<p>All students who complete the FAFSA are eligible to take out a 5500 federal loan for the first year of college. This amount goes up slightly each year to 7500 each year for junior and senior year. Students whose families are low income also can qualify for a Pell grant from the federal government. Some states also have state loan and grant programs for students who qualify. </p>
<p>Most of the substantial aid for college is provided by the college itself either in the form of merit or need based scholarships. Most schools that offer substantial need based aid require additional information from the family about resources and assets.</p>
<p>The expectation is that the student and their family are the first in line of responsibility for paying for college. If all 18 year olds could indicate on the FAFSA that their parents will not pay for college and as a result receive additional federal grants, most families would likely instruct their children to say this. Honestly, the $5500 in loan and $5500 in Pell grant is still not going to be enough to pay for a “sleep away” college experience.</p>
<p>If a “sleep away” college experience is important to the student’s family, and they can afford it, the expectation is that that they will pay for it, or at the very least help the student pay for it out of saving, current income, and future income… AKA loans. High stats students can seek out merit aid directly from the schools regardless of income. Some schools do offer substantial merit aid to high stats students.</p>
<p>With 5500 in federal loans and a full Pell grant a student can likely commute to a local college. If a student’s family does not qualify for a Pell grant, and the family cannot (or will not) help with college expenses the student can still take out the 5500 loan, work, and go to college … perhaps part time… But maybe full time if they can commute and earn a substantial amount over the summer to pay towards tuition.</p>