Financing My Undergrad Education

Paying for College
21

<p>With two in college your parental EFC will be just about split in half. But once your brother is out of school, it will go back up.</p>

<p>Yes, it is disappointing that there isn’t money for college. But college is not the be all to end all for many people and it should not be. The whole idea that an 18 year old should expect to be sent off somewhere to live and education be paid is not something that usually happens Most people continue to live at home and find a job and get those college credits a little at a time. It’s truly a luxury to go away to college. it is each person’s business as to what s/he does with money earned. </p>

22

<p><<<
currently qualify for the $1,000 award there. Additionally, I am a member of Phi Theta Kappa at the college I am dual-enrolled at, and Phi Theta Kappa allegedly has a $1,000 New College scholarship, but I need to double check if I qualify for it.
<<<</p>

<p>I believe that the PTK scholarship is for CC transfers. It probably is not for incoming frosh, which you would be even with your DE credits. </p>

<p>You would likely get one or the other, not both. </p>

<p>However, I think you can get more $ at some other FL publics.</p>

<p>I don’t think the scholarships are based on GPA after you raise them your senior year. Likely, the school is going to either use the GPA when you apply or use the GPA as of junior year. </p>

<p>What merit awards would you get if you go to FIU, FAU, USF, or UNF? </p>

<p>what is your intended major or career goal?</p>

<p>(do not rely on Plus loans…you will already have full fed student loans which will be a pain to pay back).</p>

<p>Is your father alive? Can he contribute? If he is alive, does he pay child support? If so, then the income may be higher. (how long has your mom been teaching if her income is that low??)</p>

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<p>I have no interest in going to USF, FIU, etc. I would actually be disappointed to go to even UF or FSU. New College is what I’m after. It’s a small liberal arts campus with individualized education, a unique grading system, etc. Everything about the school sets it apart from mediocre public schools. I’ve already visited the campus and have been in close contact with their admissions office for over a year. Just waiting on my acceptance letter :-B </p>

<p>My intended majors are economics and political science. Will be going to econ grad school or law school.</p>

<p>Even though PTK scholarship is for transfers, I’m trying to swing it anyway as a freshman app. I’ve found that I generally get what I want if I’m persistent enough.</p>

<p>My brother is a freshman in college currently. When I am a sophomore, my sister will be entering college. That splits the EFC three ways. My biggest hurdle is paying for freshman year.</p>

<p>I already sent an email to New College’s financial aid department to ask how they calculate GPA for the awards. Also asked them about the PTK scholarship. Will let you guys know what’s up when I hear back from them.</p>

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<p>I do wish you good luck in getting this all together. I admire how you are looking at the options and addressing the financial issues already. I commend you for that. Too few students, and parents, as well, pay enough attention to this aspect of college. You are ahead in this game due to this.</p>

<p>Again, make sure you have affordable backups and understand that you may find them the most affordable and reasonable choice to make. But absolutely work on making other options available too. </p>

<p>Though, yes, your family EFC will be split with multiples in college, bear in mind that no college guarantees to meet full need as defined by FAFSA EFC. So having the need does not mean getting it met. The federal government does have the Direct Loans for most all students and PELL for those whose family EFC is under ~$5600. So do find out what your family EFC was when the FAFSA was completed for your brother last year. </p>

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<p>Also try to get your parents to at least pay for board, since they’d be feeding you if you lived at home. Or if not that, tax deduction money for you being in college (someone on CC said that is possible?). BTW, you could also explore living in an apartment near NCF. I dunno what rental rates are like around there, but it could be cheaper than a dorm.</p>

26

<p>As I currently stand for New College:
Loans - $5,500
BF - $2,300
Merit Award - $1,000
FAFSA - $3,000-ish
Short: $2,319</p>

<p>If I pull GPA up to 3.7 and ACT to 32 (or SAT to 1420):
Loans - $5,500
BF - $3,000
Merit Award: $2,000
FAFSA - $3,000-ish
Short: $619</p>

<p>What is the additional $3000-ish FAFSA? </p>

<p>FAFSA is an application used to calculate federal loan and grant aid, and sometimes state aid. For an incoming freshman the federal loan amount is $5500. Do you also qualify for federal pell and/ or state grants in the amount of $3000-ish from FAFSA qualifications?</p>

27

<p>You may have your sights set on New College, but PLEASE apply to some financial safety schools. </p>

28

<p>I talked to my brother to see how he got $8,100 in aid money. $5,500 is from loans, and $2,600 is something called “Financial Aid Grant.” This is what is showing up in his MyUWF account.</p>

<p>I believe that the “Financial Aid Grant” is given to him by his college and is one of these: <a href=“Grants | University of West Florida”>http://uwf.edu/offices/financial-aid/types-of-aid/grants/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>If that’s the case, that means he got ZERO aid from the government otherwise. He got $5,500 in loans and $2,600 for that grant. His account shows up at $8,100. University of West Florida billed that amount for his tuition and gave the remaining money back to him, which he used to buy a laptop and textbooks.</p>

<p>Does this mean I’ll only get $5,500 from loans and whatever amount of institutional aid I can squeeze from various colleges?</p>

29

<p>^^ Yes, that’s what it means. UWF gave that money to your brother. It is very unlikely that it is a Florida need based grant as I filed the FAFSA, make around what you say your parents do (although I’m single and singles get zapped a lot harder), I have 2 in college, and the state of Florida gave my D zip in need based funds.</p>

<p>You are on the right path. Go to your guidance office and get the list of local/state scholarships. Contact local places like Elks and Rotary. There is a bar association scholarship for making a video in our area and the winners this year submitted the dumbest video I’ve ever seen, and got $500. Contact NCF and get its list of scholarships. </p>

30

<p>I already had Stetson University send me a giant list of scholarships that Stetson students had received in the past. I went through the 40+ page PDF and pulled out the ~30 scholarships that I’m eligible for and bookmarked them all with the deadlines. My high school constantly tells us that nobody applies for local scholarships, so if I just look for them and write a decent essay, I have a pretty good chance of winning.</p>

<p>My step-dad is in the Air Force, so that adds extra opportunities as well. They have some kind of essay scholarship with 50 winners every year for $1,500. Definitely worth a couple hours of my time to do that one.</p>

<p>I’m just trying to apply for as many scholarships as I can because eventually $300, $700, and $1,500 small awards all add up. I haven’t completely ruled out the idea of working while in school, but I really don’t want to. I work right now during high school and I hate it. My work isn’t doing anything to help further me in my career goals except help pay to get through life. I know it’s a requirement and I just have to suck it up. If I can work 5-7 days a week during the summer and save up $2,500 or so, that would help a lot when I’m trying to afford my freshman year.</p>

<p>I’m determined to make New College work. I had no idea how bad my situation was until I posted this thread. I was under the impression that I would get tons of aid, and I could take out loans for everything aid didn’t cover. That’s essentially the role of PLUS loans. My parents know how bad I want to go to New College and I think they’d take out a PLUS loan for $1,500 or so if that’s all I end up being short for in the end.</p>

<p>My brother and I have different career goals. He’s majoring in Information Technology at UWF with eyes on employment after his four years at UWF, and I’m planning on going through an economics Master’s and a Doctorate program. Possibly a dual PhD-JD program if I can find a university that will let me do that. New College fits into my life program because I love school and want to be surrounded by other students who love school for the purpose of learning instead of gaining employment (80% of New College grads to go graduate school). I know I can be equally successful if I go to USF or UWF, but I really don’t want finances dictating which school I need to go to when the school that’s truly the best fit for me academically is New College.</p>

<p>I want to thank everyone here for being extremely helpful. As a result of this thread, I have now calculated my GPA more times than necessary, and stressed more than a seventeen-year-old should about finances… Two months before New College’s application deadline, too (but I applied in mid-August to make sure I was extra early). I am going to continue applying for as many scholarships as I can find, and looking at CC threads to find additional scholarship when my list becomes exhausted.</p>

<p>Thank you, everyone. If I end up at New College in August 2015 it’s because everyone here showed my big ego how bad my financial situation really is.</p>

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<p>@mom2collegekids‌ : I fail to see how NCF isn’t a financial safety. Even if he has to work 20 hours a week, with the credits that he’s bringing in, he may be able to go to the school only part-time and still graduate in 4 years.</p>

<p>Speaking of which, you could conceivable work PT and in the summers to make enough money to make up the difference.</p>

32

<p>I know. I really hate the idea of working part time, but it’s a last resort. I’d like to be able to live the “college life” without working at all. But of course that’s me living in my little utopian world.</p>

<p>However, I have had some friends that had so many scholarships that it literally spilled over into a check each semester. They had enough money to pay for tuition, dorm, books, etc, and still had so much scholarship money at the end that they got a $500-1,000 check for spending money. That’s the correct way to do college :)>- </p>

33

<p>My other option is to do work-study. I plan on being a student tour guide or working in admissions or something regardless of whether I have to or not. If you love your school, who wouldn’t want to be a tour guide?</p>

<p>I also have forensics. I am a competing member of the Forensics Speech and Debate team at my community college. I know a lot of schools give full-ride Forensics scholarships to interested students. That’s something I’ll have to pursue when the financial aid packets come in around February (or is it more in March)?</p>

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</p>

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35

<p>Go to irs.Gov and look for Publication 970. If your parents’ modified AGI is $160,000 or less, then they may be able to take a $2500 tax credit (the American Opportunity Tax Credit) if $4000 of tuition was paid in 2014 with non tax-advantaged dollars. Personally, I feel that parents should try to give $ equal to their AOTC to their child, especially if the child (your brother in 2014, and then also you in 2015) used his/her own money (including loans) to pay the tuition.</p>

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<p>

You should ask your friends about the scholarships.</p>

37

<p>Keep in mind that many outside scholarships are one time deals for the first year only. You need a four (maybe three in your case) year plan that also covers tuition/room/board increases. While you have identified what you consider to be the best fit, you need to also focus on how to make what you can afford work.</p>

<p>Also, I don’t know if you qualify for work study based on what you posted.</p>

38

<p>NCF is NOT a financial safety for the OP because it is contingent on some things that are not in the OP’s control. Like getting a job for 29 hours a week. Also, if he is not living at home, there will be move in expenses, and the costs for room/board if he is living on campus that have to be paid. No dancing around this He may not even be eligible for dorms and certainly not the same level of loans, and maybe even any aid if he is not a full time students, so that is not always a good option when one is counting on full time student awards. I have no idea what the stipulations for BF are in terms of being full time or number of credits, either. But many a student has had a nasty surprise when dropping to part time status in terms of money counted upon with the full time contingency attached.</p>

<p>If he commuted, there is some leeway in that there are no rents, deposits, utilities involved. It’s a continuum from how the student is living right now and he just has to come up with the tuition, fees,books and transportation. With a brother living at home and commuting there, there can be some overlap in terms of transportation expenses. Bear in mind that the brother is getting some money from that school that is NOT guaranteed, so the OP cannot count on getting that from ANY college unless that school has guaranteed amounts for which he is qualified. Sometimes money just dries up in subsequent years, it could be for a specific major, etc, etc. A financial safety has as few contingencies as possible. With BF and the Direct Loan, OP can afford to commute to WFU and if that’s even tight, getting a job to bring down costs further, and going part time is doable. If he goes away to college, like to NCF, there are other things in play that may make it too pricey for him to go there. Like not getting that cheap triple, for example. My son’s school, puts everyone in a lottery for housing regardless of when one was accepted and accepted the offer, so it’s largely chance what ones room assignment will be. Years when there is a large class, there is over flow into upper class housing which is more expensive than the standard double room, and it’s take it or leave it, with no discount if you can’t afford it. </p>

39

<p>I think your family earns too much for you to get work study. </p>

<p>If any of these schools ask for info. from a noncustodial parent and your dad is still alive, you may have to provide his financial info. </p>

<p>Don’t count on a college giving you money from their limited PTK funds because you want it and you’re persuasive. If you don’t meet the qualifications, why should they give it to you?</p>

<p>Make sure to include a financial safety (one you know you can afford and are willing to attend if you get accepted) and if you’re going on to grad school, etc., take on as little undergrad debt as you can.</p>

<p>Good luck.</p>

40

<p>While the OP may have written Work Study he probably meant a job on campus. Only the posters who have been hanging around on this forum understand the difference. :)</p>