College's FinAid office "cost of living" restricting me from getting money....HELP

Paying for College
1

<p>I'll try to make a long story short. This has been a multi-month process that has just recently revealed its end.</p>

<p>Several months ago, I find out via email that I qualify for a state grant of 1k but do not get it because of my school.</p>

<p>I go see the school fin aid office and they tell me that I'm over budget per their "cost of living (a school specific internal cost breakdown of living in this town)". </p>

<p>I get a copy of this budget and it shows I should live on 11,100 per year IF I LIVE OFF CAMPUS. </p>

<p>I tell them they are on drugs (not quite that harsh, but more politically correct), and that they need to prove where they got these figures.</p>

<p>I give them two weeks and they come up with nothing. The Director admits to me that they don't know where they came up with their numbers. Several more people state that they don't think anyone knows.</p>

<p>I go through every one of my bills over the last year and come up with a VERY CONSERVATIVE figure of 26500. This is with 300/month for gas, which is not realistic given my distance from the school. </p>

<p>The FinAid office looks it over for a week and says we like our budget better.</p>

<p>I then volunteer to do a survey throughout town to create a realistic cost of living. They don't guarantee any action, but they encourage it be done.</p>

<p>I spend three weeks visiting every realtor in the city (it's a smaller city, so we are talking about 10 realtors). I use the Freedom of Information Act to gain access to demographic information of the school's population, the average household size in this town, utility costs, etc. I tap about 20 or 30 other sources. I organize the entire compilation into a readable format, give a history, summary, conclusion, and finish with a 14 page report and 35 page overall report with references. I prove that it takes AT LEAST 21500 to live, and that's barely making it with no furniture in a studio apartment eating ramen noodles. </p>

<p>I present this to the FinAid director. She takes 3 weeks looking it over. She writes me a four sentence email stating that she thinks everything is fine and she's not changing her mind. </p>

<p>I tell her to PROVE I can live on her stats, show me the references for her info, or give me an increase to 21500. I tell her that saying "You can live on this because I say you can" doesn't mean squat. If I wrote a paper with no references, I can expect an F. </p>

<p>She tells me to go away. </p>

<p>QUESTION: Her refusal to help is costing me. I cannot get access to this grant. I cannot get access to ANY of my Unsubsidized Student Loan money. I need to pay bills and I'm ****ed. Her refusal to allow me access to what I need will ruin my chances of staying for my Masters degree this summer. What recourse do I have? Is there someone I should talk to outside the school? Whoever disperses the federal or state monies in good faith that they will be distributed to those that need them? What do I need to do to get this fixed? I'm willing to do just about anything.</p>

2

<p>Do you feel like you are being singled out for "special" lack of consideration, or are there other students in the same boat?</p>

<p>Is this something that your campus paper would touch with a 10-foot pole?</p>

<p>Nothing like a little public controversy to shake some money out of that tree.</p>

<p>Especially since you've got numbers and they don't.</p>

3

<p>Well, on the one hand, I do not feel that a University should foot the bill for your own personal living expenses. However, one the other hand, they do sound harsh. What school is this and where is it located? Is the school located where there is no work to be had or something?</p>

<p>How old are you, again? Are you under 24? I mean, if you are under 24, then your parents come into play with your schooling. If you are over 24, like myself, then you work hard to keep a roof over your head and pay a bit out of pocket for schooling. </p>

<p>If you really think that you have been wronged. I mean, if you really feel that from the bottom of your heart, then maybe you should schedule a meeting with the head of the fin aid department and if that does not work, call the local paper. </p>

<p>Please keep in mind that I am playing devils advocate throughout this whole post.</p>

4

<p>When you live on campus costs are easy to compute for financial aid: tuition, room, and board.
When you move off campus, tuition is the same but your actual cost for room and board may go down or up. So colleges use a standard amount (sometimes but not always equal to the basic on-campus room and board charge) for financial aid purposes.
Your actual costs do not really factor in, because some students might live in a house with 4 others, and another might get a condo on their own. Some might eat ramen, and some might eat out every night.
So to be fair to all they have a budget amount they use for everyone.</p>

5

<p>
[quote]
Do you feel like you are being singled out for "special" lack of consideration, or are there other students in the same boat?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No, I feel as if their figures are off and they don't want to change them because it would be too much work. It doesn't directly affect them, so they don't care. This is not just me - I'm just the one smart enough to actually look at the figures and show that they account for almost half of what actual costs (not just mine, actual costs on an average) account for.</p>

<p>
[quote]

Is this something that your campus paper would touch with a 10-foot pole?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Good idea. I'll go talk to them.</p>

<p>
[quote]

When you live on campus costs are easy to compute for financial aid: tuition, room, and board.
When you move off campus, tuition is the same but your actual cost for room and board may go down or up. So colleges use a standard amount (sometimes but not always equal to the basic on-campus room and board charge) for financial aid purposes.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I agree, but you cannot literally put a student living in a semi-private room, and a married student living in an apartment (or even university married housing) in the same category. </p>

<p>
[quote]

Well, on the one hand, I do not feel that a University should foot the bill for your own personal living expenses. However, one the other hand, they do sound harsh.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I do not feel that they should foot the entire bill. I do feel that they should do research and provide for a demographic-based cost average for necessities such as rent, food, and transportation. Look at your Federal Student Loan info packet that shows what costs are approved for using the loans on....those are the categories that should apply. IE: If the average cost of a 1bd apartment in Weatherford, OK, is 300 dollars and my rent cost is 400 dollars...I don't think that they should cover the 100 dollar difference. I do, however, think that they should cover the 300 dollars. At this point, they are asserting that you should be able to rent a 1bd apartment for 160 dollars per month, but you cannot even find a single wide trailer for that much. The lowest I was able to find was 240, but the average was 325. </p>

<p>
[quote]

What school is this and where is it located? Is the school located where there is no work to be had or something?

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. It's a small town with very little economy other than what is generated by the massive school. I cannot work due to disability from Marine Corps service in Iraq. I get money from the VA for it, but not enough. I am taking 24 credits, so my job IS school. </p>

<p>
[quote]

How old are you, again?

[/quote]
</p>

<ol>
<li> I spent the beginning of my life in the Marine Corps. I would still be there if it weren't for injury.</li>
</ol>

<p>
[quote]

If you really think that you have been wronged. I mean, if you really feel that from the bottom of your heart, then maybe you should schedule a meeting with the head of the fin aid department...

[/quote]
</p>

<p>She's the one I have been working with the whole time and the one that has recently told me to go away.</p>

6

<p>Make an appointment and talk to the college president. Be polite. The rhetoric that you're using here would cause many very understanding people to close their ears.</p>

<p>Pray that the college president or financial aid office doesn't notice your posts here, which state your concerns in a rude way, and may cause your college to fail to listen to your concerns although your concerns seem to have merit.</p>

<p>If the college president won't help, take all of your concerns, your survey, etc. to the school paper, and help them understand how what you're going through is an important story with implications for other students. It also is the type of story that could win the reporter awards.</p>

<p>Also call your state legislator (I assume that you're a state resident), and tell the person's aide your concerns. The legislator can put pressure on the college. Legislators like to support war vets, too.</p>

7

<p>Southwestern OK shouldn't require $26K to attend school IMHO. You're right, the economy isn't there so rents are cheap. They are paying you to live like a student, not like a 28 year old adult wants to live. Get a roommate or 3 like most students. If you don't like the deal, get a job in OKC and attend CC or OU in the evenings.</p>

8

<p>If your cost of living figure of $20k+ does not include tuition/books/fees, you are dreaming if you think a school should subsidize that. Living like a student without parents or trust fund subsidizing you, is living poor. I don't mean living in a studio apartment with a car. I mean living in a room in a student slum within walking or public transportation distance. My son shares a not so generous sized room in a broken down house in a lousy neighorhood about a mile and ahalf from the med school of his uni. He bikes to the medschool and takes the free shuttle to his campus 3 miles from there. He pays about $60 a month for his accomodation in a smallish city. His room and board at the college would run about $7k for an average double room and standard meal plan. The college estimate for other expenses including books, transportation, etc is about $2K.<br>
Just to let you know, my older son who is now out of college does not clear $20K and year. And his job requires a pretty long distance of driving, a reason that he is looking for something closer. He is having a tough time making ends meet. And he cannot take low interest loans to subsidize his costs.
Both boys live in much higher cost areas than you do, and I can tell you right now that they cannot afford to be married at this point unless the wife can throw in a nice amount of money to the budget. An apartment of one's own is just not in the picture.<br>
When my husband and I were first out of school, we lived in a real dump, a dangerous neighborhood because we could not afford any more since we were paying off school loans instead of living off them at that time.<br>
The only thing that I see is a mitagating factor is that you are a disabled veteran. You need to talk to the agencies that work with these issues. They may have suggestions. I know I don't sound very sympathetic, but I can tell you that I scrimped for so many years while in college and immediately out, that my standards are far lower for those in that situation. Cars? Apartments? Luxeries I could not afford those days. It may well be that you cannot afford that school since you NEED a car to get there, and you cannot get a cheap room to live in near by and you don't have family that can put you up. My husband's cousin and wife are living in a semi finished basement at their parents' house right now while he is trying to get through some program. He too is a veteran, and they don't have a dime to spare. The school which is vocational in purpose is in an expensive suburb, so he would not have been able to attend had he not had family there. There were other situations they would have preferred, including independent living, but they just could not afford it. Both of them are working 2 jobs a piece even with maximum aid from the military, government, and school. The thing is, even when he finishes, I don't know where they will live if they stay in the area, as the average income for someone finishing that program is about $25K, and the average cost of housing is going to stretch that income, especially with loan repayment. The wife will have to continue working if they are going to make ends meet even without the school situation.</p>

9

<p>you are incorrect in that it DOES affect them, bcos if they make an exception to policy for you, they have to make it for eveyone. Thus, if they raise their off-campus living budget to, say $20k, they would have to provide that finaid number to every other student, to avoid discrimination and other rules. (And, if they raise it that much, the masses might move off campus since that is a very generous amount.)</p>

10

<p>didn't the military pay you to attend school?
thats how my brother got his degree-
some states even give hefty discounts to veterans especially injured ones
my brother was certified disabled upon discharge ( from genetic hearing loss ) and his daughter was given a free ride at Indiana Bloomington, even though she was a resident of another state, and he had only just moved to Indiana
I would check with veterans affairs
<a href="http://www.va.gov/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.va.gov/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

11

<p>
[quote]
Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford, Oklahoma. It's a small town with very little economy other than what is generated by the massive school. I cannot work due to disability from Marine Corps service in Iraq. I get money from the VA for it, but not enough. I am taking 24 credits, so my job IS school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>How disabled are you? Do you feel comfortable sharing that on this board? If you don't then it is alright. Is the VA paying for your schooling? Or did they put you touch with people who set you up on a Disability Rehabilitation Program? Have you spoken with the VA, like emeraldkity4 said? </p>

<p>
[quote]
I do not feel that they should foot the entire bill. I do feel that they should do research and provide for a demographic-based cost average for necessities such as rent, food, and transportation. Look at your Federal Student Loan info packet that shows what costs are approved for using the loans on....those are the categories that should apply.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Yeah, I am 32 and when I used to have the student loans, I never thought of them as cost of living supplements. You either budget and live like how cptofthehouse stated or you go part time and pay out of pocket. Do not get caught in the trap that you should have everything on God's green Earth provided for through your school. That is very unrealistic, especially in Oklahoma. Oklahoma, as a whole, does have one of the lowest economic standards of living going. You need to please speak with the VA and move on from there. Just like, no offense, how one who can work (once again, I mean no offense, I swear) may have to work a second job to pay for things while they are getting schooling. </p>

<p>
[quote]
IE: If the average cost of a 1bd apartment in Weatherford, OK, is 300 dollars and my rent cost is 400 dollars...I don't think that they should cover the 100 dollar difference. I do, however, think that they should cover the 300 dollars. At this point, they are asserting that you should be able to rent a 1bd apartment for 160 dollars per month, but you cannot even find a single wide trailer for that much. The lowest I was able to find was 240, but the average was 325.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>So what is the VA paying for again? Do they help you pay for your housing? I know that our veterans always get the raw end of the deal, but what are the monies you receive from being a veteran going towards, again? Could you not rent a room? Or does your disability make that unrealistic? </p>

<p>I live in, sadly, one of the most bankrupt and crime ridden cities in the US. So, I only have a smidgen of sympathy for your situation, because it seems to me that you desire for scads of things to be fully funded for you on the basis of what you perceive to be necessities. People thinking like you do, or seem to, helped bankrupt the city I live in. You move where I live, and you would "get" barely anything for being a veteran, and schooling would be the last thing on folks minds for you. You should figure something out and then thank GOD you live in Oklahoma. Heck, move to Tulsa. Move to Oklahoma City.
But, in life, sometimes, you have to learn to make due. When you are stuck with lemons, make lemonade. If you honestly cannot live at all without others paying for every little last thing in life you need while you take 28 credit hours at school, then you might want to sit down with your family and seek some sort of guidance.</p>

12

<p>At most colleges the cost of living in addition to tuition is books+dorm+meal plan+Misc.....The number varies between 10 k - 13 k.</p>

13

<p>Your cost of living for living off campus for financial aid purposes covers room and board.
If your apartment is 400 a month that is $4800 (I'll give you the whole year bc most places make you rent for the whole year.)
Ten months of food and utilities costs you over $20,000? I have the feeling you are including stuff in there that is not covered by financial aid.</p>

14

<p>
[quote]
I cannot work due to disability from Marine Corps service in Iraq. I get money from the VA for it, but not enough

[/quote]

[quote]
I go see the school fin aid office and they tell me that I'm over budget per their "cost of living (a school specific internal cost breakdown of living in this town)".
I get a copy of this budget and it shows I should live on 11,100 per year IF I LIVE OFF CAMPUS.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>If that would be, I assume, 11k in addition to all of your VA benefits and everything, then that is super fair for Oklahoma. Now, if you are a married father of four, then heck no! 11k in addition to your VA benefits and everything is nothing. But, for one person in Oklahoma, that is actually a fair amount of money. Most especially when one thinks of how you already obtain monies and whatnot from being a veteran.</p>

<p>
[quote]
I go through every one of my bills over the last year and come up with a VERY CONSERVATIVE figure of 26500. This is with 300/month for gas, which is not realistic given my distance from the school.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>
[quote]
...I prove that it takes AT LEAST 21500 to live, and that's barely making it with no furniture in a studio apartment eating ramen noodles. </p>

<p>I present this to the FinAid director. She takes 3 weeks looking it over. She writes me a four sentence email stating that she thinks everything is fine and she's not changing her mind. </p>

<p>I tell her to PROVE I can live on her stats, show me the references for her info, or give me an increase to 21500. I tell her that saying "You can live on this because I say you can" doesn't mean squat. If I wrote a paper with no references, I can expect an F.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You are asking for way too much to be handed to you. I have sympathy for the fact that you are a disabled veteran, but you are truly asking too much from this school. I understand that you are taking 28 credit hours from this school, and to quote you, your schooling is your job?! That is a dangerous way for us grown students to think. You have to truly plan out what you are going to do when you are done with schooling, what with it being (as you stated) your job and all?!</p>

<p>But, you are totally overdoing things here. You need to really stop and think about things and try to seek guidance from the VA, your family, and maybe even just a really good pal of yours or something.</p>

15

<p>
[quote]
Make an appointment and talk to the college president. Be polite. The rhetoric that you're using here would cause many very understanding people to close their ears.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I have a couple more entities to talk to before I get that high. I want it to look as if I exhausted all efforts before I came to him - not just barged into his office and said "fix it!"</p>

<p>
[quote]

Pray that the college president or financial aid office doesn't notice your posts here, which state your concerns in a rude way, and may cause your college to fail to listen to your concerns although your concerns seem to have merit.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Not worried at all about that. The FinAid office has already told me to take a hike, so if they see it, it's no loss. I agree that I would NEVER go walking into ANYONE'S office with this demeanor. I am upset and with the guarantee of anonymity, I let it out a little. Not to worry.</p>

<p>
[quote]

If the college president won't help, take all of your concerns, your survey, etc. to the school paper, and help them understand how what you're going through is an important story with implications for other students. It also is the type of story that could win the reporter awards.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Someone mentioned that, and I have already added to my list to write a deviation to the report I wrote that will present well to a school paper.</p>

<p>
[quote]

Also call your state legislator (I assume that you're a state resident), and tell the person's aide your concerns. The legislator can put pressure on the college. Legislators like to support war vets, too.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>I have three letters on my desk waiting to be mailed if it comes to that to those exact people. I want to work UP the chain of command - no need to cause fallout by jumping it.</p>

<p>
[quote]

Southwestern OK shouldn't require $26K to attend school IMHO. You're right, the economy isn't there so rents are cheap. They are paying you to live like a student, not like a 28 year old adult wants to live. Get a roommate or 3 like most students. If you don't like the deal, get a job in OKC and attend CC or OU in the evenings.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Well, I know for a fact it does. This is NOT to say that I think Southwestern college should foot the ENTIRE bill. I am just stating that 26K is what it costs me to live.</p>

<p>Also, it is important to note, no matter how you look at it, it is impossible to find ANY housing for 161 dollars per month (rent AND utilities). Even with a few roomates, it's impossible. That is one of the main reasons this is an issue. They are saying "Here's your cost of living and you can live on it because I say so." If they were required to show documentation as to how they arrived at that figure, it WOULD change without a doubt.</p>

<p>
[quote]

you are incorrect in that it DOES affect them, bcos if they make an exception to policy for you, they have to make it for eveyone. Thus, if they raise their off-campus living budget to, say $20k, they would have to provide that finaid number to every other student, to avoid discrimination and other rules.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>A two-hour phone chat with a FinAid counselor from OSU revealed that they have a system in place that will allow 80% of my costs (of the 26k budget) AND mileage/gas. They CAN do it. They choose not to without any reason other than resistance to change. I would think that they would be more worried about discrimination problems in the matter of them covering 100% of what it costs to live IN the dorms and only 52% of what it costs to live outside the dorms. Without a viable explanation, THAT is discrimination.</p>

<p>
[quote]

If your cost of living figure of $20k+ does not include tuition/books/fees, you are dreaming if you think a school should subsidize that.

[/quote]

It DOES include books and tuition per their stated rate.</p>

<p>
[quote]

didn't the military pay you to attend school?
thats how my brother got his degree-
some states even give hefty discounts to veterans especially injured ones
my brother was certified disabled upon discharge ( from genetic hearing loss ) and his daughter was given a free ride at Indiana Bloomington, even though she was a resident of another state, and he had only just moved to Indiana

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Military pays 1034 per month, but only for three years. Then it's gone.</p>

<p>Yes, my dependent children will get 4 years free college at the institution of their choice.</p>

<p>
[quote]

Your cost of living for living off campus for financial aid purposes covers room and board.
If your apartment is 400 a month that is $4800 (I'll give you the whole year bc most places make you rent for the whole year.)
Ten months of food and utilities costs you over $20,000? I have the feeling you are including stuff in there that is not covered by financial aid.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>The three categories they use on their COL matrix is room (monthly payment plus utilities), board (cost of food), Personal (cost of tolietries, entertainment, health insurance, miscellaneous, etc), and Transport (cost of the vehicle, vehicle insurance, vehicle maintenance, and vehicle registration). These are the definitions straight from the mouth of the FinAid dept. </p>

<p>Recalculate your stats. You included only rent. </p>

<p>
[quote]

If that would be, I assume, 11k in addition to all of your VA benefits and everything, then that is super fair for Oklahoma.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>Nope, that is not correct. 11k PERIOD. Regardless of benefits. The benefits I receive count AGAINST that 11k. Yes, I know, unbelieveable. If my VA benefits DID NOT count against that figure, I would perfectly happy. I earned the benefits with years of my life to the Corps and money I contributed, and yet now they count against me. Amusing enough is that if I go mow the lawn at the college and get paid in "tuition dollars", it DOES NOT count against the 11k. If I give 5 years of my life to my country and contribute $1,200.00 to a fund, it DOES count against me. Sigh.</p>

16

<p><a href="http://www.swosu.edu/sfs/index.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swosu.edu/sfs/index.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.swosu.edu/administration/registrar/veterans/%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swosu.edu/administration/registrar/veterans/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.swosu.edu/administration/registrar/veterans/faqs.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swosu.edu/administration/registrar/veterans/faqs.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p><a href="http://www.swosu.edu/administration/sfs/applyaid/costattend.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swosu.edu/administration/sfs/applyaid/costattend.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>^They do not seem to be horrible in the realistic expectations they have^</p>

<p>
[quote]
Well, I know for a fact it does. This is NOT to say that I think Southwestern college should foot the ENTIRE bill. I am just stating that 26K is what it costs me to live.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No, not if you read this link here. <a href="http://www.swosu.edu/resources/tuition.asp%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.swosu.edu/resources/tuition.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

<p>What you claim to be currently obtaining from the VA for "only" three years should more than cover your schooling and everything. How much more do you want from others? Jesus Christ, man. </p>

<p>Think about it. You have spent all of this time doing all of this research and whatnot. And, the whole time, you are going to one low priced school. And, you get over a grand a month for three years? And, you live in one really cheap area of the country? </p>

<p>Move on. Just try to finish your schooling up and see what type of job you can get or something. My goodness. You are starting to contradict yourself. My God, man, you could pay out of pocket at your really inexpensive school and work with the VA on re-entering the workforce. </p>

<p>I know tons about Oklahoma, do not try to fool me. You need to finish things up and move on, brother. Call the VA and try to get back on the ball with working. If you can do all of this "research" and whatnot, then you are fit to go back into the workforce.</p>

17

<p>
[quote]
What you claim to be currently obtaining from the VA for "only" three years should more than cover your schooling and everything.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>LOL. Right. You OBVIOUSLY don't live here. It's cheap here, but not free. Besides, it's not like gaining access to a Federal Loan is a free ride. </p>

<p>I have 8 personal interviews in my research from random people documenting that you are incorrect, and I have AT LEAST 15 students who are acquaintances who have read my report and agree wholeheartedly that this is a problem. </p>

<p>Let's get back on topic. The whole point of this situation was you CANNOT live on 11,100 per year. Period. It's impossible. And the fact that they say I can doesn't change that. I want them to document their numbers and they are refusing. That is the scope of the discussion.</p>

<p>Thank you folks for your contributions, those that mentioned people I could talk to. I appreciate it. It seems the turn-the-poster-into-the-problem factor is starting to set in for some, so I will take my leave now. Again, thanks to those that contributed. I appreciate you helping me.</p>

18

<p>
[quote]
LOL. Right. You OBVIOUSLY don't live here.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>No, as you can tell from my nic and the location stated a bit under it, I obviously do not live in Oklahoma. I do, however, have two members of my family who live where you go to school- one of them teaches where you go to school. Why do you think I claim to know of Oklahoma soo well? But, that means nothing, eh? </p>

<p>No big deal. You are turning a deaf ear to anything that is not in keeping with what you want to hear. That is fine. I wonder, however, what you are going to do later on down the line. </p>

<p>
[quote]
Let's get back on topic. The whole point of this situation was you CANNOT live on 11,100 per year. Period. It's impossible. And the fact that they say I can doesn't change that. I want them to document their numbers and they are refusing. That is the scope of the discussion.

[/quote]
</p>

<p>You really need to go to the VA and try to re enter the workforce. I know you do not want to hear that, but you really need to work along with the VA as well as your school. And, yes, people can live on 11k a year, it might kill your soul to do it, but it can be done where you live.</p>

<p>I do not think that this is a "turn the poster into the problem" type of nonsense. That is actually not my scene at all, but it is a cute cop out. I think that is what you want to think in lieu of hearing of anyone trying to rationalise your situation. Your situation is not as bad as you think. </p>

<p>You are 28 years old. You served your country. You temporarily obtain income from serving your country. You attend a rational minded school which could very well work with you, if you followed their rules. Depending on the nature of your disability, you really need to try and re enter the workforce and move on. </p>

<p>It is swell that you researched this and that. But, this and that is not going to assist you pay your rent and astronomical living costs (by Oklahoma standards) when your benefits dry up, alright? You have to work with your school as well as the VA.</p>

19

<p>personally- as a taxpayer- I would rather my money go toward K-12 education or toward helping someone obtain their first BA than someone recieving their 2nd or to allow them to attend graduate school</p>

<p>Some of us don't believe that "we" have money to burn to subsidize students who already had their shot at obtaining a college degree.</p>

<p>Schools aren't obligated to subsidize the cost of living for students unless they are living on campus anymore than businesses are obligated to pay workers a living wage.</p>

<p>Lots of us had to make choices about whether to go to college or not, and under what circumstances.
Its not easy- but making adult choices is part of being...* an adult! *</p>

20

<p>in case I be taken for a republician ;)
let me also say that I think it is reasonable to allow students who live off campus the same allowance, for living expenses as if they were on campus
so if room and board on campus are $7,000, then they should be given that allowance off campus
That isn't usually the case however, because some of the money that the school recieves for room and board may go toward building maintenance costs as it did at my daughters school
When she lived off campus, although our total expenses to the school were lower because she also paid for her own meals, the allowance for living expenses in aid was also lower.
( I also think businesses should pay a living wage- in a perfect world- but they aren't obligated to)</p>