<p>I'm under 21 and have been estranged from my parents for more than 9 months. I want to transfer to a private school, but since my parents' incomes are so high, I won't be able to get any financial aid. Will banks let me take out all the loans that I need? Or am I screwed just because I happen to have wealthy parents?</p>
<p>You would probably need to check with the banks. To be honest, most banks require some kind of collateral (oh that's not spelled right) for a loan. Unless you have sufficient assets to support getting a loan yourself, you would likely need a cosigner, and especially since you are under 21. And the more you want to borrow, the more collaterol you would need. If you had that much in assets, you probably would NOT need a loan. For substantial loans, the banks need evidence that you will be able to repay the loan...that usually means job security, income, and assets of some kind...and a good credit rating too. I guess I have to ask...given what seems to be a precarious financial situation for you, why do you want to transfer to a private school (presumably from a public that is less expensive...maybe that isn't the case but that is sort of implied in your post)? You could attempt to gain independent student status, but since your parents apparently provided substantial support to you in 2006 (for at least part of the year), you would have a hard time proving long term lack of contact with them. So...check with the banks...and check with the finaid offices. In most cases, student in your shoes still must include parent income/assets on finaid applications. It's not easy to become independent for finaid purposes...and it's also not easy to get loans (without a cosigner) when you are under 21 for significant amounts of money. It's even hard for the under 21 group to get a car loan without a cosigner!!</p>
<p>Check with lawyer/acct. I believe if you could prove that your parents have not been supporting you, you could declare financial indepence. What it would mean is that when you apply for financial aid they would no longer look at your parents' income/asset, but of yours. You probably would then be qualified for aid, unless if you have trust fund or other asset that your parents or grandparents have set up for you.</p>
<p>You cannot declare independance for financial aid purposes. There are a list of questions you have to answer (over 24, married, veteran etc) and unless you can answer yes to one of them you are considered a dependant. My son for instance dropped out of college for a couple of years and has been completely financially independant - but is returning to college and is a dependant for financial aid purposes (which is a killer finaid wise as half his income is taken towards his EFC and it all went to pay rent and bills). It also does not matter whether you are claimed or not as a dependant for tax purposes. In very rare instances financial aid officers can do some sort of overide but there has to be proof of no contact for years. A lawyer or accountant cannot overide the dependancy rules - only financial aid officers and this is rare.</p>
<p>I don't want to imply that the OP shouldn't try...but in most cases even students who have been living in their own apartments, with full time jobs, and no support from their parents still must use parent assets for finaid purposes. The criteria for being an emancipated minor (and thus independent as an under 25 year old) requires not only that the student not have any support from their parents but also evidence of long term estrangement (which means no contact, no visits, no phone calls, nothing) from their family. Otherwise lots of kids and parents would simply stop "talking to each other" for finaid purposes, and it's just not that simple. Of course there are those situations where a child is truly independent so...ask questions etc. But remember that independence for finaid purposes is very different from independence for tax and support purposes.</p>
<p>I helped a student out with declaring herself financially independent last school year -- she was applying to three schools (one public, two private). She was 20 and had been supporting herself since she was 17. Had been kicked out of the house by mom -- and broke all contact with mom. She held a job, paid all bills herself, the whole thing -- for almost 3 years by the time she was applying to college. Dad was never in the picture -- birth certificate said unknown.</p>
<p>All three colleges required copious amounts of paperwork -- letters from employers, tax returns, signed leases in her name, detailed records of how she had supported herself over the previous three year period with documents to back it up. they also wanted 3-5 letters from someone "in a position to know the truth regarding the situation who is not also related to the applicant" which was a friend, an employer and someone from her church. </p>
<p>the public university and one private school allowed her to become financially independent -- the other private school said that they did not have enough information to change her status. </p>
<p>It is very, very difficult to become financially independent for FA reasons -- so many people have "played" the FA game and most loopholes are closed</p>
<p>The bigger reason schools make it so difficult is because the regulations which allow for dependency overrides minimize the acceptable standards and financial aid administrators can personally be hit with severe fines and jailtime for violating federal regulations. I know in my office, dependency overrides do not happen without extreme documentation which prove either of the two given resons: has no contact with the parents and does not know where they are (and the student has not been adopted by someone else); or has left home due to an abusive situation.</p>
<p>I don't expect ANY financial aid. What I'm worried about is getting loans. I guess I could get my parents to sign some paperwork, but the question, really, is this: Is it possible for someone whose high-income parents won't pay for his college to take out enough loans to cover about two years of private school (so somewhere around $80k)?</p>
<p>I don't see why banks wouldn't want to put someone into debt, but I could be wrong.</p>
<p>the problem is that you have to be able to show that you have the ability to pay the debt -- and as a college student, you don't hold down a full-time job and probably don't have good, established credit. The banks aren't interested in loaning money if they can't be reasonably assured that you will pay it back -- otherwise it is a losing proposition to them.</p>
<p>and you aren't anymore "screwed" than anyone else. Any student, no matter how rich or how poor, would be in the same position as you if parents wouldn't fill out the FAFSA or contribute money to school. </p>
<p>Why is it so necessary for you to incur $80,000 in debt to go to a private school?</p>
<p>The answer to your "is it possible" question is no. </p>
<p>The best thing for you would be to continue attend a public university that you can afford on your own. Keep in mind that when you apply to grad school you won't have this problem -- in most cases, graduate-level students are presumed independent and do not have to provide information about parental income -- so you may very well be able to attend a private grad school later on. </p>
<p>$80K is way too much for a young person to take on in debt.</p>
<p>sorry, no one will loan you that kinda of money, and that kind of debt is not advisable. </p>
<p>hsmom: the key to the 20-year that you helped was financial self-sufficiency for more than one year.</p>
<p>Actually, my son was financially self-sufficient -- though not "estranged"-- for 3 years, and he was still dependent for financial aid purposes when he returned to school at age 23. Now... age 24, that's another story. </p>
<p>My son simply opted for an in-state public that he could afford.</p>
<p>the 20 year old I helped had not only been self-sufficient for several years -- the relationship with her mother was abusive (involving drugs and a violent boyfriend of her mothers) and she was able to document that situation. She also had had no contact with her mother since she left the home -- although she did know where she was living (and that clause "not able to locate" was why the private school turned her down for aid). It was the relationship that was the key, I was told -- in addition to the length of time. If she had been kicked out of the house because her mother thought she was rude or she wasn't following the house rules, it wouldn't have counted. She was lucky in that the months preceeding her getting kicked out, there were two domestic dispute calls to the house and she had the police records to back up her story. I was surprised at how much "proof" the FA people required, but I can definitely see the potential for abuse.</p>
<p>hsmomstef,
I just want to say thank you for posting. I have been dealing with helping a student and your posts, along with some PMs from other CCers have really helped me. We ended up not being able to do the independent thing (based in part on your posts I could see that I did not have all the backup that I would need).<br>
Went a different route that (fingers crossed here) should work.</p>
<p>you are welcome! hope it all works out!!</p>