<p>In my search for the lowest-costing college situtation, i'm stuck with the middle class problem of parents earning too much money for aid, but being unable to pay for college without some form of aid.
My dream school is Hanover College in Indiana, which comes out to 35,000 yearly with all of the aid... i've been offered 11,000 yearly and have the opportunity to compete for more scholarships and possibly win a full ride. However, I have to compete with around 200 other people for very few scholarships, so I must figure out how to get more money for college, because my parents can barely cover my sister's tuition and fees at Purdue, let alone add another $20,000 yearly on top of that. My parents (dad and stepmom) make over $100,000 a year but we are more than $50,000 in debt from my mothers mental illness. Is there any way to get some form of financial aid? I know that private schools often add more aid than public schools or the government... I need to ideally get the cost down to 8,000 a year. Ugh.
Any help is appreciated</p>
<p>I just wanted to let you know that I agree with you about the middle class making too much to qualify for need-based assistance but not being able to afford the full cost of tuition. I’m not quite clear if the $11,000 you have been offered is specifically from Hanover College or for attending college in general. That is a lot of money, although I know that still leaves you with a lot to cover. I wish I had more to offer you but you’re already doing everything I can think of.</p>
<p>It looks like Hanover College is a FAFSA only school. Do you live with your mom or your dad? Since it’s a FAFSA only school, you only put the income and assets on the FAFSA for the parent you live with the most in the year…your custodial parent. Is that your mom or your dad?</p>
<p>If you live with your dad and step mom…their income would be put on the FAFSA form. Your mom’s info would not go on there at all. Is your DAD paying for your mom’s medical expenses (that would be his former wife, correct?). If yes…you would need to get very firm documentation of these expenses and discuss them directly with the college. The college would make the judgement whether this would be considered a special circumstance or not. Since your parents are no longer married…it might be odd that your dad is paying for your mom’s expenses…and that would need to be clarified.</p>
<p>If you live with your mom…you would only put your mom’s income/assets on the FAFSA. You would not put your dad/stepmom’s. If your mom is paying for her medical care…again…you would need to provide documentation to the college and perhaps they would make a decision that this is a special circumstance.</p>
<p>As I said…it could become a bit more complicated as your parents are no longer married. I’m a little confused myself about this…and who is paying for what.</p>
<p>It sounds like the $11,000 you have is some sort of merit award. What you need to find out is if Hanover will award you additional aid based on need. Your need will be based on what you put on the FAFSA.</p>
<p>Are the medical bills from your mom or step mom? (we’re confused, but perhaps that’s because you sometimes refer to your step mom as “mom.” )</p>
<p>Who do you live with?</p>
<p>Are you in-state for Indiana? Which Indiana publics are you applying to?</p>
<p>What are your stats? Weighted GPA, ACT, and SAT (including breakdown)</p>
<p>The COA at Hanover currently is $35k, but that will likely rise each year, but your scholarship won’t if it’s for a “set dollar amount” - so keep that in mind. :)</p>
<p>Are there any other schools in your area that will give you good merit…such as DePauw or Valpo? What about the state schools, like IU or Purdue?</p>
<p>My dream school is Hanover College in Indiana,</p>
<p>On another thread, a poster wrote…your dream is your future career. 
Don’t let yourself miss other school opportunities that are more financially feasible. :)</p>
<p>Hello LaRokin–
I work for Hanover College as an Admission and Financial Assistance Counselor, so I thought I’d weigh in with a couple of thoughts:</p>
<p>thumper1 is correct in that we do not require the CSS Profile in determining financial assistance, only the FAFSA, and that we can take significant medical expenses into consideration when evaluating Special Circumstance requests, depending on financial records to verify situations overlooked by the FAFSA. That process begins once a family has filed the FAFSA. Because we’re a private institution, we have a bit more leeway in modifying financial aid packages in light of information not included in the FAFSA, so depending on your family’s situation, it is possible your mother’s expenses will be taken into consideration. On top of that, when a family has two students enrolled at the same time, that family’s EFC is split in half for each student, which could definitely help you qualify for more financial assistance.</p>
<p>mom2collegekids also has some good points, in that our scholarships will not adjust due to increases in comprehensive cost, but I think you’ll be hard-pressed to find a school that does adjust your merit scholarship annually. However, since the FAFSA is filed every year, the COA increases are often negated by increases in assistance.</p>
<p>Obviously, keep all your options open at this point–though it is important to be fully informed. DePauw’s comprehensive COA is $7,740 higher than HC (not including the initial mandatory laptop purchase prior to freshman year), and Valparaiso is $2,030 more expensive. Be sure when you’re comparing scholarships that you are comparing apples to apples, by which I mean COA minus merit monies. You can also use websites like CollegeBoard.com to find the average indebtedness of graduates from the institutions you’re looking at.</p>
<p>Also, keep in mind that we’re at Step 1 in a five step process. You’ll likely be invited to our Presidential Scholars Program later this winter, and we’re offering 104 scholarships totaling over $365,000, so chances are good. Still, it will probably be late March or early April before you have a complete financial aid package from all the schools you’re considering, so don’t rule anybody out just yet. In addition, you can use the meantime to look for independent (sometimes called ‘outside’) scholarships from philanthropic and community organizations–a lot of that money will follow you no matter which college you attend. I personally used a website called FastWeb.com to help when I was looking for independent scholarships, and even though that was a few years ago, a lot of families tell me how helpful it was in their process.</p>
<p>I hope all of this is clarifying, and I’m totally stoked that you’re excited about Hanover College (my own alma mater, so I am a bit biased, I guess). Please contact me at 800.213.2178x7117 or <a href=“mailto:marquelingj@hanover.edu”>marquelingj@hanover.edu</a> if there’s anything else I can do to help. Best of luck with your college search!</p>
<p>-Justin Marqueling, Class of 2008
HC Admission & Financial Aid</p>