The OP gets work study on top of all her other aid.
I’m very confused. If you lived in the dorm last year…what has changed that now requires you live at home? Did your parents want you to dorm again if you didn’t live at home? Or did they want you living at home…period.
I’m not following why you wouldn’t have just signed up,to live in a dorm again.
The parents did pay in some part for the dorm costs. OP gets 2400 a quarter and R&B last years was almost 15K. Obviously that shortfall is coverable by stafford's.
@Sybylla I totally agree…between the federally funded loans, the $2400 per quarter refund…and the job this kid has, living in the dorm should have been possible this year as well.
I am wondering why the student decided not to dorm again…since the parents were on board with that last year.
What has changed?
Did the OP decide living off campus was a better option…and missed the sign up for dorms for this school year?
Right, OP wants to live off campus, parents... not so much. Kid's actual options were campus or home? But she wants off campus and wants to sell that to dad. Maybe kid tried to hold dad's feet to the fire by not organising dorms and now has had her bluff called? Either way the aid package needs fixing.
OP, you are going to get less aid either living at home or off-campus. As @Sybylla stated, you need to fix your aid package to reflect what aid you will get and if you can make off-campus living work. Convincing Dad is another issue but you need to know how much $$$ you are working with at this point.
@thumper1 @Sybylla I loved my dorm experience and would love for the opportunity to dorm again… BUT at UCI, only first-years are allowed to dorm. Most second years live off-campus or opt for another on-campus alternative where they live at UCI (ACC) apartments that are usually further from campus (and not literally on-campus like the dorms) and require shuttling to school from. The housing costs of these UCI apartments are usually $670+ and the shuttling factor is inconvenient.
I will fix my aid package, but I know that if I do… my dad will most likely be angered…
The purpose behind this post was to ask for possible suggestions as to how I can convince my dad otherwise regarding my housing situation. 
@ttn2016: Why would your Dad be angry since he is the one pushing for you to commute from home. He has put you in this position of having to fix your aid package to reflect your current living situation. He cannot have it both ways where you get aid for on-campus housing and you commute from home???
You can't convince him if you are not paying for it. Lots of kid commute. Did you work full time over summer?
Some points to help convince your father:
- UCI is overenrolled by almost 700 students this year. Parking will be a nightmare. Traffic onto campus will require extra commuting time.
- Commuting in southern Cal is never a sure 20-30 minute thing. There will be times it will take you more than an hour because of an accident, weather, events in the area. If your home is 20 minutes away under normal conditions, I bet you will be leaving more than an hour before a class to allow for traffic and to find a parking spot and walk to your class. Maybe 1.5 hours early.
- If you live across the street, you won't need a car.
- You could take a late afternoon class or evening class, you could join study groups, you could get a job on campus, all without having to drive home late.
I’d focus on the fact that you loved living in the dorm because it gave you so much access to things going on at school like concerts and sports and student government or whatever was the case for you.
In the end you have to deal with your father. If your FA is enough to survive without his help, you could just move out. Make sure you really can survive without his help, including FAFSA filing for future years. We can’t know if he really will pull support or if your mother would help you file the FAFSA but you have to be prepared for worst case scenario.
If it were me and my 19 year old self, I’d leave because I wouldn’t put up with the control but I don’t really like my father that much and wouldn’t/didn’t care if I wasn’t allowed back, so an easier decision for me.
Can @ttn2016 pay rent to his/her family? As soon as I had a real paying job I paid rent as did all eight siblings in my mom’s family. OP’s parents would have to of course count it as income for tax purposes.
Do you have a family member like an aunt or uncle that you can commute from?
@Sybylla I will be paying for it, though with the aid of fafsa. It’s just that he wants me to live at home.
@gearmom I suppose I can… but I’d very much rather living near campus to work and pay rent.
@Gumbymom That’s my dad for you His argument is that other family friends has done it before… and they got away with it.
@twoinanddone Those are really good points! I just really want to respect my dad and not do something as drastic as to move out (I wanted to at least come home every weekend to give him so peace of mind because he’s very family-oriented)… but I am pretty sure I can finance living near campus (fortunately with the aid of a generous fafsa package)
You’re the one who could lose your degree and be charged with financial aid fraud. I would tell the financial aid office that you’re commuting.
Your dad won’t agree to let you live off campus because he wants the extra money. He won’t get it if you’re using it for rent. Will your parents throw you out if you don’t lie for them? The problem with moving out without their consent is that you need their cooperation to file the FAFSA, so you’re in a really difficult position.
@austinmshauri Would it be legal if the dad included the money as rent income on his taxes?
I don’t know for sure, but I doubt it. Then all of us whose kids commute could say they’re paying us rent and let the school cover it. Why should the school pay the parents for supporting their own child? I don’t believe they will. If OP tells them she’s commuting, I think her aid will be reduced.
@austinmshauri Well maybe OP should present it that way. Extra money to live away or they really have to keep it legal and report commuting and reduce the aid. Perhaps that would help change dad’s mind. Also perhaps promising to Skype each day.
My D goes to the in-state flagship in town and the bus ride is less than 20 min, however, we let her stayed in the dorm for 2 years and then moved to an apartment near campus with her friends afterward. We are totally supportive in that for several reasons.
- Group projects and even exams are often scheduled in the evening which may finish after the bus service ended. It is not only inconvenience but could be danger too.
- College is the time and place to learn independence. We expect our daughter to move to another city to work after graduation. This would be a good transition time to live away from home.
- Learning to live with other people is an essential maturation process.
- When I looked back, my best friends are from college and we did spend a lot of time together after class and in the late evening. Those commute students in my class are not as close and I have lost contact of most of them.
Op cannot state that she living off campus because she paying her parents rent. This could be a financial aid disaster that could blow up in Op’s face (as she would be committing fraud).
Her housing options when filing the FAFSA are:
living on campus
living off campus and
living with parents.
OP will be living at home with her parents. That is a family decision for her dad to charge her rent as a college student.
It is not the college or the taxpayers job to subsidize her parents, by Op paying her financial aid to her dad in rent.
Op needs to keep in mind that the school can rescind her degree after graduation leaving her with a worthless piece of paper and still demand that she repay all monies that she fraudulently received.