Okay so I am currently a senior in high school and to say that I am worried WOULD BE AN UNDERSTATEMENT. How do people do it? Yes I know there is such thing as scholarships and aid but what about all the other stuff that needs to be paid? When college students talk about paying bills what exactly are they talking about? How are we expected to do great things in life when post graduation there’s always thousangs of dollars debt. This all just seems so unfair why can’t I just be rich like aunt becky and pay to get into a college.
What state do you live in and what is the instate tuition for college there, particularly if you commute? Parents help if they can, kids work part time and summers and everyone makes some trade offs and sacrifices.
Sometimes there is merit aid and sone needs based financial aid. Check the net price calculator for each school you’re interested in to see whether you and your family may qualify for any need based aid (often loans).
In your other threads you say you’re a CA resident with a ~3.5 GPA. Have you taken a practice SAT or ACT yet? If you score well on them you may get merit at some schools, but if your parents can’t pay much you may have to start at a cc. Are there any 4 year schools within commuting distance of your home?
You may be eligible for a federal Pell Grant and you can take the ~$5500/year federal student loan. Avoid parent loans. Have you run the Net Price Calculator for any of your state schools to get an estimate of the cost?
CA also has a great community college system…with transfer to four year school to complete bachelors.
I hate to say this but if you are a senior now…why is this the first time you are looking at costs? Are you just now looking at how much college will cost your family?
In all cases, the family is first in line to pay the bills.
Are you Calgrant eligible? Meaning…do your parents earn less than $80,000 a year?
Have you spoken to your parents about college costs? How much can they pay annually for you to attend college?
You have received lots of good info on your other threads. Have you researched the Educational Opportunity Program? https://www2.calstate.edu/attend/student-services/eop
Have you run NPCs on your target school’s sites? Here is CSULB’s as an example: http://web.csulb.edu/lb/ficalculator/
Have you completed FAFSA? If so, what is your EFC?
If you post your stats, schools you are interested in, and the amount your family can pay for college each year posters will be better able to help you.
@“Classiest2002@me”: You start many threads but most times never come to back to clarify your situation or answer the questions posted by the CC posters.
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How much can you and your family afford? Do you have college savings fund? Are you low income and have you determined your EFC? Will your parents help pay for some or all of your college expenses? Have you run the Net Price calculators for the schools?
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Which Cal states have you decided to apply?
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Are you willing to commute to your local Cal State which I remember is Cal Poly SLO if accepted?
As a CA resident, you have many options as noted by several of the posters. Most students do not go away to college and live on campus. The majority will commute to their local community college or Cal state due to affordability.
As a student you can take out $27K/4 years in Federal student loans ($5500 Freshman year, $6500 Sophomore year and $7500 for Junior/Senior year).
Please come back, answer the questions and posters can help you determine some college options.
I’m back. I am applying to cal state fullerton, san diego, san jose, sonoma, northridge, and long beach. To answer some of your questions YES I actually have searched up each schools annual costs and stuff but sometimes the info they give you is out dated. Do you really think that I am just now reasearching this kind of stuff? I’m not an idiot. Yes I have researched the EOP and I am applying to it and I am currently waiting for my last letter of reccomendation. I have filled out all the questions the EOP asked me and so now I am just waiting. I have filled out the rest of my CSU app. My main counseler (she’s like the queen of councelers and she’s the bestbecause she ACTUALLY knows what she’s doing) is on maternity leave so I am going to fill out FAFSA in January when she returns. Also I would have no problem working and being a student. I work right now. Any tips on how I could balance school and work while prioitizing school? Also I am trying to avoid taking out loans because like I said I don’t want to be paying those back for years and years. My father makes 38,000 dollars a year if that info helps at all.
It’s difficult to advise without any stas. What are your GPA and SAT/ACT scores? Merit aid will be based on those.
Low income students can get need based aid. It sounds like you may be eligible for the ~$6k/year federal Pell Grant, but your state may offer grants to low income students too. Does your state uffer any grants to low income students? In our state (NY), low income students who get the Pell Grant and our state grant can generally afford to commute to their local state school.
Is there a 4-year college within commuting distance of your home? If so, see if your stats make you a competitive applicant. Another option is to start at a community college. A lot of our local students get their 2 year degree then transfer to a 4-year college. It saves a lot of money.
Have you run the Net Price Calculator at each school? That’s different than looking at costs posted on their website.
You are fortunate to be a CA resident (if not, you wouldn’t be eligible for need based aid in CA).
You are likely Calgrant eligible. That’s a good thing. As a sure thing, are there any Calstate schools you can commute to?
I would suggest you file your FAFSA as soon as possible. There are some forms of federally funded need based aid that are limited per college campus. Federal work study is one of them. You ask how to balance work and school at the same time. A school work study job will have some flexibility and will work with you when you have things like exams and the like. In addition, your earnings from a work study job will be excluded from the FAFSA financial aid calculations in subsequent years.
For most students, managing 10 hours or so of work per week is fine. For others, that’s too much, and others can handle more than that. Some depends on you major.
Really…to do the FAFSA, you need log in info and so does one of your parents. You will need parent and your 2018 tax returns, and assets as if the day you file the form. Really, it’s not complicated. You don’t want to miss out on limited funding because you apply later, and it’s all gone.
Re: loans…if you take the maximum Direct Loans for all for years, your total in loans will be $27,000. Repayment will be about $300 a year. That’s less than a lot of car payments. If you want to live in a dorm, you may find this Loan is needed. OTOH, if you get sufficient aid, you don’t have to take the loans…but keep that option open…just in case.
Just want to re-emphasize to not wait on completing the FASFA. You don’t need your counselor and in many situations they aren’t allowed to help with that piece anyway.
@“Classiest2002@me”
Thank you for coming back and posting your answers to the many questions.
First of all, the most recent cost of attendance is posted on each schools website so here are the COA’s for the CSU’s you are interested in applying. Is Cal Poly SLO your local CSU? If so, apply even if you feel your stats are not good enough since you get priority.
http://www.fullerton.edu/financialaid/ugrd/coa.php
https://admissions.sdsu.edu/about_sdsu/costs_of_attendance
http://www.sjsu.edu/faso/docs/1920_COA_ugrd.pdf
https://web.sonoma.edu/finaid/cost_of_attendance/2021_costs.html
https://www.csun.edu/financialaid/2019-2020-fall-and-spring-cost-attendance
https://www.csulb.edu/financial-aid/undergraduate-costs
CSU’s offer little to no merit aid but very good need based aid if you combine the Cal grants and Federal aid which would cover your tuition, books and maybe some housing. Work study is an option due to your Dad’s income so you can work on campus while attending.
Have you run the Net price calculators on the schools? If your finances are straight forward, they should give you a pretty accurate estimate of costs.
I did a quick NPC for SDSU based on your info. SDSU requires all students to live on campus for 2 years if not local. Your total costs are $27, 000 and you would get $14,000 in grants which leaves $1 3,000 to fund through savings, parent contribution and federal loans.
If you can commute and live at home, your costs would be $150.
If any of the CSU’s you are applying are not local, room/board costs are in the Neighborhood of $15K (double tuition) and you are required to live on campus if not local that is why commuting is the most affordable option.
Post your stats and the CC posters can give you an idea of other schools where need and merit aid could cover the majority of your college costs. Taking out the minimum federal loans is also an option so [Bold] Do not wait on filling out the FASFA.
I just want to clarify that the NPC estimates and Cost of attendance amounts listed are usually higher than your actual costs. You can cut costs by opting for a triple or quad in the housing, taking a less expensive meal plan, rent books etc…
Okay thank you all. I need to fill out the FAFSA then my gosh this is all so nerve racking I feel like I am going to br broke
Like I stated above, most students do not go away and live at college. Most will commute to their local 4 year university or community college. You still have not stated if SLO is your local CSU as indicated by your previous posts? If so, going to Cuesta for 2 years would save you money and then you could transfer. Your CC costs would be covered by Federal and Cal grants.
Oh yes my local csu is Cal Poly SLO
If you have the stats to get into SDSU, then some private Schools might be options with a combination of merit and need aid. Look at Whittier college, University of Redlands, University of La Verne, Chapman University, University of San Diego (not UCSD).
If Cal Poly is the op’s local CSU, and Cuesta the local CC (graduated from a local high school), don’t forget to look into the “Cuesta Promise”. Two years of tuition & fees covered. I think the other CCs in SLO county have similar programs, as well. Well worth some investigation.
You’ll qualify for a Cal Grant and likely a Pell Grant.
You’d be better off getting into a UC, even if it’s a lower UC, since they give more money. Apply to Santa Cruz and Merced at least.
Try the NPC for UC Riverside to see if this campus might be an affordable option.
Right…check out the Net Price Calculators for UC Riverside, Merced, and Santa Cruz