<p>My son is heading to Alabama this fall. He was not a great student in high school, 2.85 GPA and 1080 SAT. I am recently unemployed (unemployed off an on for about the last three years - construction management is rough now!). My wife has been employed for about 5 months after being unemployed for almost 18 months. We are both Alabama alumni. We really need to find some financial aid for him. Our FAFSA = +/-20,000. Cost will be +/- $34,000 per year.</p>
<p>I keep finding more and more scams as I sift through the financial aid websites. All the financial aid office has told me is that he qualifies for $3500 subsidized Stafford loans and $2000 in un-subsidized loans.</p>
<p>I appreciate whatever advice you might offer.</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>it looks like you’re OOS. Is that correct?</p>
<p>I really don’t think there are any FA sites that are going to produce aid for your child. The sites you’re finding are very likely scams.</p>
<p>Scholarships for grades had deadlines a long time ago. I really don’t think you’re going to find any aid at this point. As you mention, your son’s stats are modest. </p>
<p>Did your child (at least) get an alumni scholarship from Bama? If you or your wife are members of the alumni club, he’d get a small scholarship for that.</p>
<p>Are you looking for loans? That’s all I can think that you can get for your child. Are you looking for a Parent Plus loan? </p>
<p>What exactly are you looking for? There aren’t sites out there that are just going to hand you free money for your child’s education.</p>
<p>One simple rule, if you have to pay to play, just walk away and don’t look back.</p>
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<p>Okay, I guess I have to jump in here. What are these “financial aid websites” you’re referring to?</p>
<p>To me, “financial aid” means need-based aid . . . and the only place a student is going to get that is directly from the college he or she will be attending. Whether it’s a federal loan administered by the college or an institutional grant provided by the college, it’s need-based aid that comes either through or from the school.</p>
<p>Then there’s merit aid - which can come either from the school or from an outside source. The many sites that offer access to “hundreds of unclaimed scholarships” fit into this category . . . and they’re usually not worth bothering with, even when access to the list is free. They’re definitely not worth bothering with if you have to pay for the list.</p>
<p>Finally, there are private loans. Call it “financial aid” or whatever you want, but a loan is a loan. And entering into a private loan agreement to pay for college is rarely a good idea.</p>
<p>Now I’m going to be blunt. You say your son is “heading to Alabama this fall,” but I don’t see how that’s possible. He may have been admitted, but with no funds other than $5,500 in federal loans, you have no way to pay for it . . . unless I’m missing something. And with you unemployed and your wife only recently employed, i don’t think I am.</p>
<p>I know you want your son to go to Alabama, and I know he wants to go to Alabama . . . but maybe he needs to start at local school and then transfer. You CANNOT borrow the entire cost of his attendance at Alabama . . . not for one year, and sure as heck not for all four years!</p>
<p>Have him start somewhere you can afford . . . and then, when your circumstances improve, he can apply again as a transfer student. He’ll still get to graduate from there . . . . and you won’t have to spend the rest of your lives regretting the decision to let him attend.</p>
<p>Your family cannot afford Alabama right now. Sad. But true. </p>
<p>Your son’s realistic choices are: studying closer to home at a place that your family can afford with no more than Federal/Stafford loans, OR taking a year off to work, volunteer, and think carefully about his career goals before looking elsewhere. If your financial situation improves, Alabama could be an option in the future.</p>
<p>What you have been told by UAlabama’s financial aid office is essentially true. All your son can get on his own is the %$5500 STAFFORD with up to $3500 of it subsidized while he is in college.</p>
<p>YOU or your spouse can apply for PLUS and take out loans IF you qualify. It takes a very short time to find out if you are, and it can all be done in the privacy of your home online. That is a federally backed loan. If you OR your spouse is denied, you can appeal, can a co signer or your son can get an additonal $4K in Staffords.</p>
<p>But if you are unemployed and have financial issues for your necessities, you should not be taking out loans. You need to sit down and figure out what you can afford as a family. Very few schools guarantee to meet need and those that do are highly selective schools. A lot of financial aid given by schools also is used in a merit within need context and with your son’s stats, he is not going to get substantial amounts, certainly not enough to meet that $35K tab. And even if you squeeze it out this year, you are going to need at least that, probably more, next year and next and next.</p>
<p>There are some threads in the archives about “Full Ride Scholarships” started by Momfromtexas that gives you a methodology in finding money for college. But that means searching for the unknown schools, not the ones with name recognition like 'Bama. More like Southeast New Mexico Polytech or other such schools not on the main paths. </p>
<p>The best thing, IMO, for your son to do is to live at home, and take out the max Stafford, pay you expenses for living there, and YOU bank the money, work and save,and do the same with those proceeds. Then by junior year, he might have enough to make 'Bama or other such school work out if things are a bit better for you and he is willing to have a job during the year.</p>
<p>I feel bad for the OP. Here it is June, and it’s very likely that all along they and their son believed that he would get funding to afford to go to Bama. The parents are both graduates, so they have some ties to the school.</p>
<p>But, here it is June, there aren’t Money Fairies out there. These websites are scams. It’s not realistic to think that they are websites out there that will just hand your child large amounts of money…for what? for modest stats? (and at this late date?) Why would there be such entities? There are literally millions and millions of kids out there with modest stats who’d like to attend the school of their choice. What makes it possible is the parents ability to pay (or (risky) borrow). “Needing money” does not translate into sources of money. </p>
<p>There are merit scholarships for students with high stats, but without those, parents are expected to pay. </p>
<p>I know that the OP opened his post with “My son is heading to Bama in the fall,” as if it’s a done deal and the family checkbook is out and ready to pay. </p>
<p>Frankly, I can’t imagine telling my kid that he’s heading to the family’s beloved Alma Mater when the family can’t pay for it. To me, that’s setting the child up for a huge letdown when it’s time to pay and there’s no money to do so. What did the family expect to happen? Where did they expect the money to come from? </p>
<p>As mentioned above, the son will likely have to start at a community college and then transfer to an affordable school at that point. Maybe the family will be back on its feet financially then and the son can go to Bama then. I have one son at Bama and one that has graduated from Bama. I understand why alums and others like the school so much. But, if it’s not affordable, then it’s not affordable. </p>
<p>I know that it will be hard to tell a child this so late in the game. If I were the parents, I would apologize for not making it clear that the school would have to be affordable…which meant that either the family could pay, OR the student would have to do his part and get the grades/stats to get scholarships.</p>
<p>If the OP is uemployed, the student may qualify for PELL. that and $9500 of Staffords is what’s possible for the student. If he can work very hard this summer, and has some savings and during the year, another $5 can come from that. But a lot of this is provisional to the things lining up the right way. </p>
<p>This is why I hate the perky articles telling readers that there is, rest assured, aid out there. For most people, there is not enough to go away to college,especally OOS or private. Even in state here, is a whopping $20K.</p>
<p>Yes, according to Kelsmom, the parents could appeal to the school for some kind of PJ because the main breadwinner has lost his job. But, it doesn’t sound like $5500 is going to make much of a dent in the cost.</p>
<p>And PJ will include a look at Dad’s earnings history, at least last year, and Mom’s current salary. This is unfortunate when Dad’s in an industry where work comes and goes and Mom only recently found employment. I am sorry.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is that even with a full PELL, it isn’t a good idea for a family struggling with finances to put that kind of cost into sending a student away to college. The financial situation is the real reason here, but it is also a good idea though not the emotional response to let a kid who has been a mediocre student “prove his stripes” locally and less expensively. I’ve seen many familes hurt both psychologically and financially sending a kid off to college who just wasn’t into it academically. When it’s a huge sacrifice and loans are involved, it can be a big hit to waste that kind of money, but I know as a parent you want that last ditch chance to get the kid into academics. In some ways it’s a good thing not ot have the money to squander in this endeavor. The stats for completion are not on your side when past performance has not been good.</p>
<p>but it is also a good idea … let a kid who has been a mediocre student “prove his stripes” locally and less expensively. I’ve seen many familes hurt both psychologically and financially sending a kid off to college who just wasn’t into it academically. When it’s a huge sacrifice and loans are involved, it can be a big hit to waste that kind of money… In some ways it’s a good thing not to have the money to squander in this endeavor. The stats for completion are not on your side when past performance has not been good</p>
<p>Cpt makes an excellent point. It’s a huge risk for the parents to borrow the money because the son hasn’t done his part to show that he’d do well at a pricey school. The parents don’t need to be in a situation where they’ve borrowed tens of thousands only to have their kid get caught up in the fun atmosphere that exists at college and not have the grades to justify the expense…or worse, have such low grades that he must drop out, leaving you with debt and no degree. </p>
<p>Because I’m very familiar with how enrollment is at Alabama, I know that dorm room has been picked, deposits have been made, and Bama Bound Orientation has likely been reserved and paid for. I’m scratching my head wondering why this family has come to the conclusion that their child “is heading to Bama in the Fall,” when they don’t have the funds to pay for it?</p>
<p>Because they’re waiting for the money tree to start blooming?</p>
<p>While in Tuscaloosa, I thought of this thread.</p>
<p>There is a LOT of construction going on in T-town because of the Tornadoes, the anticipated growth of the city, and the renovations to Downtown…so if this dad needs employment in Construction Management and he wants his child to attend Bama, then perhaps the approach should be…</p>
<ol>
<li> Have son take a gap year.</li>
<li> Move to Tuscaloosa now.</li>
<li> Get a Construction Mgmt job there.</li>
<li> establish residency</li>
</ol>
<p>then the son can go to Bama at instate rates and commute…huge savings. Would only cost about $10k per year.</p>
<p>The OP has left the building.</p>