My D24 wants to go to a 4 year college so badly, and I just do not see how we can make it work financially. We are in that situation where we won’t qualify for Need Aid, He has good grades, (weighted gpa 3.78/unweighted gpa 3.61) but he is not in the top range of 4.0 to get the most Merit aid. Just feeling defeated.
Is there a 4 yr state college within commuting distance?
How much can you afford?
Does the student have any SAT or ACT scores as well as a 3.61 GPA?
Are there four year colleges within commuting range?
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In addition to budget, how flexible is the student - size, geography and more.
We live in Northern CA in the East Bay. We have a couple schools he could commute to San Francisco State, Cal State East Bay are the closest. I just feel so bad because he really wanted to move away and live in the dorms etc.
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What can you realistically afford? Have you looked at public universities? What state are you in?
Ah California. We have very generous state aid. I assume you do not qualify for any of the Cal grants? What about the Middle Class Scholarship? Have you looked into those?
(And hello from a fellow East Bay resident 
)
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California. As far as I can tell, attending school and living at home would still be out of budget for us. Unfortunately we are living paycheck to paycheck. My husband is Union and after union fees and the HIGH rate of taxes he pays, along with the high cost of living these days. There just isn’t anything left.
As far as I can tell we do not qualify for the Cal Grant. I am not sure about the Middle Class Scholarship yet. (Hello fellow East Bay resident) 
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He is taking the SAT this summer, but had a low PSAT Score, like 970 
He would like to have cooler weather (like Oregon/Washington) because he hates our heat. But other than living away from home and being in the dorms etc. He isn’t looking for much.
ok, we definitely make under that income limit. Thank you for that info!
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He can borrow from the federal gov and work a summer and a part time job. He can start woking and saving this summer. Cal state tuition is fairly low. It is definitely possible for him to cover tuition and commute from home. He may be able to get a year of credit for free through CLEP and AP.
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CSUEB costs about $8k per year tuition and books. It also assumes that a student living with parents costs about $17k in living expenses, transportation, and miscellaneous expenses, but those should be similar to what you are paying for the student while in high school, with a possible exception if you buy a car for the student to use that was not present during high school.
Is your budget on an income too high for financial aid stretched so much that another $8k for four years is unaffordable?
But note that the student can take a $5.5k federal direct loan and work part time for $3k, which could cover college costs beyond living at home costs that you are already paying (of course, the loan would have to be repaid later).
Of course, doing the first two years at community college for $3k tuition and books would save some money.
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Weather at Cal Poly Humboldt is more like Oregon. More expensive than living at home, but more affordable than going out of state. What do you think he’ll want to study?
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Political Science
He could also satisfy his immediate need to get away from home by doing a gap year in a funded service program like City Year. It wouldn’t solve the college funding problem (participants do get some scholarship money after their service, but not a huge amount) but it would allow him to “go away” and gain some valuable life experience, with a cohort of peers.
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There are many colleges that meet financial need - if they determine you have it. Find a school - and run what’s called the Net Price Calculator.
If your income is under $65K and assets low, there’s questbridge.org
He could join the military to get a GI bill - or try to earn a ROTC scholarship to cover costs.
And there’s low cost schools, including this one - Berea.
I do think - when there’s a will, there’s a way. It may be tough and it may involve sacrifice - but perhaps there’s a way.
I’d start off - look at a school like Franklin & Marshall and run the net price calculator. You can google it.
Also, look at Questbridge.
And Berea.
Here’s Every College That Offers 100% Financial Aid (prepscholar.com)
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Have you considered any of the California community colleges that have dorms? 2 years of community college tuition is now nearly free for state residents. Santa Rosa Junior College has new dorms that are almost complete. The housing is still pretty expensive, but I know there are housing scholarships available and it would be worth exploring. Junior colleges also have other scholarships that can be worth applying to.
https://housing.santarosa.edu/
https://www.cccco.edu/Students/Support-services/College-Dormitories-and-Housing
Here are other junior colleges with dorms
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