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“They’re expecting us to pay for classes that were paid for with his financial aid package,” said his mom, Nikki Schmith. “We accepted grants and we accepted loans that they offered, and now they decide that their offer was based on incorrect information that they generated. Who can write a check for $17,500? If I could, I wouldn’t need your grant.”

A spokeswoman for SIUE said the mix-up is linked to changes on the , or FAFSA, form colleges use to determine financial aid packages. The federal application is also used to determine eligibility for other government aid programs, such as work-study and loans, along with some private scholarships.

Last year, an overhaul aimed at simplifying the application form caused numerous delays and glitches for students nationwide seeking financial aid for the 2024-25 academic year.

“The collection of data relative to student and family financial information was changed in the way it was reported and measured,” said Nicole Franklin, director of communications at SIUE.

The line item called “expected family contribution” was replaced by the “student aid index,” which is calculated differently.

Schmith said someone in the financial aid office at SIUE explained that their system generated an error by pulling data from the wrong field to determine eligibility for grants. Suddenly, her son became eligible for a federal PELL grant and an Illinois MAP grant for low-income students, along with student loans, that he hadn’t received in his freshman year.

The Schmiths assumed their son, a graduate of Edwardsville High, had qualified for additional aid after a successful start to college.

“That was a great offer. You gave me steak and potatoes, and I took it,” Schmith said. “We didn’t call the school to discuss the offer. We felt proud. He got incredible grades his first year.”

Carter Schmith chose SIUE in part so he could live at home in the nearby village of Worden and save money. He earned the school’s Cougar Pride Scholarship for his high school GPA. He’s been studying audio and visual production and sports journalism while playing in several bands in the area.

“He absolutely loves it, living his best life at 20,” his mom said.

When Steve Schmith lost his job earlier this year, the family’s main breadwinner called the financial aid office to adjust their income and potentially receive more aid for his son’s education.

That triggered an audit of Carter Schmith’s financial aid package, which turned up the mistake and suggested there could be others in the same position.

“SIU thought my kid was eligible for more than he was. In my entire career, I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Nikki Schmith, who works in information technology for Ford Motor Co. “For all that is green and good on the face of the Earth, our case spawned an audit of the whole system.”

At least 12 out of 11,525 students with financial aid packages for 2024-25 had to be corrected because of inaccurate reporting on the federal aid form, according to SIUE.

The university has to repay the U.S. and Illinois governments more than $130,000 “now that corrected student information has been provided to the Department of Education,” Franklin said.

The mix-up comes as SIUE plans to cut positions and academic programs to address the university’s operating deficit of more than $10 million.

Carter Schmith’s financial aid package for his upcoming junior year mirrors the value of his freshman year, which was calculated correctly at about half the amount of the sophomore windfall.

Meanwhile, there’s that outstanding bill for $17,500 due Monday.

“I don’t even know how to process it. Am I mad? Am I vigilant?” said Nikki Schmith. “You literally admitted that your system generated this error. The least you can do is offer me a payment arrangement.”

For their part, SIUE spokeswoman Franklin says the financial aid office “will be working with the 12 impacted students to provide institutional resources to hold them harmless for adjustments for the 2024-25 aid year.”

Schmith said she is waiting to hear more from the university before writing a check.

“I’m not saying we don’t owe for the education that my son got on the dean’s list for taking,” she said. “I’m going to keep positive that this is a crazy situation and certainly won’t be how it ends.”