@kos16 I was mentioning the parent loan.
@sybbie719 Thank you a lot for this link!
If your parents were not planning on borrowing the PLUS loan, than that amount you were offered does not need to be considered in the conversation. And for the record, if there was any gap in your budget - your parent should still have access to apply for the PLUS at studentloans.gov.
Every sophomore year student is able to take a $6500 Direct Loan. Every junior year student can take a $7500. This is regardless of family income.
How much in loans were you offered EACH time? And were you offered any other aid.
These Direct Loan amounts are guaranteed to you.
Did you take any Direct Loans for,the fall semester at your CC? If not, you could take the full amount listed above for,the spring term. If you did take loans in the fall, only the balance would be available to you for spring. Please explain.
Now I’m really not understanding your issues!
@kgos16 My parents do not believe they will qualify.
@thumper1 I don’t understand why we’re talking about the old numbers since they don’t matter. The correct loans I was offered were a 2,000 dollar Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan and a 4,500 dollar Federal Direct Subsidized Loan.
Anyways, do you guys think there is a possibility I will even be able to afford to go on any level or should I just go like kill myself?
Oh please. You are entitled to that $6500 Direct Loan. I can’t even imagine what other loan you would have been offered, unless it was a Perkins loan.
Was it a Parent Plus Loan? If your parents applies for a Plus Loan, and is denied, YOU could get an additional $4000 in Direct Loans in your own name.
Can you go to college part time and work full time? Lots of students do that to complete their college degrees.
If your parents fill out the PLUS application and do not qualify, you can get a $4,000 increase for your Direct loans. I would ask your school about this option.
And for what it is worth, we are bringing up the old numbers since you claim there was a disparity between what you were originally offered compared to your current aid package. We are trying to recognize if there was a mistake between the figures that could be addressed to HELP you.
Without the plus they said I would get a 2,000 dollar subsidized loan. Not 4,000. Went through all of this.
That $2,000 figure is incorrect. If the PLUS is denied, you are allowed to borrow the independent student limit for the Direct loans, which is $10,500 TOTAL for a sophomore. If the increased loan amount would exceed your cost of attendance (doubtful), then the amount would need to be adjusted down.
Original loan amount: $4,500 subsidized + $2,000 = $6,500
$2,000 unsubsidized +$2,000 = $4,000
TOTAL = $10,500
With a PLUS denial, the loan amount should look something like this
@kgos16 You’re giving me hope because what you’re saying the opposite of what financial aid told me. I have talked about this situation with family and friends and they all say that this doesn’t sound like something a public university would do.
I think it’s extremely odd that the FA office said that the loan money wouldn’t come in until much later. That is nuts.
I think your school just may have not been clear about the increase regarding each type of Direct loan. I can see where that might have led to some misunderstanding regarding the increase after a PLUS denial.
I have withdrawn because I obviously realize how abnormal this is. I can’t even get financial aid to pick up the phone and I have their direct lines. I just need to know if it seems like if I will get an adequate amount of financial aid when I fill out my 2015-2016 FAFSA for the fall, and it sounds like I will.
If there’s not a 4-year school that you can commute to, you need to find a more affordable option. Check the thread for schools that cost less than $25k for everything.
If your parents can give you $7k, and you qualify for $6500 federal loans, that’s over $13k right there. You could work full-time for a year and probably come up with enough to cover the cost of one of the colleges on that list.
Well if it’s 13k a semester and the 6,500 is 3,250 a semester and lets say my parents get jobs and can give me 3,000 a semester then that still isn’t enough.
Thank you for the information you guys have provided. <3
Is there a 4-year college within commuting distance? If not, you may have to work and save up the money. One of my nieces wasn’t close enough to a 4-year school to be able to commute so she went to a cc then moved to a college town. The federal student loan she got as a junior was enough to pay her tuition and she worked full-time to cover her apartment. She ended up sharing with 4 or 5 other college students, but it allowed her to attend a state school and graduate with a 4-year diploma.
Let’s see what the situation is. I’m not quite clear. Where were you attending school this fall semester, CC or UT? Did you take out ANY loans for this fall 2014-spring 2015 school year? It appears that we are looking at the 2014 FAFSA which uses your parents’ 2013 income for financial aid eligibility. You have yet to fill out the 2015 FAFSA which would use your parents 2014 income.
You do need to see if you can get the thousands in charges for this semester erased. Ask the bursar what the process is, ask financial aid, ask the Dean of students and plead your case hard.
The best thing to do, since things are so tight and you have no money, is to work from now till August and enroll in a local 4 year college to which you can commute. With your parents having a low income for 2014, you may get PELL and TX state aid, both things you need to research, as well as the DIrect Loans, and savings from your job to get you through the next school year. If you focus your credits and school work carefully, you could be done in two years, and have your degree.
The UTs cost about $10K, maybe more for tuition and fees. With Direct Loans, savings from work, and working part time, you can commute to a local one. What 4 year state schools are within commuting distance from you?
If the parents are not citizens(which is my theory about why there was a paper FAFSA), can they even apply for PLUS loans to generate the denial and subsequent 4K of loans? There are a lot of cheaper schools than UT Austin in TX.
OP, are your parents U.S. citizens or green card holders?