How do poor students go to college?

College Search & Selection Online Degrees
1

I come from a low income family
I get my associate degree this semester and I was wondering if it’s better for me to work full time and pursue the bachelors in interdisciplinary studies with esl and ec-6 generalist online at UT Arlington

My family can not afford to pay for me to live on campus

I am also an adult now. I don’t have a car and it sucks
I commuted to my community college For the longest

I’m really burnt out from college and i had a bad experience with my college When they cut off my financial aid and I was left broke for over 2 months

2

If you are burnt out from college and have had a bad experience, maybe try working. I had no degree because my parents (while not low income - they were pretty working class) did not value education. Neither of them graduated from high school. I worked my up to a certain level and then found that they way higher was barred to me because of my lack of degree - this might be different depending on where you live, but I live in a high income state and I was competing in a job market where almost everyone had a BA/BS.

I have been pursuing my BS in Public Administration for the past few years, I’ll be graduating in the spring. I attend an online non-profit college that has been operating in my state since the 70s to help adult learners finish their college education. I’ll have some student loans to pay off. I’ll never have the living on campus experience, and I never had my own car until 2011! It hasn’t been easy, and I could, if I decided to, feel resentful that I didn’t have the experience I wanted, but I have to make the best of my situation, and I think you might be in that boat, too.

FWIW, I had a friend who was from a low income family who went to community college, got an AA, and ended up going to a 4 year college in her late 20s so she could have the whole on campus experience, and she could not be happier with how it turned out.

Work. Save some money. Decide what you want to study and then go for it.

3

My family is poor. I had a unique situation though. I started out at a local private school who offered me a lot of money to be there due to my situation…I was getting a refund from a school that cost 15,000 dollars a semester…

I ended up transferring to a local state college that actually had better accreditation and programs. Their business school was AACSB accredited and offered HR as a major which the other private school did not offer and did not have the AACSB accreditation. They also offered me a decent amount to attend and they were a heck of a lot cheaper…only around 4-5k a semester. I also met my partner in school who lived on campus…so I used to stay on campus pretty much every night after we established a good relationship…2.5 years later and we are still together :slight_smile:

Don’t give up. An associates degree is a great start and depending on what the degree is in it can bring a great career. Earning your BA/BS can only help though! I worked part time through college.

If you want to work full time look into schools that offer night classes and a variety of web courses available. Also, try out of state colleges that offer completion to BS programs in what you want to study…you most likely will only pay in state tuition for distance programs.

Either way congratulations on the associates degree and I wish you luck in the future! Hopefully you find a program that suits your needs :slight_smile:

PS: as irishmomof2 stated…you can take time off and go back as a non-traditional student. Nontraditional students have a lot of life experience that can help them in college…I know some of the best students I met while in school were older nontrad students who had a lot of life experience to bring to the table. I appreciated them in college and encourage anyone who thinks they are too old or who have been out of school too long to reconsider and follow their dreams!

4

Harvard is free if you are low income. It isn’t the only one.

5

If you are low income yourself, then I am not sure why financial aid would be cut off. Were you on academic probation? Did you forget to fill out forms? Most public colleges and universities will provide financial aid. Many privates as well. Financial aid may cover room and board on campus as well.

6

I can let you know how I’m doing it now. If I knew how government aid worked back when I started I could have made better choices and been long finished by now. I am just starting back into college after 7 years off (late 20s) and hopefully my experience can help you.

I have been out of work all last year so my estimated contribution is near ZERO. I filled out my FAFSA and was offered the Pell Grant and Federal Work Study. Pell Grant is something around $5,700 per year and my work study is limited to 3000 per year. The Pell Grant is available to everyone and is limited to 6 years (goes by % on FAFSA website… up to 600%). So that is about $9000 a year right there.

I started out at a small private no name liberal arts college way back in 2004 and completed a year and a half there. I couldn’t afford finishing then because tuition was too much. I had a 3.70 GPA on my transcript and 33 hours transferred into my new college. I was offered $3,000 per year in a NEED BASED grant from the school itself. I applied for transfer merit based scholarships last week. I hope I can get an extra 1 or 2,000 through that.

Now for loans… Loans scare the heck out of me. I don’t have much money going in and would hate to have a pile of debt on the way out. I was offered a total of $9,374 in Stafford Loans (mix of subsidized and unsubsidized)
I have absolutely terrible credit. My parents went bankrupt a few years ago and I maxed out my credit in helping them out. When I got unemployed I couldn’t even pay it all back… I had to agree on a settlement which I feel terrible about. My rating and history can’t really get much worse. The good thing about the government loans is you don’t have to accept the full amount. Just what you need.

And because of my “poorness” the government has blessed me with an offer of $18,104 in federal financial aid per year and my school is giving me $3,000. $21,000 total offered. $8,700 of it is basically “free” which I don’t have to worry about paying back. I didn’t include the Work Study $ because working isn’t free… heh.

Another important thing is to pick a PUBLIC STATE school. I was accepted into schools which there was no way I could ever afford in my situation. Two being Clemson and Wake Forest. I absolutely love Clemson. The programs, the mountains, the lakes… But it is 30,000+ in out of state tuition (I’m in North Carolina) and Wake Forest is 40,000+. I got into NC State but figuring in the cost of living in Raleigh… I was priced out of that college.

The college I’m attending now is East Carolina University. Tuition is $149 per credit hour for Distance Education/Online classes. Low cost of living in the surrounding area. I can attend this school and not have to worry about accepting the max amount in government loans per year.
IF I was lucky enough to have family to live with I could pay tuition and books just with the Pell Grant alone. All the grants themselves would pay for my yearly tuition, books, food, and gas. But I need a place to live so I need the loans to pay for my apartment.

No it isn’t a top public/private college like some of the others… but I think If I keep continuing to do my part in the classroom and keep my GPA above 3.70 I don’t have to worry about any of that. I should still be a strong applicant for the top public state colleges around here like UNC or NC State if I decide to pursue grad studies.

So in short…

  1. Look to the government first. Complete your FAFSA. Fill it out and only put yourself on it. Dont put your parents on the application. If their income is over a certain amount it will cut your aid dramatically. Fill it out as if you are planning on relying solely on yourself (which you should). The less money/income you have the more you get.
  2. Look for public colleges with the lowest tuition in your state. Compare the programs, pick which one you are interested in, and make sure you list the school on your FAFSA so you can be eligible for need based aid as early as possible.
  3. Apply for merit based aid.

I know exactly how you feel. You will be able to go back to college even if it seems like a long shot right now.

GOOD LUCK!

7

I’m echoing the good advice here. First congratulations on getting so far. It’s really hard to do what you’ve done. Also, to give you some hope, my husband started at a CC many years after high school now he’s a professor at an Ivy League school. He worked at several different jobs before CC and between CC and college. The advantages were many. First, he had so much practical experience compared with his peers. Second, he was very directed when he started regular college. He was able to focus on a project of interest and he ended up making original strides in his field. That set him up well for graduate school. And because he ws getting great grades, he was awarded several fellowships that made his education cheaper. He had no parental help. Third, the regular colleges once you’re over a certain age often have great fellowships. Often the age is over 23 or over 25. Someone above mentioned Harvard. That’s great, and you may have the grades for that. You may try other schools with nontraditional student programs–Brown, Yale, Hampshire, and others. Some have great scholarships. Others are money makers for the school. Be careful and research the programs so that you are in one that offers excellent financial aid. Some offer full tuition. Vassar has a community college to Vassar program and it tends to offer great financial aid. here is a list of places with nontraditional programs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_programs_and_colleges_for_non-traditional_students

You are qualified for any transfer program in the country, however. And you should do your research carefully.

If you find a program on a small, walkable campus, you will not need a car.

Basically, however, if you were my child, I’d recommend that you apply to any school that appeals to you as a transfer student. To narrow that set, I’d check 1) the average debt of a college’s graduates. You can find out that info on a w e b s i t e called c o l l e g e d a t a (d o t) c o m and look up the college’s name. Or get the colleges “common data set”. If the college doesn’t disclose its graduates’ average debt, assume that the debt is too high, and skip that school. You need to find a school with average student debt at or below $28K TOTAL for all years, not per year. ($28K is the average debt across the US. If a college’s graduates have debt on average that’s higher than $28K, then you know they are not giving good financial aid.) Be aware that state schools will have lower average debt, but if you’re not a resident of that state, your debt will probably be much higher. Your research will prob. show that the Ivies and Ivy equivalents have low debt. Little Ivies, like Swarthmore, Haverford, Smith, Barnard, Vassar, Grinnell will also have lower debt. 2) Once you find colleges that accept transfers and give good financial aid, then look for schools that have a major that you’re interested in.

Of that group (residential campus with good financial aid and a major that you want) choose five or six schools and apply to them. Okay? Best of luck.

8

Of the schools that most people overlook, I’d check out Clark University, as it has a free masters program and decent debt amounts; Centre college in KY because it guarantees graduation; Clarkson University, Union college in Schenectady, Wells college, Mills college (if you’re female) and Agnes Scott

Oh Wait!!! I just realized that you’re “Marissa” and I’m presuming female! If that’s the case, you have a whole world of opportunity at the traditionally women’s schools. They tend to have better opportunity for women.

The Ada Comstock program at Smith College can help if you’re old enough. http://www.smith.edu/admission/ada.php

Definitely check out Agnes Scott, Wells, Smith, Barnard, Bryn Mawr, Vassar, Mt. Holyoke, Mills, Scripps, Wellesley.

Also Connecticut college (private LAC with decent financial aid).

9

Another tack you may consider are schools that have trouble recruiting women. You may want to check out Colorado School of Mines; Clarkson University; Cal Tech–and basically any school that has the gender imbalance of more men than women. Rose Hulman. They have added incentive to bring you on board WITH MONEY.

10

You could do the military for a couple of years and get free tuition during and after.

11

They work at Starbucks and get a bachelor’s degree from ASU Online for free.

12

Financial aid???

13

Students can receive a combination of grants, loans, scholarships, or work-study jobs to help reduce the cost of college. So, don’t ignore a college just because of its sticker price.

14

Go to a low cost community college using Pell Grant and work study, or serve in the military for 3 or more years to get college education funded.

15

Or get a job at any of these companies: http://www.businessinsider.com/companies-that-will-pay-for-your-tuition-2014-6

16

Community college

Obama plans on having free community college, it may or may not happen.

17

@marissa91, what was your GPA at your CC if you don’t mind me asking? I want to assess your options…

18

@margie54 if you click on the OP’s handle you will she that she has not posted since Nov2014. I don’t know why this is being bumped.

19

Here’s my story….
I was a freshman in college going to my second semester. I spent my first semester at a community college (Due to the fact that I was accepted for the spring semester at my 4 year college) I paid absolutely nothing for my fall semester at my community college. Even brand new books were free. The community college even awarded me $600+ for not using all of my financial aid. If I weren’t young and dumb I would’ve at least spent my first year there but because my parents already paid the enrollment fee for my 4 year college and I had a bunch of local scholarships only awarding for a four year school I have to go. My mother was unemployed (now working 2 part time jobs because the economy sucks) and my father’s self employed job was very successful before the turn of the economy and now it’s failing. We don’t have enough money to send me and my brother to college. THAT’S THE REALITY. I worked my as off just to get $8000 worth of local scholarships and that doesn’t cover my spring semester. I was always worrying about the next semester. Stop writing false claims about financial aid. Financial aid doesn’t begin to cover college expenses for MOST struggling Americans. Our country is setting us up to fail.

20

Military is great to do for getting college paid for. I know many friends and family that did it and I was even intending on doing ROTC, but ended up with celiac disease which disqualified me. ROTC will even give you book allowances and stipends.