<p>I am a 24 year old single mom living with family and it is a very bad situation. I got my GED in December and want to start college in September. I already filled out fafsa form and got an email saying</p>
<p>I got an email from fafsa saying </p>
<p>You may be eligible for the following:</p>
<p>Pell Grant Estimate - $5,550.00
Direct Stafford Loan Estimate - $9,500.00</p>
<p>You may also be eligible to receive other federal, state, or institutional
grants, scholarships, and/or work-study</p>
<p>It only says I may be elgible, when will I actually know if I am approved? I was trying to look up loans/grants/aid because I want to move out on my own while in school but no money to do so and I heard some grants/loans/aid can help you with that. </p>
<p>I am going to school for pre-reqs to get into an ASN (associate degree in nursing) program. I plan on attending a community college in Virginia or West Virginia</p>
<p>Is your situation so bad at home that you can’t commute to college from work?</p>
<p>It would not be a good idea for a single mom to borrow much for your degree. You’re going to need all of your income once you graduate to pay for yourself and your child.</p>
<p>You need to go to school in your OWN state. Going OOS will just cost you in OOS fees and won’t likely be affordable. You may only get that Pell Grant for free money.</p>
<p>I live in Virginia and am about to move someplace else in virginia or west virginia. I have been trying to find a job for a year with no luck.</p>
<p>YES my situation at home is VERY bad. I have verbally abusive parents and they drain me of every cent I have made. Both my parents do not work and my little sister and her husband live with them and are about to have a baby, neither work, my older sister also lives with them and does not work. Me and my grandmother are just suppose to keep on supporting them, I get $228 a month from social services which my parents take. They are all lazy and will not get jobs and live like slobs. My mom has dogs she lets just pee and poop all over the house and that is disgusting and nobody should have to live like this especially a child. </p>
<p>I had put college on hold because of them and now yet again my parents are trying to make me put it off because they want me to keep trying to find a job and help pay for things while they just lounge around, I am 24 and tired of cleaning up there mess and supporting them, they are adults and need to start acting like it</p>
<p>^Amen! It sounds like you need to get out of there asap! In addition to paying instate tuition, I believe Virginia also has need-based grant programs (make sure you apply for those on time if they use an app separate from FAFSA), so you’d likely be better off staying in the state you currently have residency in. If you can move to an area with better employment opportunities and apply for some assistance for your child while you’re in school, that should help you get through without taking on too much debt. Good luck!</p>
<p>You must move out. However, since you’ll only get instate rates in VA, you need to stay in VA. Besides, VA has better schools and likely better aid.</p>
<p>Do you get any child support for your child? If not, you probably need to pursue that.</p>
<p>But, seriously, do NOT take out excessive loans. They are VERY hard to pay back and you have the additional expenses of a child that most new grads would not have.</p>
<p>My prayers are with you. I would think that the areas of Virginia with more employment opportunities are also the areas with much higher cost of living. I think you are better off considering low cost of living areas, maximizing grants and benefits (can you apply for food stamps?), and keeping your working hours to a minimum. With a child and school, this will be tough.</p>
<p>Also, nursing programs are some of the toughest in Community Colleges. They may require SATs, etc.</p>
<p>Chrissy, I agree that student debt as a single mom sucks, but I would like to encourage you to do whatever it takes to move your life forward, and tell you a little bit about how it worked for me. I was your age when I went (back) to university. Through TA-ing for a program at my university, even though I wasn’t a grad student, I ended up later landing a fairly prestigious job through a connection of the prof for whom I taught. I was raising a child alone without child support thereafter, but I was also able to buy a very modest house while servicing my student debt (and not always servicing it well.) A promotion and relocation later, I actually MADE enough money on the sale of my home to retire my student debt. It’s not easy, but some things are worth “fighting” for. Just live as frugally as you can, and do as WELL as you can, and things can work out. There truly is no such thing as a wasted education in terms of quality of life, connections/networks, and broadening a perspective of what it possible. Blessings to you!</p>
<p>Is the OP only needs to go to college for 2 years, then she’ll only end up borrowing about $20k. That isn’t too bad.</p>
<p>however, if she goes to school for longer than that, it can be a real problem. I don’t know how old her child/children is/are, but we all know that kids cost money…not only to feed, clothe, shelter, but also for any daycare or afterschool care that is needed. One child can easily cost a single parent $500-800 per month. That’s why she needs to avoid large debt.</p>
<p>No, if she’s Pell eligible and has a VA state grant too, I’d be very surprised if she could borrow anything close to $20K for 2 years at a CC…I think she’d hit the COA ceiling long before she exhausted her Stafford loan eligibility.</p>
<p>The COA for a CC is not going to be high. Yet, she’s going to need her own apt because she has a child. that cost will be a lot higher than what’s typically needed for a student.</p>
<p>the problem is that her COA may only be about $10k per year, but she’s going to need a lot more than that as a full time student with a child. </p>
<p>So, she might get Pell, a VA grant, and a small loan and “meet COA”…but she won’t be able to live on that with a child.</p>
<p>I would imagine that someone who is going to school full time and has a child to feed, clothe, and shelter is going to have to have about $20k per year. and, she can’t get more aid then COA.</p>
<p>I think you’re forgetting about all of the public assistance programs out there…because she has a child and there will be no other household income, she’s likely able to qualify for food stamps, HUD, HEAP, and daycare assistance.</p>
<p>Yes, that is true. She’ll need to look into all of that. This may be another reason to stay in state. sometime when you change states, you have to wait to qualify for help.</p>