Collections hold on student account

From 2018 to 2020, I attended my state university. During 2020, I went through a terrible depression and anxiety episode that left me mentally unable to return to school. During that time, the debt that I had owed to the school went into collections.

I’m in a much better place now and would like to finish my education, but as I was reapplying and looking at my student account, I noticed that I have a collections hold. My principal amount is $6,494 and the collection cost is $1,623 equating to a total balance of $8,117.

I work part-time right now and have some money saved up, but it’s not enough to even cover half of the principal amount. I reached out to the financial aid department as well as the Collections Unit, but they haven’t been able to give me a solid pay-off plan. I would really like to start school this upcoming fall, but I haven’t found a way to get more assistance for this issue.

If anyone is knowledgable in this area or has any recommendations, I greatly appreciate it.