<p>I do not come from a family of means, I hold my own ground and it is ridiculous to believe that I can make enough money to pay for college and attend simultaneously. I dropped out of high school. I earned a GED and decided to join a "sister" school (if you will) of a well respected State University. Tuition costs are but a fraction of what most students pay for the same classes at the State University. I must join the university, despite the matched core curriculum classes. I am a physics major. Sadly my college doesn't offer AP French nor AP Spanish, forcing me to attend the University in order to heighten my education. I began classes four days ago, I am maintaining a 4.0 at the moment. I do not plan on earning a GPA lesser than that. I am a freshman who qualified for financial assistance this summer semester. My funds are being withheld until proof of my attendance is established or something. I was granted an allowance for books. Furthermore, my greatest concern is not having the means to cover a $40,000.00 tuition at a State University which is the only option for me. Before I joined college, I worked two jobs relocated and shortly after that held one job which I devoted overtime to habitually. I quit my jobs so that I can focus on school, and get the most out of my classes. I fear that I won't have the luxury of being a "full-time" student. My take on financial assistance is that I hopefully can increase my allowances and grants with honorably high GPA records. I would love to pursue a degree beyond an AA,BA, and MA. I want the big kahuna, from a well respected State University. I can only do my part and maintain a high GPA. Simply put I won't be able to learn anything with a 7,000.00 grant/loan and short term 3,000.00 yearly scholarships. Is there any hope for my strategy? Like I mentioned I have GED and no transcripts aside from an SAT (1010M+R) I took sophomore year like forever ago. I now need some big cash. I just began my AA and it will be somewhat over a year before I can transfer into a university. I'm just not sure as to what I can do for myself to guarantee I cover tuition costs other than bolster an impressive GPA. </p>
<p>Thoughts or comments please feel free to leave them.</p>
<p>Your funds are being held until “proof of attendance or something”. That is the crux of the matter right there. You better find out what this very important “something” is, or your 4.0 is off to a very bad start. You need to go to the financial aid office and find out exactly what you need to do to get your funds. That is your greatest concern at the moment, since your college career is about to be derailed before it is started.</p>
<p>As for money for college, you can look at a thread for full ride scholarship that Momoftexas put together. But, money is very difficult to get. You are on the right track academically, doing the best you can and taking the courses you need. But for financial aid, unless you are 24, married, have a dependent, are a veteran, or have court papers separating you from your parents, you have to fill out a FAFSA as do they, and see what it nets you. THe only guarantee is a PELL if your family income and assets are low enough and Stafford loans. The rest is all up to the school, and sometimes a state sponsors low income college assistance. That’s al that is guaranteed.</p>
<p>You need to look at what aid your flagship University has available, in your case, for transfers. It’s usually not much. </p>
<p>But your immediate problem is finding out what is holding up your funds right now.</p>
<p>Do bear in mind that the vast majority of college students work and do school part time. THey do this because it is the only way they can afford to pay for college. If there were easy money out there for everyone, this would not be the case.</p>
<p>My CC also holds money for proof of attendance. They want to make sure people who are getting financial aid actually attend school. Profs take attendance for 2-3 weeks, then financial aid is released to attendees about a week later. And a week after that, the financial aid scammers will stop coming to class. Sad, but true.</p>
<p>Yankee Belle, that is news to me. I did not know this was a common thing. So the OP just has to go to class, and then the aid is released, so s/he does not have to worry about the tuition or fees not being paid, if I have this right. It’s the money that is left after the school gets its part of the aid that is being held.</p>
<p>OP, if this is the situation for you, ask about an advance for the book store, or look for used books, or if you know anyone who has taken these courses, if you can borrow the books. Or borrow from your public library. They can often get texts through exchange programs. My son has done that at his college and rarely buys a book anymore.</p>
<p>As for the luxury of being a full time student, yes, it is a true luxury and one that few have. Those that do tend to have parents who pay for that luxury. Very, very few will get the full rides or close to that, which will enable them to go full time, living and boarding at school.</p>
<p>Is the OP GETTING $40K in financial assistance? The above quote does NOT make it sound like this is the case.</p>
<p>The plan the OP has put forth is not affordable. Most state universities do NOT meet the full need of all or even most of their students. The OP needs to make sure they can pay any costs above what they are receiving in financial aid for THIS SCHOOL YEAR. Then they need to determine if the four year university actually gives scholarship aid to transfer students from another school within the system.</p>
<p>OP…are your parents a resident of the state in which you are attending college? How old are you? Are you from another country? Why is your tuition at a state school $40,000?</p>
<p>The way it works for college in this great country of ours is that parents are considered primarily responsible for college costs unless the student meets independence criteria BY THE COLLEGE and FOR COLLEGE purposes. Basically, you have to be age 24 or meet some other criteria that I posted above. That you live apart from them, that they have not paid a thing for you, that you are not on their taxes, that you are self supporting, that they refuse to pay makes no difference. It appears as though you have gotten some financial aid already, and are just waiting for it to be released, so I assume you already went through the process. </p>
<p>But there are very few full ride scholarship. What you get from the federal government is a maximum of $5500 for PELL if your family is truly low income with an EFC of zero, and you can take Stafford loans at what ever limits that are there for the grade level you are at college. For a dependent student that is a max of $7500. You are eligible for a bit more in Stafford loans if you qualify as independent, but that is still a far cry from any $40K. To get anywhere close to that amount, you need to get it from the school itself or from outside scholarships and both are lottery tickets. </p>
<p>By all means research and try to get some substantial aid, but more importantly cover your bases with those options you know you can afford. That may mean staying at a local school rather than going away to college. Once you have that basic plan in place, go right on ahead and apply for whatever else is there.</p>
<p>But right now you need to understand how things work at your community college. GO to the financial aid office and get the full info on that.</p>
<p>I’m lost. You “joined” a sister college (rather than enrolled in?), but you’re still a freshman at a state university with a $40,000 a year price tag. So, what excctly did joining a college do for you? Did you earn credits and are now a transfer student? Or are you a true freshman? Sometimes, being a transfer means less aid. At a state school, it may not matter as there is little to give beyond Pell, Stafford and state money, if you qualify (and I’m guessing, with a 40K price tag, you’re out of state). </p>
<p>High schools offer AP classes. Not colleges. You sister college offered no foreign languages that you could take and transfer?</p>
<p>Nobody has a GPA four days into classes, even a summer term. You won’t have a univeristy GPA until final grades for the course are put on your official transcript. If you have a 4.0 at the end of the summer session, you may be in a position to look for department scholarships. Your SAT may not be high enough to earn merit money at a well respected state U, but a 4.0 GPA might get someone’s attention. </p>
<p>Yankee Belle has good advice about verifying attendance. You may need to wait a few weeks, but extra aid will be released once the college costs are covered and your attendance is verified. If you need books, see if the bookstore will let you charge to your student account. </p>
<p>But, to answer your general question, no you cannot ensure aid. No one can.</p>
<p>I fully agree with post #9. I am confused also. The wording in the OP is unusual. That is what made me ask if the student was international which would cast a very different light on financial aid questions. Ditto the question about where the OPs parents reside.
Agreed, there are no guarantees when it comes to financial aid in MOST state universities. OP, one thing you mentioned was gaining more aid based on your college GPA. For returning upperclass students, there are not many new awards based on this</p>
<p>I, too, was confused, but I’ve seen this mix of terminology and confusion from many home schooled and GED families, especially if there are community colleges in the mix.</p>
No colleges offer AP classes. AP classes are high school classes.</p>
<p>
4 days into classes is too early in the semester to say you are maintaining a 4.0</p>
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Many schools do this. My daughter’s school released funds 2 weeks after the semester started. My son went to a community college and they did not release funds until several weeks (4-6) after classes started. I thin it was because the CC had a higher rate of people dropping than the other school and they did not want to have to mess with having to get the funds back from those students.</p>
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I don’t know of any state school that has $40k for instate tuition. Are you an international student?</p>
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You can’t guarantee that you cover tuition costs. Most state schools do not promise to meet full need, so it is likely you will not receive financial aid to cover the full cost. My daughter went to a state and received very good merit aid based on her ACTs and also good federal need based aid as her EFC was very low.Her costs were not 100% covered. Also transfer students usually are eligible for much less in the way of merit aid than freshmen. For instance, at her school the top freshmen merit awards (based on high ACT/SAT scores) include full tuition waivers and some cash awards for other expenses. Their top transfer scholarship is $2,500 (even for a student with a 4.0) which covers a small fraction of tuition and no other costs.</p>
<p>It is a luxury to be able to attend school full time and not work. Many students have to work to support themselves while in school. If your aid while in community college is sufficient to pay your tuition and support yourself, it might be a good idea to get a job and save some money toward future costs. If the $7,000 is federal grants/loans, keep in mind that the maximum amounts for these do not increase when you go to a more expensive school. For instance, the Pell maximum for a 0 EFC, is currently $5500 a year whether you go to a school that costs $5,000 a year or one that costs $40,000 a year. Also you should consider staying the full 2 years at the CC to reduce the amount of time and money you will spend at a 4 year school. And smaller regional State Us are often cheaper than the flagship state Us. so you might consider one of them when you transfer. It is extremely unlikely you will get sufficient aid to cover anywhere near $40,000. Though no state U should cost $40k for an in state student.</p>
<p>YEs, Capt. If the financial aid, including loans, is enough to cover semester tuition, fees and other expenses, the student wouldn’t have to pay out of pocket. The overage is released a week or two after the attendance period. I can use financial aid at the school’s bookstore before it is released. It will be deducted from the released aid. If the OP has some money, it is often cheaper to find used books elsewhere.</p>