<p>I am currently a junior in high school and have a couple questions about financial aid. I am planning on attending college but my parents don't want to pay for any of it. Does that disqualify me for financial aid? If I attend a school with financial aid are my parents FORCED to pay while I attend? </p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>Let’s talk about need based aid first. Need based aid is based on the school’s calculation of what they expect your family to pay. You will need to complete a FAFSA with your parents…using their income and assets, and yours. If required, you will need to complete the CSS Profile. The schools will take the data provided (which DOES need to match what is on your taxes) and determine what the SCHOOL believes you can pay.</p>
<p>Add to that, the very vast majority of colleges do not meet full need for all accepted students. </p>
<p>You will not get increased need based aid because your parents do not WANT to pay for college. Think of it this way…if that were the case, wouldn’t every parent just say “I won’t pay.”</p>
<p>Merit aid…this is awarded based on you SAT or ACT scores, and GPA in most cases. The best merit awards come from the colleges directly. In most cases, need is not tied to merit awards, but sometimes it is.</p>
<p>Your need based aid determination will be mostly determined by your parents’ incomes, and assets. </p>
<p>Regarding…will your parents be forced to pay? Well…simply put, you will get a bill and someone has to pay it. Otherwise, you cannot attend the college.</p>
<p>So financial aid (not the grants) needs to be payed back as i attend school? Or is it payed back after I graduate and get my Bachelors?</p>
<p>I’m a bit confused about exactly what your questions mean. </p>
<p>Alberto…if you take out loans, they need to be paid back. If these are Direct or Perkins Loans, you get a grace period after you leave college and then repayment begins. </p>
<p>Parent Plus Loans which would be taken by your parents, also have a grace period before repayment…after you leave college.</p>
<p>If your parents take out loans, or you get private loans, the loan providers will determine the repayment schedule. And yes, some require repayment while you are in college.</p>
<p>When you said “The schools will take the data provided (which DOES need to match what is on your taxes) and determine what the SCHOOL believes you can pay.” By “you” do you mean my family? So applying for Financial Aid tells the school that the family is going to pay for some of the cost? </p>
<p>The school determines your FAMILY contribution. Applying for financial aid doesn’t “tell” true school anything about your family and their willingness to pay. Applying for financial aid is something you do if you want the school to consider you for need based financial aid.</p>
<p>Once more…your financial aid application does NOT tell the school anything about your family willingness to pay. In fact, colleges don’t consider “willingness” to pay at all.</p>
<p>The school will bill you for whatever balance is not funded by aid, and you (the “you” is your family) will be expected to pay that bill in order for you to attend. </p>
<p>Alberto, if your parents will NOT pay for ANY college costs, is it because they can’t, or they won’t? There is a difference. </p>
<p>If you are very low income family, you would get the full $5600 Pell Grant, and a $5500 Direct Loan. This would fund community college costs if you reside at home. In some states, this would actually cover tuition and fees at a four year college if you reside at home. </p>
<p>My family is middle class and we live comfortably…For all the handwork I’ve put in to getting good grades and extracurricular activities I thought I would be able to go to a private school…Rutgers it is then I guess :P</p>
<p>“Middle class” means a lot of different things.</p>
<p>There is a thread on this forum with a stick pin…at the top…automatic full tuition/full ride scholarships. Look there and see if YOUR stats make you eligible for any of those awards.</p>
<p>Your hard work and good grades do not mean your parents should not be expected to contribute. In fact, when it comes to college payment, parents are first in line to pay. </p>
<p>One Quick question… Does being Foreign make me eligible for more Financial Aid?</p>
<p>Are you a U.S citizen? If not, it actually makes you eligible for LESS aid as you would NOT be eligible for any federally funded aid at all.</p>
<p>Yes I have a dual citizenship</p>
<p>Being foreign will not impact your need based aid whatsoever. It is based on income and assets of your family.</p>
<p>Plus it sounds like you live in NJ. It’s not like you are coming here from some underrepresented country.</p>
<p>The way it works is unless you can qualify as an INDEPENDENT student, your parents are expected to pay for college but not forced to do so. You are in that gray no mans land where you are an adult so your parents don’t HAVE to support you at all, yet the colleges expect them to pay for you. Look up the definition of INDEPENDENT for FAFSA purposes which is what colleges use . Basically unless you are married, have a kid, are an Armed Forces veteran, or are court ordered away from your parents before you were 18 (like taken away from your parents), or homeless (proven that you 've been in the homeless shelter system), you are not independent, but are DEPENDENT on your parents for college costs.</p>
<p>So you and your parents have to fill out a FAFSA for financial aid. You need your parents tax return info for that given year, list of assets as of the day you file, and their signature so that all of the info on the FAFSA can be IRS verified. They need to file their returns before you can verifieds, but you can fill out an initial form, with estimates. So you need a lot of cooperation from your parents to fill out this FAFSA. If your family is considered very low income, you can get up to about $5600 IN PELL money. You are also entitled to about $5500 in student loans in your name. The rest depends upon what your state has and the school themselves have. Most money comes from the schools themselves after that government base amounts. </p>
<p>The Expected Family Contribution that FAFSA generates, the EFC, is what you and your family are expected to pay before getting penny one from the government, and usually represents the minimum you will be expected to pay anywhere unless you are looking at low cost commuter schools or big scholarships that will cover most all of the costs. </p>
<p>If you can get your parents’s info, estimates anyways, you can run an EFC estimator to see what that minimum is. You then need to ask your parents what they can help you pay. If it’s not much, you look at local state schools to which you commute and big merit awards from schools that offer them You have to research what school have the awards to give and where you have a chance to get a big enough one to make it a go for you. You also look into working and earning some of your college costs.</p>
<p>College costs are often said to be met by past, current, future income of both parents and students. Past by savings, current out of what you budget from paychecks right now, and future from loans. </p>
<p>A year at Rutgers, if you live there costs about $25K, I seem to remember. If you can’t gather up enough money from above, between you and your parents, then you need to look at commuting options to local nearby schools and working part time as you go to college . The average college student works at least part time and goes to school part time and takes a lot longer than 4 years to get that degree. </p>
<p>On the individual college websites, find the Net Price Calculator (NPC.) Run it with your family details, for an idea of what you might get. And get some guide book, like Financial Aid for Dummies or look at various websites (finaid.org is one.) As thumper is saying, this is not about the colleges filling in for your parents, when they don’t want to pay. It’s a more analytical look at what your family should be able to pay. After that, some schools will have enough of their own funding to give you some help with the balance. Others won’t. So get started by trying to learn what this is really about.</p>
<p>You should also read the Financial Aid FAQs at the top of this forum.</p>
<p>No way im a junior toooooo!!! WANNA BE FRIENDS? :)</p>