<p>Just a bit of back story; I dropped out of high school when I was 17, graduated with my GED when I was 18. At 19, I decided to take the leap into college, only receiving $2500 in an unsubsidized loan from Sallie Mae. By my third month, I was failing miserably. I was away from home, with out money and a job, so I dropped out and moved back in with my parents.</p>
<p>I'm at such a different time in my life now. I want to go back to college because I'm ready to work hard for my education, but fafsa has denied me any grants because (I'm assuming) of my adjusted growth income. I don't make that much, honestly. Just enough to support myself.</p>
<p>I'm at a loss. I do not want to take out any student loans. How should I go about trying to find aid? Fafsa notified me that I can always talk to the college I'm applying for and they can offer me certain things that they see fit, but what else? I don't think I meet any criteria for scholarships. My main focus is to not take out any loans.</p>
<p>Has anyone else been in my situation? How did you go about paying?</p>
Then you need to get into a college that meets full need (such as Harvard or Yale) or you need to work through school. The other option would be to go into the military but, if you haven’t thought of that yourself, you must not be interested in serving your country which is important in that field.</p>
<p>The only grants the government offers are for low income students, and since you have only yourself to afford, your income is seen as more than adequate. The other form of “aid” the gov. offers are the Direct loans. You don’t want to borrow, but the gov sees this as a way to get the education now and pay it back later. Nothing says you couldn’t pay the loans off earlier, and faster, thus making it easier in the long run. Otherwise, you may just have to attend part time as you can afford to pay cash for each course. Most people borrow with a mix of savings, loans, and using some current income.</p>
<p>You ,ost likely denied grant aid due to the unpaid $2500 unsub loan (which is probably in default). Did you ever pay this off? If not, you must pay it off or get it in good standing to be eligible for aid. You need to contact your lender regarding payments</p>
<p>I’m still paying off the loan. It is not late, either. I pay the minimum about each month. I’ve been late a few times, but I’ve never defaulted.</p>
<p>A lot of community colleges are inexpensive and have agreements with in-state universities that will make it easy for your community college credits to transfer to the universities. You might try taking two or so community college classes each term and see how you handle those while working full time, as full time work and full time college is very tough to do. Maybe do two years of community college and then transfer into a university. This would be a relatively inexpensive way to get back into college life and help you decide what to major in, if you don’t know already, and to assess your academic strengths. Whatever you do, stay away from for-profit colleges and their sweet-talking recruiters, and beware of friends that point you toward these rip-off schools, as these types of schools convince people to slit their own throats financially by taking out loans they cannot afford, often leaving them with a worthless unaccredited degree.</p>
<p>I understand it sounds like I’m asking for freebies. If I stayed in school, gained TOPS, and applied myself seriously, I wouldn’t be in this situation. I’m very frustrated that there is no help for single, hard working people who would like assistance because, lets be honest, I do not make enough to support myself through college without taking out some sort of loan. I’m either taxed for making a mistake in my past or I don’t go to college. Those are my two options. So, I don’t think or expect anyone to pay for me, but I am looking for help just like everyone else is.</p>
<p>Yes, I have. Both my parents had passed by the time I was 20 and I had a 14 year old brother (they both died in less than a year of each other). Went to work full time, went to school at night. Did take out a few loans to finish school. Moved to another job where I was able to go to grad school through tuition benefits from my employer (paid for 2 masters and 75% of a 3rd masters). </p>
<p>Worked 25 years in corporate life before career changing. As a former HR person, I can tell you that there are plenty of young people in your position, working and going to school (some even raising families). </p>
<p>At 24, you may have to accept the fact that you may not be able to have the “college experience” of living in the dorms, being a full time student who does not have any responsibilities other than school. As I tell my students, I had a great time as a day student, but I learned the true value of an education going at night.</p>
<p>Can you find a company to work for that will subsidize your college costs and reimburse you some or all if you achieve a specified grade…sybbie is talking about this in terms of tuition benefits…</p>
<p>“Can you find a company to work for that will subsidize your college costs and reimburse you some or all if you achieve a specified grade…sybbie is talking about this in terms of tuition benefits…”</p>
<p>I’ve found a lot of places say that they’ll do this once you get hired on perm, then find some reason to string you along as a temp for as long as possible. </p>
<p>To OP, if considering this route, read the fine print carefully and don’t be afraid to seek out other job opportunities if the dream job decides they don’t REALLY want to help with tuition. </p>
<p>And often, employee benefits that include education $$$ are limited towards studying a field that will benefit the company. So you have to be wary of that, or be willing to change.</p>
<p>My plan would be to work full time while attending college full time. I’m not looking for less responsibility. What I want is to learn, grow, and succeed in college.</p>
<p>I’ll start applying in state and see who accepts me, then I’ll speak with a bursar and see if there’s anything the college has to offer that is not a loan. If there is something, I plan to work my butt off and bring my GPA to a high level, maybe resulting in a scholarship. If all else fails, I’ll have to rethink what I should do.</p>
<p>You’re assuming a lot when you think you can work full-time, attend school full-time AND achieve a high GPA. Before taking on a a burden that may overwhelm you, why not enroll in just one or two community college classes and see how it goes? I understand that you are anxious to get on a fast track to a college degree, but sometimes it’s wisest to start with baby steps. Imagine what a mess you’d be in if you enrolled in a full schedule of classes and then found you couldn’t handle the workload and had to withdraw or deal with poor grades. Take a breath. Life isn’t a race.</p>
<p>I would suggest enrolling in community college for at least the first two years worth. Since you are over 24, the HOPE credit would give you $2500 towards tuition when you file your taxes. Then transfer to the cheapest four year school you can find, and maybe even move home while you’re doing it. Even then, some loans are going to be required, but it will pay off big in the end.</p>
<p>It can be done, there will just be a lot of really hard work doing it while also doing a good job at your paid job. IF you go to grad school (other than law/med school when classes take place during the day), this is the norm because most people work during the day and the majority of classes are held in the late afternoon evening (especially in masters programs. In PhD programs, there are usually TA/GA/Lab responsibilities that take place during the day).</p>
<p>You have to be really focused and time management is really crucial. One of the plus sides is that your time is really important so you don’t have time for people to waste it. I know from my experience evening student is a whole different animal because people have worked all day. When they get to school, they just want to get to work. Once I went to</p>
<p>After consideration from the advice you all have given, I’ve decided to apply for the fall semester, only attending two classes. I’ll talk to the bursar and see if there’s any “pay as you go” plan for me. I’d rather have the college set up monthly payments I can afford, rather than taking out a loan.</p>