<p>I posted this in error on the "old board" and cannot get back there...weird....briefly, my daughter is a college freshman. My husband lost his job at the end of April (severance pay through October), STILL hasn't found employment (!), we have another HS Soph. daughter in private school, I had major surgery in November, hubby just had surgery to repair a detached retina (making job hunting impossible for a while)(yes, we're paying dearly for Cobra coverage), checking account going down, credit card debt going up....can we still file to get help for second semester? How do you do this electronically and take our circumstances into consideration? You can bet I'll be filing for 2005-2006, although our income will still look pretty good with the severance pay...ha! I make a whopping $20,000 a year. My husband has also just filed for unemployment. Any and all help very much appreciated.</p>
<p>File ASAP, if you can. You also need to talk to the financial aid office. Your daughter needs to go in their personally and meet with the counselor. Some schools do have funds for emergencies like this. If nothing else, loans can be arranged at low rates that will give you 10 years to pay back one year's amount. Your daughter needs to take a deep breath, and also research what merit awards, residential advisor programs and jobs there are on campus, find a job, double jobs for spring break and expect to work double shifts for the summer. It can be done--I did it, and my kids have pretty much done it. If it is truly a hardship, she may want to take a semester off and walk to put some money away and look into taking less expensive community college courses at that time as well and perhaps finish at her school in 3 years rather than the 4 full, thereby saving a hefty amount as well. </p>
<p>It is a tough row to hoe, and you certainly have my sympathies and prayers. You do need to involve your daughter in this issue. That would be a great gift to give her since fewer kids these days are as involved in the college finances and for her to be able to get a handle of this at this age is lifelong knowledge that many of us pay dearly for later or never get right. Self sufficiency,after all, is the major goal for our children. Good luck and God bless.</p>
<p>Jamimom, thanks; I do appreciate your input. Over this break, we certainly have discussed with our daughter the need for employment in one very well-paying or two so-so jobs this next summer. Since we had not filed, she was not eligible for work study on campus, and has no vehicle for off-campus employment (blew a head gasket in Sept...drat!!). She does intend to apply for an RA position in her dorm for next year (that would pay room and board), and hopefully get either some work study or part-time off-campus employment. That is a bit daunting to her as she has not yet had to work (summers busy with Drill Team, mission trips, etc., etc.). And, she does know the importance of keeping her grades up (3.75) to keep her academic scholarship. One other thing I'd like her to do, especially if she's able to work at one pretty well-paying job is to take at least one course at our local community job...maybe an immediate mini-term in May, and then a summer term...anything helps to whittle away the credits needed, and not paying room and board for those hours helps, too!
I know that ultimately God has our (and her) needs in hand. My prayer is that we're all willing to accept whatever solution He brings our way, hard as that can be sometimes.</p>
<p>Shankins, I certainly hope that the new year brings your family some financial and health stabilility. In the meantime, I agree with Jamimom. Call the finaid office AND fill out the FAFSA (asap) if you still can for last year. I'm not sure that you can still do this, but it's worth checking. Despite what the upcoming year brings, I would urge you to fill out the FAFSA anyway. Even if your financial situation is better, you still want to have this on file. Good luck to you.</p>
<p>You can still fill out the FAFSA for the 2004/2005 school year until June 1.</p>
<p>Shankins,</p>
<p>There are sometyimes jobs on campus that non-work study students can also apply to. </p>
<p>All the best to you and your family for a prosperous 2005</p>