If you call the school’s FA dept and ask them to include a fed student loan, that will cover that.
However, some CCs don’t process student loans. Find out if yours does.
If your school does, then the loan process would be QUICK since you’ve already processed FAFSA.
What is your total cost of attendance for this community college?
Once more…you can take a Direct Loan for up to the cost of attendance each term.
Why do you need a car if you can get a free bus pass to attend college?
Do you not have $300 for this first term payment?
What IS your bill for the first term??
@thumper1
I’m guessing around 3600 about
Yes I have 300. I was saving a car because my parents are getting tired of taking me anyways…
about 600 for first term
btw I wasn’t aware of the free bus thing
Ok, call the FA office at CNM first thing Tuesday morning. FA Office-- (505) 224-3090
They will be busy, but hang in there and keep trying. Once you get thru, ask about applying for a federal direct unsubsidized loan. I believe if you’re approved for an federal loan, CNM will allow you to maintain your enrollment until the loan comes, in–but ASK! I’m not sure about that.
You’re eligible for an unsubsidized loan up to the COA at CNM. Unsubsidized means that your loan will start to accumulate interest from the minute it’s disbursed. So that you will need to pay back the entire amount loan plus interest. Your first loan payment will be due 6 months after you graduate or you stop attending classes.
CNM has a payment plan but you missed the deadline for applying for it (it was June 24th). You could have divided up your cost over 2 or 3 payments. You might want to talk with the Cashier’s Office to see if there’s anyway you can still qualify. The phone for the Montoya campus is (505) 224-3471
In fact, I’d suggest that if it is at all possible, you to the Montoya campus Tuesday and try to talk to both the FA and Cashier’s offices there. The people who work there really do want to help you get this all straightened out. I’ve found them to be very helpful and nice.
Focus on paying tuition for now. $300 should be doable if you have a job.
Use the free bus pass to commute from home to school.
Save up money for a car later.
Read post 23 from @WayOutWestMom. She is giving you excellent advice! Excellent!
@WayOutWestMom @mommdc @thumper1 Thank you all for helping seeing this clearly! Sorry for you guys harping on me bout loans. It be the first thing I do Tuesday
Please let us know what happens!
Good luck!
The people at CNM really do want to help their students succeed. (I live not far from the Montoya campus and have taken classes at Montoya in the past.)
BTW, Montoya is right on a dedicated bike trail. If you have a bike, you could consider commuting by bicycle. (Both of daughters commuted to UNM by bike. My husband commuted to the Lab by bike everyday, even in the winter, for over 20 years. ABQ is a very bike-able city.)
BTW#2–If you have down time between classes, Flying Star on Juan Tabo just east of the Montoya campus has free wi-fi and the staff is very chill about students studying there–as long as you buy something. Like a cup of coffee. (D1 used to study so much at Flying Star, the staff knew her and used to give her the leftover baked goods at the end of the day.)
I got this from CNM Montoya’s financial aid website: http://www.cnm.edu/depts/financial-aid/documents/experimental-site-initiative . They have a high default rate & a high rate of over-borrowing, so they are limiting loans - they say they will reduce freshman unsubsidized loans by $2,000. I think that means that instead of $5500, freshmen can borrow $3500 in loans. That should be plenty, given the cost of the school & the fact that the student is living at home.
For loans, I would guess your financial aid award letter offered you $3500 unsubsidized loan - maybe less, though, if the Cost of Attendance is less (they can only award up to the COA). If you go online & accept the loan (and do the required entrance counseling & Master Promissory Note), you will get one-third of the loan in fall (I just updated this when I realized it’s a trimester school) The government keeps a 1.068% origination fee before it sends the money to your school … so if you borrow $3500, you’ll get $1,154 paid to your student account each trimester. Any charges on your account will be paid with that money, and if there is any left over, you’ll be able to use it for books and/or get a refund. This is also from the school’s website:
CNM students can order their books online with financial aid and have them shipped to a street address.
Books can also be purchased with financial aid at any of the bookstore locations. Visit the bookstore website to learn more about buying books with Financial Aid.
You can always borrow less if you don’t need it all! Just remember that you get one-third of the amount you borrow, less the origination fee. If you want to figure out how much to borrow to get a certain amount, triple the amount you need and divide that amount be 0.98932. Example: If you need $1,100 for fall for tuition & books, you’ll want to borrow (1100*3)/0.98932=$3,336. If you get the scholarship after your first trimester, you can reduce or cancel your loan for the future terms. Just ask your aid office what to do, and they will help you.
To read about loans and loan repayment, please see this website: https://studentaid.ed.gov/sa/types/loans/subsidized-unsubsidized. It is very important to understand what you are doing when you borrow.