In PA it’s extremely difficult because 1)few universities offer engineering 2)in state costs are very high 3) there’s little in state aid. OP is even out of the norm because the Cc to psu pathway is not the normal one and cc students are supposed to attend passhe schools, not the flagships.
(except passhe schools don’t offer many subjects and can be quite inadequate in others, with serious funding issues that limit opportunities. West Chester and slippery rock are doing better than the others to a certain extent.)
Send those documents as they may offer you more financial aid.
Look at Direct costs : just tuition and fees.
Check the website above to find roommates and cook for yourself to save money.
Other sacings: Buy books used or rent them or use the library reserve.
Finally, congratulations for getting engineering at Erie. It’s a terrific college It’s excellent engineering.
Yes, if he can finish his engineering degree at PSU Erie that’s probably one of the few more affordable options of ABET accredited engineering in PA. Pitt main would cost even more for engineering.
The only aid you can expect at public schools is federal and state aid, PSU Erie is giving you a need based institutional grant too. Other than that work study, SEOG, Perkins loan is the only other aid, but they might have run out of this.
They might have some small endowed scholarships you can apply for.
Have you taken out any student loans for community college so far?
See if you can take out a loan for this year (if it’s not too late) and bank it.
I do think with a summer job, work study on campus, a shared apartment, the almost $10k in grant aid, the ability to borrow $12,500 a year for the last two years, it should be feasible.
If you end up with an engineering degree and $25,000 - $30,000 of student loans, it would be worth it.
So I’m taking classes this summer would it be a bad idea to take out some of the federal loans for next year?
I’m just really stressed about next year. Once I get everything figured out Im almost positive the year after will be easier because I can get more involved and better grades to try an get grants or scholarships for the following year.
Don’t take summer classes (unless Erie made them a condition for admission). Work as much as you can in order to save money.
DOn’t use state aid/federal loans for summer classes.
Go ask your CC’s financial aid office and bring ALL relevant information at once.
For future reference, one advantage of official work study is that it is not counted in the FAFSA formula. At a college where I worked, we had work study students answering the phone. They had a lot of down time and were allowed to do homework at slow times.
I was planning to take my last calculus class and finish my 2 English requirements at cc so it would save me more money and to shave off a little more time that I need to be in school. The reason I was wondering if I should take the loans out for summer was to save in addition to the money I’ll be saving by working this summer for the next school year.
The people I’ve talked to so far in the FA office at cc aren’t very helpful. I’m still waiting to hear back fro PSU about the documents I needed to send in to verify my independent status. After everything goes through I should be okay to sign up for classes.
Call PSU again -and call the person who signed your admission letter, not the random phone number (if you have a random phone number, ask to speak to this person.) Email them today, too.
Look at the course requirements at PSU Erie for your major. There will be very specific classes you will need to take for engineering. How many credits do you have that will transfer to your PSU degree? They will require you to take at least 60 credits probably to graduate with a degree from there. You will most likely take 15-18 credits each for the last 4 semesters.
The way the lady told you about the $11,500 loan makes me wonder, will you have 60 credits or junjor standing when you transfer? Junior and senior independent students can borrow $12,500.
Did you send them your transcripts and did they tell you how many credits transfer?
Im not exactly sure how much is going to transfer in just yet. I used their credit transfer tool and the majority of mine transfer but there’s a lot of general credits. I’m not sure which ones I would be able to swap out yet. Theres a few humanities and arts on the ME course work that I would hope I can get credit for. On Friday I am hoping to go talk to an advisor and someone in the FA office.
They might have something they can give you when you send your parent info. That is kind of a lot for most full time students to make. Once you make over 6300 per year as an independent, it begins to affect the aid you can get.
Unfortunately it doesn’t look like PA schools give good aid or are cheap enough for their instate students. Some schools give larger awards because they meet aid. But most don’t and it is much harder for transfers to get good aid them freshmen.
@Jsk412 I wonder if anyone in the Engineering Dept. can hook you up with some housing with current students? OUr D is living off campus next year with a bunch of students, many of them engineering students she met in the dorms this year.
Well I found a place that’s right next to the campus that’s very nice and fairly new I think I’m gonna be able to stay in. It’s nice because everything is included and ill have my own bedroom with another transfer student as my roommate.
I’m gonna try my hardest next year so that I can get grants and scholarships. Also gonna hopefully do a work study too. But my great aunt said she will be able to help me with a little bit of money each month to get by on.
Thanks for all the advice everyone. I just got in touch with my advisor this morning and am going to try to schedule classes this Friday.
That’s great! Hopefully this will lift some worry off your shoulders and you can focus on your finals and look forward to working on the rest of your engineering degree next year.
