Hey all, earlier I made a post about my EFC before I had submitted my FAFSA and now I have finally gotten it back. And…our EFC is totally ridiculous. I guess this is just another complaint about “the middle class dilemma” or whatever you want to call it. For a little context, my family makes on average somewhere between 60-80,000 a year. Not exactly a low income but we don’t even own a house, everything goes to rent, bills, and any other expenses attached to raising three children. So my dad pretty much told me I’m on my own for paying for college. Sure, they’ll help however they can but total they can probably contribute about 1,000-2,000 annually, and that’s still a bit of a stretch. Anyway, I filed my FAFSA the day it came out and ended up getting an EFC of…wait for it…
$12,000 a year.
I wanted to die in hole, honestly. I thought my dad’s eyes were going to fall out of his head.
So after I went through a series of meltdowns and believing that I would have to resign myself to a lifetime of fast food management, dad mentioned something that I realized was probably pretty important.
It’s worth noting that the extent of both my parents’ college education was associate’s degrees, so they are just as lost as I am when it comes to anything FAFSA-related. Hence why I’m not asking them. But anyway, the year we had to file on the FAFSA, we made a total combined income of 90,000 with my dad accounting for 80% of that amount. BUT, dad told me the only reason we made that much was because the plant he worked for called for over 15 weeks of mandatory overtime. Which, obviously, is not normal for him. So in previous years/this year, we probably made about 65-80,000 combined. In addition to that, the plant is closing so dad is going to be unemployed in May when I’m getting ready to head off to college (hopefully). I’m just wondering if anyone has had similar experiences/successfully appealed their EFC or financial aid to colleges before? Because 12,000 is more than my parents will be able to contribute for all 5 years combined.
(FYI before anyone brings up CC-I’ve already taken gen eds at my local CC-I’m trying to invest in a 5-year master’s program!)
Sorry for the novel, thanks in advance!
First of all…right now…you need to concentrate your financial hunting on UNDERGRAD school.
- Are there any four year universities within commuting distance of your home?
- While you have completed your general education courses, is it also possible for you to complete some courses towards your eventual major at a community college?
- You can ask for a special circumstances review of your financial aid at each college. At that time, you can point out any reduction in income, loss of employment, etc. You will need to contact each college to see what their process is for this.
BUT if the college doesn’t meet full need, it’s very possible that you still will come up short.
- In a previous post, you mention wanting to be an English teacher, but wanting to go to Mizzou. Are you a Missouri resident? Or do you have sufficiently high stats to get a scholarship there? Otherwise, an OOS public is not likely to be affordable.
- What public schools in YOUR state offer degrees in secondary education? If that is your goal, can’t you get a bachelors, and teaching credential...and then get a teaching job? Some school districts still give partial reimbursement towards masters coursework.
BUT you also posted this…
It’s great that you got an out of state waiver… it how were you thinking you would pay the remaining costs?
- You can take a $5500 Loan in your name for freshman year.
@thumper1 actually, it’s a bit complicated…k-state’s program isn’t an undergrad-to-grad-school type thing. You start working on the arch major right away, that’s why it’s only 5 years for the MA instead of 7. Super convenient and only required about 8 gen ed classes. I’m a MO resident, but with the k-state tuition waiver, Mizzou ends up being quite a bit more expensive for only a BA in a sort of low-paying field so I’m investing a bit more time into k-state. I have okay stats, 3.9 in my college classes during HS, 26 ACT, but nothing fantastic. I was also homeschooled (not my choice) so I kind of got screwed out of opportunities for scholarships related to extracurricular activities. I actually have some savings of my own, it’s pretty sad but I’ve got about enough for one year of room/board. After that, though…once my savings is gone I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do then.
You have to pay instate tuition…plus room, board and personal expenses including books. How much is that…and where will the money come from?
When did you change your mind and decide to be an architect instead of an English teacher.
Did you retake the ACT this fall? Or take the SAT for an improved score?
@thumper1 k-state net price is estimated about 20,000 a year vs Mizzou’s 30,000. My dad works with several k-state interns and recommended it to me, he seems to think it’s worth the investment. Originally he wasn’t going to cosign for any private loans but now he has agrees to, he even talked about how I could “probably pay off around 60,000 in a reasonable time frame”, which left me absolutely floored. The goal is to avoid loans as much as I can, but it seems like unless I get more scholarships private loans are my only other option. And I am retaking the ACT a couple more times because after emailing financial aid they told me scholarships are automatically updated.
Private loans aren’t your only option. You will be eligible for $5500-7500/yr in federal loans (low rate, good repayment plans) and your father doesn’t have to sign for those. You may have some state loans or state scholarship programs available. You can work to earn some money. You might get some need based financial aid. If your father’s plant is being closed, he will get a plant closing notice and that will be important to the financial aid office.
You can’t appeal FA until you have applied for it under the current financial situation of your family (as you did). No way to know if they will grant you any additional fund for that year or future years. If you appeal now, they will look at your financial situation as it is now, and your family had one of the best years income wise. Once your father gets the plant closing notice, start talking to FA.
There are schools that are even cheaper than Kansas. Look at Wyoming, North and South Dakota. Some of the private schools in the Midwest give good merit aid. I’m still confused if you are majoring in education or architecture, but look at Rockford for education. Look at U of Wisconsin Stevens Point (education college); even at full OOS tuition, the COA is only about $18k and I think you’d get some aid.
Students who are from middle or lower income families often find it impossible to avoid loans. No one wants student loans, but many have to take them.
have you had a chance to visit the architecture college on special architecture days/open house days?
My daughter studies architecture; she loves it. It is very very very time-demanding with studio projects. She is in the studio till 2 am probably 3 or 4 days a week. KSU has a great program, but its intense as you mentioned above about the 5 yr program. You will really really want to be sure about it if you were to start it! I know, its hard to know these things as a teen. I started college as a geologist, ended up in journalism. Good luck with decisions.
Oh my! Your dad probably doesn’t realize how many underpaid/unemployed/under-employed architects there are these days. With so much arch software now doing the work, arch’s aren’t needed as much.
@mom2collegekids yeah, I did hear some stuff about it. But my goal is to get certified and establish my own firm, but that’s a super long-term project. Still, architects generally make more than public schoolteachers.
Your dad says it is a good investment… but he is not investing. Just saying.
Actually, architects make less than public school teachers because there are fewer architect jobs and many starting graduates are working for low to no pay: Does your dad work in an architect’s agency? Would you be able to talk with current interns there?
What about construction management? is that something you’d be interested in?
What would you major in? Some states pay teachers relatively well (especially for STEM subjects + bilingual ed/ESL) but investigate seriously where your states of choice rank.
^^^^ i did not want to hear that for my daughter’s sake! Makes me nervous. But, she’s good at it so far. . . . I do know that at my son’s HS, there’s an architect turned teacher. He teaches stagecraft & cad classes.
First, check that you didn’t input anything wrong on our FAFSA. In particular, check that you used the correct year’s tax return.
Second, enter your father as dislocated worker and in additional information write that your father’s plant is closing in July.
Then, increase your act score: Register for November (if you still can- hurry) and December. Merit scholarships increase with you score.
Check to see if your state offers state grants, and apply.
The father is NOT yet a dislocated worker. This is supposed to happen in May 2019. The student can’t list his father as a dislocated worker if he is still currently working when he submits his FAFSA form.
In addition, there is no place on the FAFSA to explain that the plant is closing…no place actually for any explanations on the FAFSA. There is no “additional information” section. That appears on the Profile, but not the FAFSA.
And lastly, for FAFSA purposes, the dislocated worker status only matters if the family income is below $50,000 a year and the student is hoping for simplified needs test (whereby assets don’t count) OR below $27,000 a year if the student is hoping for an auto $0 EFC.
Thanks. I was thinking of the Profile (dislocated worker should open a little box there). 
However it’s still important to email the colleges that meet need to explain the situation, perhaps attaching a notice the father may have received wrt plant closing?
Dislocated worker gets you nothing in terms of the Profile. There is NO simplified needs test or auto $0 EFC for the Profile. Sorry…doesn’t happen.
Once this student’s parent loses his job, he needs to contact the university. NOW he could,find put their process for a special circumstances consideration. BUT remember…some schools won’t consider this for a period of time, because the assumption is that the parent will find another job.
Also, if there is any severance, sick leave buy out or other pay compensation…this IS counted as income. So are unemployment benefits.
@thumper1 Dad did say he’s getting a severance package…but he is using it to actually buy our first house. Which makes sense, I don’t expect my parents to hold off on buying their first house (especially now that they’re in their mid-40s) to send me to college. But, he was still 85% of our income and that’s going to be gone, in addition to the 15 weeks of overtime that contributed to the high income. I don’t think k-state meets 100% need (have not clarified) but I have heard that their financial aid office is pretty accommodating and good about helping people find the aid they need to attend.
It’s nice that he is using the severence to buy a house…BUT that money, if received in 2018, will be considered INCOME for 2018.
K state does NOT meet full need for all accepted students.
I just want to make sure I understand…your dad will use his severence to buy a house…so if he has no job, how will he make all the associated payments? Mortgage, taxes, insurance, etc.
You can contact the school. My office was closed when my kids were seniors in high school. I did contact one school and was told they couldn’t do anything until I was actually done working which was still a few weeks off. But suddenly there was a $2000 award in her portal. Her school didn’t really ‘do’ financial aid but awarded these alum scholarships to students who had need. When I contacted them again during the school year, they used professional judgment to adjust the FAFSA EFC. The hard part was we couldn’t expect this aid year after year.
This daughter also has $20k in loans. It is very hard to avoid loans unless you are at Princeton.
@thumper1 I guess my mom is going to work more? They haven’t exactly figured it out but all I know is that money is going to things we actually need and I don’t blame them. They’re getting closer to their 50s and have literally no assets or anything to put towards retirement. I’m okay with loans but I would really not like to exceed 20-30k for all 5 years, which is starting to seem almost impossible.