Age 24 = Independent?

Paying for College
1

So long story short, I’m 23 years old. I earned my associate’s degree back in 2013. While I did manage to find a position for some time, I lost my job (long story).

I’ve now been out of work for, again, quite a while. People told me this is actually very common and if I cannot find anything else to do I should try returning to college. My relatives also think similarly.

Not surprisingly, I have reached that point where I seem to have hit the absolute dead end. I can’t find work, I’m miserable, and I am seriously thinking about returning to school.

Yeah, I still don’t have enough saved up for most places. So my dad told me it seems that the only plan for me now is this:

  1. Find some other temporary minimum wage job/volunteer position/whatever for the rest of this year. It will be hard. Just stick it out.
  2. Once January 2017 rolls around, apply for FAFSA again. Since I would be 24 in the springtime, they should consider me Independent and then grant me more much-needed financial aid.
  3. Enroll in some school for a severely discounted amount. All this is due to the Independent status. Well, there you go.

The only problem is, I do not know if they will still give me the Independent benefits since I already have my AA degree.

Does anybody have any other info or advice on this? I’m in Los Angeles if it matters. Thanks.

2

You will be considered independent if you turn 24 before December 31, 2017. Your AA degree does not matter if you’re 24.

However your plan to “enroll in some school for a severely discounted amount” might not be as easy as you are making it seem. The amount you pay in tuition does not change because you’re independent and you don’t automatically get additional financial aid just because you’re independent.

You CAN qualify for more financial aid because you do not have to put down your parents’ information, so if you’re not making any money you might get more aid than you previously did when your parents’ information was included. Regardless, there isn’t a ton of financial aid out there.

3

https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/sites/default/files/fafsa-dependency.pdf

4

You were born in spring 1993?

5

financiallylost = Yeah, that’s exactly the problem. I just wanted to know if waiting that long would even be worth it. I think I heard that each school sets their own rules. Even if you qualify for more benefits being Independent or whatever, the school does not have to grant you discounted everything. (Ex. if they charged $30,000 in tuition they are allowed to cap what their FA covers at just $9,000, even being Independent.)

I saw that form, but I’m asking about something more specific. Plus, that still doesn’t apply to me until the next year (2017-2018).

Yes, in April.

6

@Joy_N You might already know this, I’m just not sure if the wording is off in your post or if you have a bit of a misunderstanding. I’ve never heard of a school that provides any discounts because students are independent.

7

I probably should have specified that I did apply for FAFSA before. I have applied while enrolled in school for my AA. More recently, I tried while shopping for new schools after losing the old job.

Since I am still a dependent, they determined my parents’ income is too high for me to qualify and get a discounted rate. Therefore, the schools couldn’t offer me any financial aid. Because of this, I am unable to afford those institutions. I can’t attend. My relos have a theory that I could get a cheaper rate from these places after I become Independent. I would no longer be living off my parents’ salaries. They would notice I have very little money/no income.

So the question lies in that. Does it actually get cheaper after I turn Independent?

That’s what I was referring to when I mentioned “discounted.” I guess it’s not exactly discounted in the traditional sense of the word. Just FAFSA Independents receiving more financial aid than Dependents.

8

@Joy_N please learn to use the standard verbiage with regard to financial aid since it avoids confusion and we will all know what each other is talking about. Do not use the word ‘discounted’ or ‘discounted rate’ any longer since that is not one of the real cost and financial aid terms. You might like to browse the pinned threads at the top. In one thread is a Financial Aid 101 FAQ which defines terms and how basic aid works. I think it is well worth working through that link because you and your family don’t have a good grasp on how it works.

But for your purpose, understand that it doesn’t ‘get cheaper’, the cost is the same but you get ‘more aid’ if it is available and that aid is applied against the cost. So yes in the end it is cheaper for you, maybe, but that is because you are getting some financial aid, NOT KNOWN AS A DISCOUNT. However you may not get ‘free money’ which is grants, you may only get loans, also a form of financial aid, but has to be paid back after you graduate.

It seems you may not be considered Independent until the Fall term 2017 because you are saying you weren’t born before Jan 1 1993. Therefore you would have to wait until the 2017-18 academic year to qualify, as an Independent. That is how it works.

So you are in CA and I see 3 options for you

  1. Transfer to a CSU with cheap instate tuition. You will get federal aid only. Pell Grant if you qualify based on low income. Also up to a 12,000 federal loan. They give no other aid. Apply in November for fall 2017.
  2. Transfer to a UC if you qualify. UC will give their own aid even for transfers and you would qualify for a good amount if you are a low income independent. Apply in November for fall 2017.
  3. Transfer to a private. Privates do not give you all the aid you need, especially for a transfer. Only freshmen get their best aid. Transfers don't get good aid except at the very tippy top schools. I don't know where you are coming up with the numbers above. If they charge 30k tuition they are allowed to give you ZERO financial aid except what you qualify for federal aid. If you got into Stanford, then yes they will give you all the aid you need, but USD, SCU, USF,Mills Bible Colleges like APU, PUC, they are not going to give you enough to attend, it is very unlikely just because you are Independent and have low income. They might give you a little. Where are you looking/applying before?

Also if you filed a FAFSA before did you get/use any grant or loans?

9

Here is the aid FAQ link, not all will apply to you but there is a section on Independent Students
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1486647-financial-aid-faqs.html#latest

10

What’s your intended major? What was your High school GPA, ACT, SAT?

11

What was your community college GPA? Will you be enrolling in a related field?

You will have independent status for need based federally funded aid. This means you will get the Direct Loan amount for your year in college…plus an addition $4000 a year in Direct Loans. You will also get any amount if the Pell Grant to which you are entitled.

12

Whether your financial need is met by loans or grants will depend on the school you chose. Start running Net Price Calculators on the schools available to you and see which ones are good options. Just enter an earlier birthday and to test which ones will give more aid when you are 24.

Google:
site:put-the-college-website-here.edu Net Price Calculator

Agree that your in-state public is probably going to be the best option: Many private schools treat transfer students as “cash cows” and don’t give them grants.

Also, choose a major that leads to a job right out of undergrad and check out the career placement and guidance available at colleges as you are choosing one.

13

(kind of long)

There are quite a few pinned threads. I read a few yesterday. I didn’t see anything about that. No offense meant to anyone. My thought behind using that “discounted” term is that it would be a discount for me. It would be a discount to what I was paying before as a Dependent. Thanks for the heads-up. And yes, I was referring to what I do qualify for under FA.

The only problem with that is, like we’ve said, I highly doubt most schools are going to just give you the whole thing for free. In no way are they obligated to offer that much FA. My point was that if the tuition were $30,000 a year, it doesn’t necessarily mean I qualify for $30,000 in FA. In fact, they could very well determine I only qualify for $9,000 in FA. Like you said, if I do not qualify for any FA even as an Independent, it would still be the same. I would be paying the school’s regular tuition. Therefore, the rest would still need to be paid for in loans and what little savings I have. The fam somehow believed that after I turned 24, I could go back to these schools and enroll for free. It’s definitely not that easy. I think that is because we did indeed know a few people who did it. Since they were already Independent students (24+), these folks went to college for free. Granted they paid for books, but we heard everything was severely cheaper than what Dependent students were paying. They all enrolled at public CCs or CSUs, though. My question was: if I were to return to college, do I also get everything for cheaper than I was as a Dependent? So far the answer seems to be, yeah, but only if you enroll at public in-state schools. What about out of state schools?

When I filed my FAFSA before, I was just attending a public CC. My CC GPA was 3.8. My HS GPA was 3.6. I received a 34 for my ACT and 1450 for my SAT.

So my parents and I were able to pay for that with our savings. I have a degree in English and Paralegal Studies. I wish I had a degree in something more practical, but at the time all I ever wanted was to write. A professor warned me while this might be a natural choice (always been a writer), it’s very underappreciated. There aren’t a lot of jobs in that unless you teach. I’ve looked at job postings for English degrees online. All of them want at least a BA, if not MA. Add that in to 3-5 years of experience.

Indeed, I toyed with the idea of what to study if I returned to college. I’ve heard Sonography has good job prospects. For some reason, not many public schools offer that. I’ve mostly read up on trade schools. Same with private. And I think those places have different FA guidelines than public institutions do. Technically, I do have the option of going back for another English or Law degree. I haven’t been able to find work for such a long amount of time.

Ultimately, I’m hurting pretty badly financially. It seems to me that no matter what I do, I am definitely going to incur some sort of debt. I just know that I do not want to be in the same position. Jobless, broke, and going back to college.

Thank you for the suggestions. They are definitely very helpful.

14

Can’t you do something with your paralegal,studies AA?

15

The community college near my home has ultrasound technician. This is something you can do at either a 2-year or 4-year school. If it is available at a technical college near you, the tuition will be cheaper than a 4-year school. You will have to do your research.

Out of state, you would want to check WUE, a discount program on OOS tuition for the western US. The campuses that offer these discounts are the less popular ones (more remote location, for example).

Click on the school search button here to see your choices under this program.

http://wiche.edu/wue

You can get federal and institutional aid at out of state schools. If you are eligible for state aid, you would usually need to stay in-state.

16

I would think English and paralegal studies you’d be able to find work. Certainly in my area (central NJ) I can think of a number of jobs you could take on. Have you looked at technical writing at all? I’d honestly look at what you can do with your existing completed and paid for degree, rather than spending more money on something else.

17

How long have you been unemployed and will your last employer (a law firm?) give you a positive reference even though you were downsized?

Do you have any insight as to why you haven’t found a job? Are your office skills current and sharp (word, Powerpoint, excel) and is your legal experience relevant (legal research, citations, Westlaw?) Are you networking like crazy and telling everyone you meet you are looking for a job?

Seems to me your best option is to find a job with a company that will help you pay for college. Even if you only have the energy and time to take one class at a time- you won’t be in debt, and you’ll be generating income while you’re in college.

What types of positions are you applying for?

18

Paralegals get paid crap. I know someone who is one and has a debt of $60,000 for one year of law school she hated and dropped out of. She had a double degree from a UC. She got a certificate and asked for a raise and they told her “no” because they didn’t care about the certificate at all. This is in CA.

Also an AA is not a ‘paid degree’ it is little more than a HS degree according to studies.

19

The practice of law has shifted and not for the better.
My sister’s law office (a national firm) has acquired several law practices over the past few years. The advent of attorney services online makes it easier to find self-serve law books and PDF firms to file cases in the system.

My sister’s firm downsizes “un-needed staff” and keeps few support staff. Minimum wage is very common. This is also mostly in California.

Get your transcripts ready for transfer and see which school will admit you by visiting their websites.

20

Well, I would love to know what these potential careers are. All the non-teaching job postings I’ve seen for English majors still ask for 3-5 years of experience. I attempted to get a ghostwriting or entry-level publishing house job. The outcome is always the same. This is a pretty competitive field.

Honestly, I was embarassed to say this but I’ve definitely been unemployed for a very long time now. It’s been more than a year. I am sure the old law firm would give me a good reference if contacted for one.

I get that, but now it’s your turn. I don’t know why you put “paid degree” in quote marks. Never did I say it was a “paid degree.” I attended a local community college which refers to their AAs as degrees. They charged us for it.

Actually, I met with one of the academic counselors today. He echoed similarly. Most liberal arts degrees are not as straightforward as, say, Computer Science or Medical professions. It’s really up to the student to find whatever job they can.

No, I think that if it were that easy I would have another job by now. I have tried going to job prep workshops. I rehearse with my friends. I am a Millenial who graduated from college right after HS in 2013. While preparing for my AA degree, they did teach us how to use a lot of fancy programs and tools on the computer. Including the ones you’ve listed. I grew up in a gen that takes Microsoft Word and Internet for granted. I think I fit in with them. I’m a fast typer. Indeed, I applied to hundreds of postings online. Even the non-degree ones. What usually happens is that they simply ignore my application. I have been selected for an interview about a dozen times.

Whenever I actually attend the interview, it’s a different story. I can’t seem to get past it. I do show up to the interviews professionally dressed. I speak clearly and all that good stuff. But they just never want to take a chance on me. The interviewer tells me: “We’ll call you back.” And of course, they never do. Either that or they’ll politely inform me of such a rejection via email. They’ve gone ahead and chosen somebody else. This other candidate was more qualified. Some tried to soften the blow by throwing in “we were impressed with your skills and talents.”

Yeah, I really appreciate the heads up. It seems like unless you’re in Technology or Medical most jobs today followed the same path. It used to be that some broke civilian could make easy money staffing the post office or some sedan. Now, they’ve even got eCards. They’ve started utilizing Uber and Lyft.

Thank you. I’ll have to look into that.