<p>Hello there everyone. I messed up and really need some advice. Last year for FASFA 2011/2012 I had to put my step father's income even though he wasn't supporting me and my five siblings. He hasn't been living with us since September 2010. But I had to put him on my FASFA anyways because he was still married to my mom. For EFC it was $5,755. So I barely got any help from Financial Aid. I was stupid and went to an out of state university (I did this so I could escape from my step father, he was abusive yadada.... and he later went to prison on October 2011). My mom was all, "Don't worry, we will figure out how to afford this college." Well, she lied. We didn't. We still can' afford it. We didn't get any money from my step dad, not even child support. (He has two kids). Now I owe $7,000. I withdrew from the university December 9th, 2011. </p>
<p>My mom got divorced in January 2012. My mom doesn't have a job. We're getting food stamps and only my sister is working at Walmart. We're getting help paying the bills from my mom's new boyfriend who is now living with us. Our house is going into foreclosure but we MIGHT be able to save it - If not they're moving to Texas. My mom is currently trying to get on social security. Sooo, I don't know what to put on the FASFA since my mom doesn't have a job. My mom isn't going to help me with college, she needs to help herself and my five siblings, obviously my dad can't help, and my grandparents MIGHT be able to help (maybe give me around $100 - $200 a month). </p>
<p>Now, I am getting ready to join the National Guard. They're going to help me with the Loan Repayment Program to pay off the $7,000 loan. The university I want to go to is around $7,400 a year for tuition. The National Guard will give me $4500 for tuition assistance. Which means I will only have to pay around $2900 for the entire year. I will be getting drill pay once a month which would be around $200 and L&I which is $200. That's around $400 a month (That's $5900 including two weeks of drill in the summer.) So, I will have the tuition taken care of.. Which leaves me with $3000 to pay for books, neccesities, gas, car insurance, food, clothing, health and dental insurance, phone bill which would be around $6000, I think. I also will get an apartment instead of a dorm, (Dorm is around $9,000 a year) an apartment would be $417 a month at the on campus apartment... Which is around $3753 a year. Meaning I will have to find out how to pay $6,753.. I think. I could get a part time job, but I'm not sure if I will have time for that since I will be in ROTC as well as being a full time student. But if I do have time, lets say I'll make $9.05 an hour, 10 hours a week... That would be around $362 a month ($3258-ish a year) maybe. Would this be possible? Would I be able to go to college?</p>
<p>Why don’t you take a break from college until you get some basics under control? You need to get yourself situated, get a job, a plan to pay back the $7K. You may not be able to register or be accepted to any program until you pay off what you owe. You should also have a direction as to what you want to study.</p>
<p>First of all, your stepfather should not have even been included for income if he and your mother were separated on the last day of the year for which that FAFSA you filed used. That is now over and done. You don’t want to make mistakes like this again. Your FAFSA for this upcoming school term starting in September 2012 and running though summer of 2013 will ask for your and your mother’s financial situations in 2011 in terms of income for that year, and the assets will be those assets you have on the very day you complete the form. So whether your mother has a job right now or not isn’t the issue. What was her income in 2011? DId she file a return? If she did not, she should, as she would likely be eligible to get the Earned Income Credit and some money back from the government. But your and her current job situation does not come into play for the FAFSA.</p>
<p>IF, and only IF, you can get your situation under sufficient control, and have a directed plan at an affordable college, should you go ahead that direction. Living on your own is very expensive, and for now, you are far better off living with your mother until you get a nest egg built up and enough to pay for your own place. Most funds you get for college are paid on a semester basis and the college takes every cent it has coming to it first, so you aren’t necessarily going to have a windfall on which to live. You also have to pay for things before the money is often deposited. All of those bills you are listing have to be paid and will not wait until you get paid or have the money. Not only do you need to look at the total year amounts, but also how you are going to make the bill payments including paying that pesky $7000 you already owe. Too many people I know get into further debt, trying to use tuition assistance to pay for their living expenses. Yes, it can be done, but it is not easy, and not advisable unless you have a very specific direction. Otherwise, you are using time that you can be working and earning money in school costing money, and often ending up owing more money, as you already have done.</p>
<p>Answer in short is that yes, it is possible for you to go to college but is going to take a lot of research, planning , paperwork, work, and it doesn’t seem to be the best way for you to go right now, given your situation.</p>
<p>siblings. He hasn’t been living with us since September 2010. But I had to put him on my FASFA anyways because he was still married to my mom. For</p>
<p>Too bad no one told you that isn’t true. The moment he moved out, your parents were “separated”…and once that happened, you don’t include his income on FAFSA.</p>
<p>I the check box says “separated/divorced.” Once your SD moved out, your parents were separated. </p>
<p>However, the reason I brought that up is to show how YOU, the OP did not research, read, question and understand the process. You are highly likely to make similar mistakes if you don’t start doing this. You are rushing into areas with half the knowledge and without fully understanding the possibilities, risks and ramifications of what you are doing. Which is the case for most young people, unfortunately.</p>
<p>But in your case, you don’t have parents who can watch your back and financially cover for you, so you need to be extra careful as YOU will bear the full brunt of any mistake you make, as you already have. Don’t rush into sighing up for things without understanding them fully. Higher education is also a business, and the students are the ones supporting it. Make no mistake about it. You are buying a product at the same time and have to investigate all the financing and clauses that go with it.</p>
<p>I thought the Guard program paid actual loans, not past due balances at schools. Make sure you were told right in that regard before you commit, otherwise you will still not be able to enroll at a school while owing the money.</p>
<p>My mom was all, “Don’t worry, we will figure out how to afford this college.” Well, she lied. We didn’t. We still can’ afford it</p>
<p>Your mom didn’t “lie,” so knock that off. She may have been very naive or overly optimistic, but she didn’t “lie.” It’s very likely that she was very overwhelmed at the time, felt very guilty for bringing this abusive man into your lives, and hoped to help with a more positive experience.</p>
<p>Both of you are responsible for not “doing the math” and realizing that the OOS school wouldn’t be affordable. You didn’t have to go OOS to get away from your SD.</p>
<p>Thank you for your help. I know exactly what I want to study in school, I also want to be on the Track & Field team but this dream may not come true…</p>
<p>I didn’t know that I didn’t have to put him on there. It said on the FASFA site that I HAD to. I looked everywhere and everyone one was saying that I had to put him on there and I thought that wasn’t right and not fair… just because he was married to my mom. My mom also told me that I HAD to put him on the FASFA and I didn’t want to of course.</p>
<p>My mom didn’t file for taxes this year. But I will tell her she needs to…</p>
<p>…I never thought to ask the guard that. I will ask. If they can’t help… Then I will be getting money from basic and AIT. </p>
<p>And sorry I said that my mom lied. I understand. I’ve just been really annoyed with her lately because it’s like she doesn’t care at all for my future. No one has been helping me with this and I haven’t been taught how to do things like this. high school’s should really teach everything about the tuition, fasfa, loans and paying for college stuff…</p>
<p>I guess I didn’t HAVE to go out of state. But I was stupid and wasn’t thinking.</p>
<p>Edit. I was just talking to my mom and she said I should do a private loan for the $7000? That way when I go to basic and AIT I could pay most of it off.</p>
<p>Who is going to give you a private loan without a job and/or a co-signer? If you can get one, what will the interest and payment terms be like? Chances are that what you have now is more favorable.</p>
<p>My sister will be the cosigner. She’s been working at walmart for almost 6 years now. I looked into chase, and they said they could help me get a loan to my previous college, immediate payment. I’ll be making around $5000 in the summer, so I can pay most of that off. </p>
<p>My mom just said she’s on welfare. Only getting around $400 a month and social security from my little brother. She said it’s not taxed? So she’s not filling for taxes.</p>
<p>Discusthrower, you mother does not have to file her taxes to pay anything. If she had ANY earned income, she would very likely get MONEY BACK through the Earned Income Credit.</p>
<p>You should not be involving your sister in this. If anything should happen to you, she’ll be stuck with the loan. Plus it goes on her credit report. This is a serous situation that can impact her very negatively, and it does not appear to me that any of you can afford that.</p>
<p>Seriously, look into what needs to be done, whether you prior loan can be repaid. Absolutely do not even think about taking out any more loans until that one is paid. I don’t think your mother’s advice in this area is something that you can count on her knowing considering what has been happening. College and financial aid are not something to take on without serious commitment. Please be aware that student loans are not like a lot of other loans out there. You can be saddled with them for life and so can your cosigner. THey can truly ruin future opportunities.</p>
<p>I didn’t know that I didn’t have to put him on there. It said on the FASFA site that I HAD to. I looked everywhere and everyone one was saying that I had to put him on there and I thought that wasn’t right and not fair… just because he was married to my mom. My mom also told me that I HAD to put him on the FASFA and I didn’t want to of course.</p>
<p>You misunderstood what you read. You likely read where it says that you must include the income of the custodial parent’s spouse (a step-parent)…that statement is ASSUMING that he’s living in the home… However, it also indicates that when married people are separated (live in separate households), then you don’t include the income of the adult who no longer lives in the home. So, you should have included SF’s income IF HE LIVED with your mom…not if he moved out.</p>
<p>discusthrower, you’re not stupid. The FAFSA process is very complex and confusing. Some of the parents on this site who have been dealing with it for years tend to forget that at times, I think.</p>
<p>You owe a large amount of money. Whether it is a loan or not, it has to be paid. If you borrow money, you’ll owe even more. It looks like you might have a plan to handle that balance. Make sure it is exactly as you think it is before going forward. When you have paid off that balance, is when you might want to think very carefully about how you are going to spend your money, savings, earnings or loans (past, present, future income) on education. It’s like buying anything. You have to research it carefully, especially with the costs. A lot of people are in trouble for taking out loans without thinking about what they were getting for them, and without thinking about how they were going to repay them.</p>
<p>It is a very complex process, and I truly applaud you as a student to be making the steps of researching the process. Many of us are parents who have dealt with this before. Some of us have made a number of mistakes in dealing with loans, paying for college, etc. We are trying to help those who are trying to navigate all of this.</p>