<p>I'm a junior in highschool. I have recently began talking to my parents about college. My parents are divorced. Combined, they make about $200,000. I don't have any other simblings in college (in 7-8 years they will be).</p>
<p>They have both made it clear that neither one of them have saved any money for college, nor do they plan to. They will pay nothing.</p>
<p>I am a mid B student, with about a 2.9 GPA, but no extracurriculars.</p>
<p>I really want to go to an out of state college, but this seems extremely unlikely at this point.</p>
<p>I am NOT willing to go into debt to pay for college (including student loans).</p>
<p>I can probably earn about $15K in the course of a school year, but even that won't be enough to pay for an out of state college.</p>
<p>I have talked to my counselor several times, and she's basically told me I've fallen thru a crack in the system.</p>
<p>Is there any way I can get financial aid by saying my parents aren't paying for any college? Or does anybody have any other ideas?</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
<p>Also, if this is posted in the wrong section, feel free to move it.</p>
<p>This question has been posed over and over. Unfortunately, colleges expect your family to come up with their EFC, they won't give you money if they refuse. If the parent you d9on't live with didn't pay child support, you may have a case for their not contributing. Otherwise, you just need to choose a school you can afford. Evgery parent would say thy weren't paying if they could get away with it.</p>
<p>" am NOT willing to go into debt to pay for college (including student loans)."</p>
<p>Why are you not willing to pay for it yourself? You sound like a spoiled brat that wan'ts everything handed to her. (please don't say your a guy)</p>
<p>My families EFC is $29,000 but my parents won't be paying a single penny. I will be 100% on my own will be taking debt to do it.</p>
<p>If you are unwhilling to do what you need to do, then forget college and go get a job at McDonalds.</p>
<p>You sound very much like the situation that I'm in, with a few exceptions:</p>
<p>-My parents are not divorced, but make a decent living. I am the oldest of six children and they are not paying anything for any of us.
-Where we differ is that my education is a big enough priority for me that I am taking out quite a large student loan to pay for my education. It's all about priorities.
-If your parents refuse to pay, then your pricetag is still what the finaid forms say that you and your family can afford. Whether or not you take the loan is up to you. There is no changing you EFC.</p>
<p>"I can probably earn about $15K in the course of a school year, but even that won't be enough to pay for an out of state college."- me in the OP</p>
<p>I plan on using ALL the money I earn to pay for it, but $15K a year isn't going to be enough to pay for an out of state college.</p>
<p>With all do respect I'm not spoiled. I am doing my best to do this.</p>
<p>I'm just asking if any financial aid can take it into consideration.</p>
<p>If you can make 15K that would pay for a big chunk of an in state public schools - what state are you in? Do you have a specific school in mind or just trying to get away? What are you interested in studying?</p>
<p>no no crack
however colleges assume that families are going to contribute as much as they are able- taking money from savings- income and loans to pay for school, before need based aid is available.
Merit aid isn't always linked to need, but most merit aid is very competitive and requires excellent stats , scores & perfomance.</p>
<p>Well Texas is a big state, you could go to a school on the other side and still be far away. Don't get too hung up on where just yet, if you look around these boards you will see that many people do not go to their first choice school in the end. And a major reason is money. But it can be done.</p>
<p>No because if that was all it took to get aid, everyone would do it. And even if that were the case, there is not enough aid to go around. As it is most people are not thrilled with what they get.</p>
<p>Perhaps you haven't been to Texas. The only non-small town areas are Austin (where I live and want to move away from), Dallas, San Antonio, and Houston. They're all pretty much filled with the same kinds of people. I'm looking for a culture change.</p>
<p>You have a problem and you recognize that. Your parents have let you down by not putting aside money for your college education for the last 18 years. They should have been saving something, anything...every year. The fact that they failed to save and are now refusing to assist you out of their current income will not provide you with the magic key to unlock the financial aid box. The system cannot reward bad behaviour and your parents have behaved badly.</p>
<p>Your stats (GPA) are pretty low to get Merit Aid. Unless you have some really excellent outside activities or a hook you haven't shared with us you are not currently a good candidate for Merit Aid.</p>
<p>Your current plan -- moving across the country and going to an expensive private school that can only be financed by taking on unreasonable debt --is a bad idea. How could you ever pay pack this debt on a criminal justice system employee's salary? Even starting out on this path in your current frame of mind sounds daunting to me. You may need to start thinking about Plan B, which would involve a lower cost in-state school for two years followed by a transfer to another school. Get very, very high grades, meet some teachers and try for a transfer and perhaps some Merit Aid. Start to create a record that indicates that you are a student that some school out there wants to attract to their school.</p>
<p>"Your current plan -- moving across the country and going to an expensive private school that can only be financed by taking on unreasonable debt --is a bad idea. How could you ever pay pack this debt on a criminal justice system employee's salary? Even starting out on this path in your current frame of mind sounds daunting to me. You may need to start thinking about Plan B, which would involve a lower cost in-state school for two years followed by a transfer to another school. Get very, very high grades, meet some teachers and try for a transfer and perhaps some Merit Aid. Start to create a record that indicates that you are a student that some school out there wants to attract to their school."</p>
<p>I never said private school; in fact, I'm more keen to a public school.</p>
<p>I don't want any debt.</p>
<p>I've looked into transfer. You have to be a resident of the state, not pursuing an education at the time, for one year.</p>
<p>I've made this to ask if there is a way to make a claim of just my income and not my parents, seeing as that is irrelevant in my situation.</p>
<p>a public school could be more expensive if it is out of state- because aid is reserved for stellar students and instate residents</p>
<p>I don't see the bias against loans
Your education is worth borrowing money for- if you are really that set against loans- then try a few things like
go in military/ROTC
take a couple years off, earn money for school,
improve your application so that the schools will want you to attend and will pay for the priviledge.
UWashington & UOregon are some of the most expensive schools for out of staters.
However U Hawaii is relatively inexpensive and it is far away from Tex.
If you really want to go out of state- it would be a good deal for you in the long run to move- work for a year, then apply to school in state.( this would work only if you were considered independent- otherwise you are probably going to be considered a resident of the state your parents live in-)
But I agree that schools are not going to let your parents off the hook just because they don't want to pay for school.
There are so many other students- frankly with better grades, better scores, and less money available- colleges have limited financial aid available- not every one is Harvard who can waive tuition for those who make less than $60,000 & especially in the case of out of state students, taxpayers will want extra monies to go to state residents- not those from out of state whose parents don't want to open their wallets.</p>
<p>Public schools are often twice the price for out of state residents, that is why we are encouraging you to look in state. For example Penn State's tuition for residents is $11,000, for out of state is $21,000. Add $6,000 to $8,000 more for room and board and the out of state total approaches what it would cost at a private school. (and no you can't just move there and call yourself a "resident").</p>
<p>You have not "fallen through" a crack. You are a kid with two financially well off parents, meaning you don't qualify for much in the way of financial aid. Maybe your parents have fallen through something.... but the system is working the way it is supposed to.</p>
<p>If you don't want to go into debt, and you want to get out of state (perfectly understandable if you live in Texas), and are wiling to work, here are your options: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Figure out which state you want to attend school in. After you graduate from high school, move there. Get a job. Find a place to stay. Work for a year, register to vote there. After you have been there at least one year, on your own, you probably will have established residency, and you should be able to enroll in a community college or one of the less selective state universities. (I'm assuming that with a 2.9 GPA you won't be able to get into the top state universities, but perhaps that depends on the state.)</p></li>
<li><p>Talk to a military recruiter. In fact, talk to several recruiters, from different branches of the service. Those folks are very lonely these days and very happy to talk. Explore options via the military, such as enlistment, joining the reserves, ROTC programs. Just don't sign anything until you have someone knowledgeable go over the papers with you so you understand exactly what you are getting into. Keep in mind that if you get your legs blown off in Iraq it won't help with college plans, so Air Force or Navy is probably a little safer than Army or Marines right now. </p></li>
<li><p>Stay in Texas, but go far, far away. To the big city in Texas that is so far away from you that you forgot to mention it. El Paso. UT El Paso is considered one of the most economical 4-year colleges in the country to attend. It's kind of a nice little campus, too. Attracts a lot of international students, so the campus culture is probably about as cosmopolitan as you will find in Texas. El Paso culture also very different than east/central Texas culture -- heavily hispanic, border town. Tex/Mex. Also a blue-voting area, politically somewhat divorced from the rest of the big red state.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>If you really want to go out of state you are going to have to get loans. Money will not work out any other way because your efc will be too high and most of the financial aid a collelge will give you is loans like the stafford. Of course you do not have to take these out but if the coolege is more than 15k you are out of luck any other way. Once you get your finai report from the school you want to go to you can always talk with them about your personal situation but with your parents making so much money, it is doubful. Your best bet would be to talk to your parents and explain that if they do not give you anything, your education might suffer. I know some parents are real sticklers for their kid to become indepedent as soon as they hit 18 but even if i means paying your parents back one you get a job in a few years it would make college more feasible out of state.</p>
<p>If you are forced to look in-state, then you need to look at Sam Houston State. They have the best Criminal Justice program in Texas and would be affordable to you. If you do well, then you might be able to consider graduate school out of state.</p>
<p>Or, as someone suggested above, you could look at what scholarships the military could offer you.</p>