Edit: Sounds like I do need to talk to a lawyer and take legal action, but against my ex and not the school (which is fair and makes sense). Thanks to everyone who responded!

TLDR; was using my then-husband's GI Bill to take Master's Courses, but when we got divorced, he lied to the GI program about the date of the divorce, so even though I had taken and passed the courses and have emails saying my funding was approved by both the GI program and college, the college says I owe them for the master's courses and cannot attend due to non-payment. They will also print that I'm in non-payment status with them on any future official transcripts, making it hard/impossible for me to apply to other universities.

Long Description:

A couple years ago, I was taking 2 courses for my master's degree at the same online college I had just got my bachelor's from. My then-husband was military and since neither of us wanted kids, I had used his GI bill to pay for the end of my bachelor's degree, and was going to use it for my master's degree (which he agreed to countless times).

While we were still married, I submitted my request to take the courses and said that the GI program was going to pay for it. College approved it, and GI approved it. I took the course and finished both with a passing grade, with no issues. The courses are only 8 weeks long at this college.

During those 8 weeks, my husband's behavior became intolerable and we talked about divorce. Near the very end of the 8 weeks, we decided to submit the paperwork, which were filed AFTER the courses ended. The official divorce happened a couple months later. I did not apply for new courses during this time.

Then I got a letter from my college saying I owed the money back for the 2 courses. I asked them why, and they said that the GI program had denied my funding, since I was not married during the time the courses were taken (which was incorrect). I requested more information from all parties, and found my ex had lied about the dates on the paperwork to the GI program. I tried talking to the GI program, but since I was not a spouse anymore, they were unwilling/unable to talk to me.

My college put my account on hold for non-payment. I sent them the email from months prior saying the funding had been approved by the GI program and confirmed by them (the college), I sent them copies of court documents saying when my divorce was initiated and finalized (again, both after the courses had ended), and I sent them proof that my ex had lied on paperwork which is what the issue was. They didn't care, and threatened to sue me for the money.

I tried reasoning with them, but at the end I just had to say "ok, if you want to try to sue, you can try, but it's not me who is the problem and I have evidence." (I said it MUCH nicer than that). They of course never sued, and since I didn't have funding, I stopped trying to take any master's courses for a couple years.

Now I want to start my master's back up since my work will pay for it. My college is doing 2 things and I'm wondering if I can/should take them to court.

1. they won't let me reattend due to "non-payment of courses" and "not being in good standing for financial reasons". Annoying, but fine. They don't want me back, I get that, even though I don't agree with it.
2. They said any official transcripts they send that include the grades for the master's courses that I took and passed would include that I'm not in good standing with the college due to non-payment. They casually told me that other colleges deserve to know when they're considering a student who is known not to pay. If I want a transcript without it saying that, then I have to pay back the courses.

I just want to go get a master's degree and not have to pay for those 2 master's courses completely out of pocket. I would not have taken them if I knew any of this was going to happen. I know I can just suck it up and start fresh at a new college and pretend I never took those courses, but some part of this has to be illegal on the college's end right? Like I should be able to either attend the college and pay for courses going forward (since I have evidence that the funding was cut due to my ex doing something illegal, not me) OR at least get a transcript that doesn't scream to other colleges "DONT ACCEPT THIS STUDENT".

Thoughts?