Deceased Parent and No Income: What to do?

Hello!

My name is Tara, and I am 19 years old. I am looking to start my education at Penn State University this upcoming semester.

In this January of 2019, my father unexpectedly passed away. He was our only source of income. My mother has been battling breast cancer since 2017 and is still undergoing treatment/ surgeries to fight this aggressive form off. Therefore, she does not work. After my fathers passing, she is now eligible and receiving disability but shes getting in a month what my father would get in a week. . .

We were kicked out of our home when my father passed and my sister had to help us buy a new house since she was the only one who had the credit for it. We are wiped out of money and struggling to survive in this new life without my dad.

I’m just wondering how I am going to afford college? Can anyone help me?
I applied for fafsa and when that goes through I will apply for my state grant.

But does anyone have any resources for scholarships or other resources that can help me in this situation?

Thank you so much,
sincerely confused and first time user of this site in desperate need of assistance and support.

You need to file an appeal with the FA office at Penn State. There should be a form on the website. It will ask for your prior income and assets and for the new situation, how you are paying bills, all sources of income, etc. It may ask for a copy of the death certificate.

When you complete the FAFSA for the next year, which will be available Oct 1, you will have to split out the income your father earned in 2018 from your mother’s income (assuming they filed taxes together). Even then, you may still be appealing FA for the 2020-21 school year. Just keep plugging along.

You may not receive enough in FA. Penn State is expensive and there isn’t always enough FA to cover the costs. You need to work with the FA office.

I am so sorry for your loss. Do call the Director of Financial Aid and the Dean of Students , follow up with emails.

There should be a reassessment of your financial aid. Penn State does not guarantee to fully meet financial aid, so no guarantees on what will happen. Hopefully, an affordable new aid package will be put together for you.

When you say you are starting this upcoming semester…does that mean right now? Is your fall bill paid?

I’m sorry for your loss and all of the changes you are dealing with. Have you considered deferring your acceptance to college for a year to sort things out? This would give you time to look at whether this college will be affordable, and to explore what other options you have.

Even with your state grant, and a full Pell…I’m not sure your costs at Penn State will be covered.

@mommdc do you have any input here?

I’m sorry about the loss of your dad.

Did you graduate high school in 2019? Are you attending Penn State now? Or for Spring 2020?

So you are just now filing the FAFSA for 2019/20? It uses 2017 income so your mom’s disability income shouldn’t need to be reported yet. But you will need to ask the financial aid office how to remove your father’s income from 2017 , if your parents filed their taxes jointly for 2017 tax year.

The state grant form had to be filed before May 2019 I think for the 2019/20 year PHEAA grant.

I don’t think Penn State main campus will be affordable for you.
It’s about $30,000 a year for an instate student. Highest Pell is about $6,200 and state grant about $3,772 I believe.
The student loan for freshmen is $5,500.

Can you commute to any schools? A Penn State branch maybe?
They might give you merit and with a part time job it might be affordable.

Look into starting at a local community college would should be much more affordable. Work hard for good grades and see what your transfer options are later.

There aren’t community colleges in commuting distance everywhere in Pennsylvania.

Op, @TaraNoell , we don’t have enough information to help you.

You say you were going to start at Penn State this semester which has started by now, the Fall 2019 semester which is the first term of the 2019-2020 school year.

You would have gotten your financial aid package upon acceptance at Penn State which would have been earlier this year, likely after your father died. If you filed FAFSA before he died, you would have used his income figures. His death is an event that certainly calls for a redo of the FAFSA and the Financial aid officer would do this for you.

I understand this has been a tumultuous year, with your dad’s death, your mother’s health issues, the ensuing financial crisis including loss of your home and having to resettle.

Where exactly are you now in terms of college? Are you talking about the main campus of Penn state or a satellite school? Were you planning to commute from home or were you going to live on campus?

Have you talked to the Financial aid office , and have they been able to come up with funds to make this semester possible for you?