absence] in time” for the fall 2023 semester, which resulted in her failing her classes.

Hernandez was able to obtain a medical leave of absence for the spring 2024 semester and began focusing on recuperating mentally and physically so that she could return in fall 2024.

Hernandez would then learn of the $50,000 fee for the fall 2023 semester over the summer. The University notified her that, because she missed the deadline for the CSS Profile and FAFSA forms — both of which govern the allocation of financial aid — she had the fee charged to her account.

According to Hernandez, Student Financial Services (SFS) said things were “out of their hands.”

“I thought that I was covered through all four years,” Hernandez said. “Lots of first-generation college students don’t know this stuff.”

To take care of her fee, Hernandez said that she had secured a personal loan, but that the loaner backed out after she had returned to school upon reinstatement for the fall 2024 semester. 

“When I was reinstated, I felt hopeful again, and I was ready to move forward,” Hernandez said. 

Hernandez explained she was frustrated over being reinstated to the University in the fall of 2024 as her fee would prevent her from taking any classes once she got there.

“What’s weird is, if they knew that I hadn’t applied for the FAFSA, why did they let me return for classes in the fall?” Hernandez said.

Upon her return, she was unable to register for courses due to her outstanding debt. As a result, she was told on Sept. 4, 2024 that she was being evicted from WashU housing.

Mike Runiewicz, Assistant Vice Provost and Director of Student Financial Services, said that many low-income students do have their full cost of attendance covered by the University, but that they must reapply each year by completing their financial aid forms again. 

“[Students] have to do a new aid application every year,” Runiewicz said. “So we get new aid applications each year, but we’re committed to that same financial assistance level every single year.”

Two weeks after her notice, Hernandez was evicted from University housing, and she returned to Florida. She continued to reach out to numerous University representatives — including her academic advisor, multiple SFS directors, WashU Cares, Student Accounting, and a Director of Residential Life. She also reached out to the Association of Latin American Students (ALAS).

Junior Natalia León Díaz, Social Justice Lead for ALAS, said that ALAS felt they had a responsibility to help Hernandez.

“She hadn’t received any direction, any guide, any idea of where she could actually receive help and what she could do,” León Díaz said. “We decided to work with her personally and guide her through the entire process as leaders, but also as friends and as people that share her background.”

León Díaz said that Hernandez deserves sympathy for her situation, especially given her background.

“I think it’s very easy to look at Kayleigh’s situation from a pseudo-objective perspective and blame her for being unable to submit her FAFSA and CSS forms on time,” León Díaz said. “But for someone that is first-generation, meaning that her parents and the people around her have not navigated an elite institution like WashU, it’s not so obvious.”

ALAS held a fundraiser on Nov. 2 in which some of the proceeds were sent to Hernandez, and the rest were sent to a nonprofit. ALAS has also helped her work through the process of discussing her case with administrators and University financial aid representatives.

León Díaz expressed concern towards how the University helps low-income students.

“We’re not in any way calling out WashU for its attempt in increasing the number of first-generation, low-income students,” León Díaz said. “But with the acceptances of these students, there also has to be resources and employees that can deal with the baggage that comes from being from an underserved community.”

Runiewicz said that some issues stem from the fact that the University has to charge tuition if financial forms, like the FAFSA and CSS Profile, are not filled out. He added that forms are considered valid even if filled out late.

“There’s not something to ensure that tuition is being covered in the interim,” Runiewicz said. “We don’t have a way to not charge tuition, until [students] apply for aid.”

Hernandez said that her forms were not accepted when she filled them out late. She also said that she felt the University had a responsibility to inform her that her financial aid was not being applied and that her forms were due.

“I don’t get why they wouldn’t have my counselor reach out to me, telling me that I need to fill out my financial aid forms,” Hernandez said. “I wish there was better communication on their part, because now I’m suffering.”

Runiewicz said that SFS reaches out regularly to students to remind them of financial aid deadlines.

“We remind students in advance,” Runiewicz said. “As deadlines pass, we will continue reminding students as long as they remain enrolled.”

Hernandez said that she had seen emails sent by SFS, but that she believed they were not relevant to her under the assumption that her tuition was fully covered.

Julie Flory — Vice Chancellor for Marketing & Communications — said that while the University cannot comment on specific students, students are able to go to SFS for assistance.

“Any student who has concerns about their financial situation, including completing forms or paying fees, should contact Student Financial Services,” Flory said. “At WashU, we’re 100% committed to helping all our students succeed throughout their entire WashU experience, regardless of their background.”

Hernandez said that she plans on returning to the University if she is able to, and that she hopes the GoFundMe she set up can help her pay her debt. 

Hernandez added that she remains in contact with representatives from the University, including those in WashU Cares, which is an office that appoints case managers to help students navigate a variety of situations, including for financial issues.

Hernandez said that she still feels some resentment about her situation.

“I feel almost ashamed, even if I am allowed to come back next semester,” she said. “I wish [the administration] would have a little bit of sympathy for me and let me back in.”

Hernandez said that it is critical to her that she returns. 

“I need this degree, because without it I am hopeless,” she said. “I’ve gone through so much, and I really just want to be a good student.”

Additional reporting by Zach Trabitz, Investigative News Editor, and Aliza Lubitz, News Editor