Navy isn't paying me my HPSP stipend - what are my options here?

[pjmclaug]

Hi all -

I joined the Navy HPSP program with an oath of office date of 8/1. My paperwork was delayed (out of my control, it got lost somewhere in the system after I signed everything), meaning I missed the stipend payment dates of 8/15 and 9/1. My recruiter confirmed that everything was received by BUMED on 8/31.

Just got word that I won't be getting paid on 9/15 either. My savings got me this far, but I haven't worked since the end of July and have spent a lot of money this year on school deposits and supplies. I can't make it to 10/1 without getting what is owed me (assuming they'll even have their **** together to pay me by then either). What the hell are my options here?

I'm going to incur a late fee for non-payment of rent, a late fee for missing a car payment, a decent amount of credit card debt, overdraft fees on my bank accounts, and quite a bit of stress as a result of their incompetence. Anyone know if it's possible to take the Navy to small claims court? It's a good thing my landlord is a cool guy because I might be looking at losing my apartment otherwise...

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[Incis0r]

That's not OK! They should be honoring their deal instead of leaving you out in the cold like this.

From a prospective Navy HPSPer:
Are they paying your tuition to the dental school or are they neglecting that too?

 

[pjmclaug]

That's not OK! They should be honoring their deal instead of leaving you out in the cold like this.

From a prospective Navy HPSPer:
Are they paying your tuition to the dental school or are they neglecting that too?

I haven't gotten any "give me our money, punk" emails from the Bursar's office so I believe I'm fine in that regard.

 

[vellnueve]

Good luck taking the Navy to court.

Pay delays on accession are the norm, not the exception. You also need to remember that the stipend is not intended to cover all your living expenses or rent although obviously the majority of students use it for that reason.

I would check with your schools financial aid office to see if you can take out a small loan to bridge the gap. You can also check with USAA or Navy Federal as they offer very low interest loans up to 25K for new officers; not sure if they'll offer it to you but it's worth asking.

I didn't get my stipend or bonus until the end of September and my tuition wasn't paid til October, so I took 4K in Stafford loans.


Also, call the HPSP office and calmly explain the situation and see if they can look into it for you.

Finally, your stipend is only paid when you're in school. If you didn't start school on 8/1 you won't get stipend starting from that date.

 

[vellnueve]

That's not OK! They should be honoring their deal instead of leaving you out in the cold like this.

From a prospective Navy HPSPer:
Are they paying your tuition to the dental school or are they neglecting that too?

There's no dishonoring and no neglecting here. Bureaucracy moves slowly.

 

[pjmclaug]

Good luck taking the Navy to court.

Pay delays on accession are the norm, not the exception. You also need to remember that the stipend is not intended to cover all your living expenses or rent although obviously the majority of students use it for that reason.

I would check with your schools financial aid office to see if you can take out a small loan to bridge the gap. You can also check with USAA or Navy Federal as they offer very low interest loans up to 25K for new officers; not sure if they'll offer it to you but it's worth asking.

I didn't get my stipend or bonus until the end of September and my tuition wasn't paid til October, so I took 4K in Stafford loans.


Also, call the HPSP office and calmly explain the situation and see if they can look into it for you.

Finally, your stipend is only paid when you're in school. If you didn't start school on 8/1 you won't get stipend starting from that date.

The lawsuit thing was a joke, but I did start school on that date. Meaning I've been here for 1.5 months living purely on savings. I've been emailing with them quite a bit but they just cite technical issues and keep repeating blankly different variations of "we're sorry, but you're not scheduled to receive payments at this time".

I'll look into those loans though, thank you very much. Can I get them if I don't have my oath of office paperwork? They haven't given me my copy of that stuff yet either.

 

[vellnueve]

Not sure why you wouldn't have your oath of office. What you can do is request a statement of service from the HPSP office which will verify your military status for NFCU or USAA - they may even have a copy of your oath. Another option if you don't qualify for a commissioning loan or federal student aid would be a private education loan from either of those banks, just enough to cover the next month or two. You'll eventually get your bonus and then can pay off the loan immediately . You might even get the bonus before the stipend.

 

[distressstudent]

Sorry bud. Don't think there's anything you can do here.

They would retroactively pay you any tuition and fees. However, your stipend is one thing they won't retroactively pay you back for. It sounds like you won't be in the "system" until later on. IIRC I took a month from the date I swore in and submitted my paperwork

That's what I told all my classmates. Swear in early. But they decided to do it early the start of school and they missed out on a month stipend. This is actually common.

Google "hpsp retroactive stipend " and you will probably get a couple of hit

 

[vellnueve]

Sorry bud. Don't think there's anything you can do here.

They would retroactively pay you any tuition and fees. However, your stipend is one thing they won't retroactively pay you back for. It sounds like you won't be in the "system" until later on. IIRC I took a month from the date I swore in and submitted my paperwork

That's what I told all my classmates. Swear in early. But they decided to do it early the start of school and they missed out on a month stipend. This is actually common.

Google "hpsp retroactive stipend " and you will probably get a couple of hit

Actually per instruction the first payment should include any back pay.

 

[pjmclaug]

Sorry bud. Don't think there's anything you can do here.

They would retroactively pay you any tuition and fees. However, your stipend is one thing they won't retroactively pay you back for. It sounds like you won't be in the "system" until later on. IIRC I took a month from the date I swore in and submitted my paperwork

That's what I told all my classmates. Swear in early. But they decided to do it early the start of school and they missed out on a month stipend. This is actually common.

Google "hpsp retroactive stipend " and you will probably get a couple of hit

This is completely false. BUMED personally verified that I'm due to get back pay going back to 8/1...that is, once the payments can actually commence.

Also, I swore in literally on my first day of class. I went to the recruiter's office during the lunch hour they gave us between sections.

 

[distressstudent]

Actually per instruction the first payment should include any back pay.

You're correct.

I was thinking of situation where someone's benefit start date is after their school start date. Those are the situation where you won't get your stipend in full compared to someone who swore in before school start date.

 

[Gastrapathy]

This is standard. In fact, all navy staff MDs will have their bonuses delayed this year too. Welcome to the military.

 

[deleted480308]

my state hasn't sent a mdssp payment to guard medical students in less than 90 days from swearing in and some were 6months.....the military is just slow with paperwork

 

[ktran17]

Good luck taking the Navy to court.

Pay delays on accession are the norm, not the exception. You also need to remember that the stipend is not intended to cover all your living expenses or rent although obviously the majority of students use it for that reason.

I would check with your schools financial aid office to see if you can take out a small loan to bridge the gap. You can also check with USAA or Navy Federal as they offer very low interest loans up to 25K for new officers; not sure if they'll offer it to you but it's worth asking.

I didn't get my stipend or bonus until the end of September and my tuition wasn't paid til October, so I took 4K in Stafford loans.


Also, call the HPSP office and calmly explain the situation and see if they can look into it for you.

Finally, your stipend is only paid when you're in school. If you didn't start school on 8/1 you won't get stipend starting from that date.

Stipend is technically supposed to be treated as a scholarship for financial aid purposes and thus your coa will be met and you won't qualify for any additional aid (grants, loans etc). There are probably only 1 or 2 schools where the stipend might not reach coa, NYU and maybe UOP, in that case, students can take out the difference.

In closing, HPSP recipients should be very greatful for the fact that the stipend has increased steadily over the past couple of years.

 

[vellnueve]

Stipend is technically supposed to be treated as a scholarship for financial aid purposes and thus your coa will be met and you won't qualify for any additional aid (grants, loans etc). There are probably only 1 or 2 schools where the stipend might not reach coa, NYU and maybe UOP, in that case, students can take out the difference.

In closing, HPSP recipients should be very greatful for the fact that the stipend has increased steadily over the past couple of years.

There's more than two schools that will exceed that amount.

 

[ktran17]

There's more than two schools that will exceed that amount.

The schools col would have to exceed your stipends annual income,~26k in order for the individual to qualify for any additional loans. I would definitely say, a majority of schools would be under this number, at least when I applied for dental school.

 

[vellnueve]

A majority, sure. But there are a bunch of schools in very high COL areas.

As I said, I qualified to take loans my first year which bridged my gap between swear-in and receiving payments.

 

[chill45]

I had to take out a government school loan the first semester of school to help pay for kits and such. Took about 6 weeks before I got my first check and then i just use that to pay off those loans. You shouldn't have an issue being qualified for them. Yes technically the stipend is considered part of a scholarship and should affect your available amount you can take out, but they don't know if you are on the scholarship or not at this point. You'll really only be out the 1% loan fee for whatever you take out.

 

[Incis0r]

OP, did everything work out?