Financial Aid/Loans not going to cover college?

<p>Ken, I usually am not a proponent of borrowing. I know too many kids and families in trouble from borrowing way too much. As a rule, i feel that the dependent Stafford amounts are about the maximum a student should borrow except under special circumstances.</p>

<p>But you are an older student. I would consider you a special circumstance and I think this opportunity is a good one for you even borrowing more than what is offered to most students. That is why the independent student exception exists. Also, if you are careful, and you have the maturity to be frugal, you can do better than the COA estimates. It is not going to be easy or fun, but doable. I wish you luck. Heck, this is the way DH and I did college many years ago–on a shoestring budget and loans.</p>

<p>*^^^</p>

<p>I agree that Ken may need to do the amounts of independent loans (or close to it). However, I do think he needs to work over the summer to minimize as much as he can.*</p>

<p>Yeah I work full time (and have been), hence my inflated EFC and wont be putting in my 2 weeks until I leave for college. I do however have the burden of a car payment (and full coverage insurance). Without that financial burden, I would have lots of money but I need a car and it’s almost paid off. The other thing is, I am confident that it will last me until after college when I will be paying back the loan (instead of a car payment). </p>

<p>Marriage is a long ways away for me, I am yet to even get a girlfriend (but that’s a whole other discussion not needed here).</p>

<p>my current income allows me to pay my car with a little left over for gas, and personal expenses. I am slowly saving up at the rate of approx 100-150 per month and currently sitting at around $1,000 saved. I may be able to scrape up around 1500-2000 before classes start.</p>

<p>I know that paying my car will be very difficult once classes start though. My goal was to put as much money aside for the purpose of meeting my car payment. I then plan on using my work-study or part time job income to help with the coa and personal expenses. </p>

<p>Since my part time income will be unkonwn, I plan on taking out loans for the full amount. But if I pay X amount (from work) on semester 1, can I reduce the loan amount for semester 2 as needed prior to it being paid?</p>

<p>Also, is it worth it to at least pay off the interest on the un-subsidized loans while in school?</p>

<p>Yes, you can reduce the loan amount for semester 2 and I think it is worth it to make the interest payment.</p>

<p>I agree with cptofthehouse and mom2collegekids. A student should never have to take out a college loan to fund food (for eating out), transportation costs, buy a car when still going to college (taking out a loan to buy a car when you have a job after graduation is okay), personal stuff (like clothes, etc.) Loans should only be used to pay for tuition, other university fees, housing, a meal plan for the dining common, groceries, textbooks, etc. Even taking out a student loan to fund a meal plan for the dining commons, groceries, and textbooks is a bit sketchy because the student can just get a summer job to break even with said costs.</p>

<p>Well chaospaladin. As far as I understand all of the financial aid is put in to a college “account” at the school I am looking at. I am assuming this money can ONLY be used for tuition, housing etc. The “required” meal plan is also lumped together with the housing (it’s all one fee).</p>

<p>Don’t get me wrong here. I do not need to take out full financial aid and loans for “nights out” or to “pay off my car”, as many people seem to have the assumption. This is what my part time job and savings would be for at first. </p>

<p>Although “nights out” would have to be kept at a minimum, there will be plenty of free extra curricular activities offered by the school. </p>

<p>Due to my lack of “out of pocket” if you will. I do need the loans to fund the:
-Tuition
-Housing and Board
-Maybe some Books.</p>

<p>I plan to take advantage of the cheapest method for textbooks, such as book rentals (which the school does offer). I am hoping this can cut down costs a lot.</p>

<p>*and wont be putting in my 2 weeks until I leave for college. *</p>

<p>Oh good! :slight_smile: and will you be able to work the following summer as well?</p>

<p>:)</p>

<p>Can you ask your parents if you can discontinue paying them while you’re preparing for college?</p>

<p>hopefully, although it would likely just mean either getting more hours in whatever part time job I find, or just finding a full time temp “summer job”. I definitely don’t oppose the idea. </p>

<p>That will be something I can work on after I get settled in with my financials the first year.</p>

<p>also, I asked my parents about not paying them in preporation for college. But I am literally only paying my car, insurance a small amount for food at the moment anyways. They cant make ends meet without.
We did (as a family) get rid of cable tv, so that saves me ~$20 a month.</p>

<p>kenpachi, ask for more unsub loans … you are eligible for another $4000. It may be school awarding policy to just award the dependent level loans, but you are independent & are eligible for another $4000.</p>

<p>kenpachi, The financial aid is put into your account and then, if anything is left, you are given a refund. Just so you know, there will be an origination fee taken off the loan before it’s given to you so plan for it. </p>

<p>Take out what you think you’ll need. There’s a calculator online somewhere that will give you an estimate of how much your payments will be. You might want to keep track of that.</p>

<p>And, just so you know, I took out plenty of loans to fund <em>life</em> when I was in college-- not just tuition, room and board. I’m glad I had them so I could go to school.</p>

<p>The loan fee is 0.05%. I always tell students to figure out how much they actually want to receive from the loan, then divide by 0.995. This will give you the amount you should request.</p>

<p>It’ll be rough this first year, but the future years when you don’t have your full time salary in the picture will give you a bit more in grants. See if you can get some work study as well, that will not up the EFC. A lot that can help once you get settled there. Good luck.</p>

<p>Ok, well this was taken care of. I now have the full amount of loans I am eligible for.
Although I am happy about this, now comes the challenge of helping make sure my brother is able to attend. His case is not quite the same. He is a dependent student and therefore needs to find another $5,000 to make up the difference. He is at his max as far as Stafford loans go afaik and was not offered any grants. Of course my parents still can’t really afford to pay for him to attend school, and co-signing on a loan is very risky for them (if they even have the credit to do so). </p>

<p>What are the typical options for my brother in this case?</p>

<p>ps: So yeah, although my situation is better now. The anxiety continues ten fold, due to a lot of domestic bickering re: finding this magical $5,000 that our family cannot afford. Although I did suggest that my brother contact the financial aid office asap to see what his options are.</p>