This student might have included dad income when parents were separated.
It’s possible that accurate FAFSA info might yield the Pell and PA grant if enough income, right?
OP, it doesn’t matter whether your parents’ divorce is finalized. Were they separated at the time you filed your FAFSA?
Sorry, I replied and did not see that there were that many other posts but I believe that the state grant phases out at over $13,000 EFC.
I do believe the student should have only included mom’s income from 2015 if the mom was separated on the day the original FAFSA was filed.
But the most the PA grant would give is about $4,000.
If he got a $9,500 loan and a $4,000 grant and maybe Pell, it might still not be enough.
State grant depends on cost of tuition and fees, EFC, Pell and need.
I don’t think he should stretch financially to attend Clarion.
3.5% tuition increases at PASSHE schools are being considered.
He would have to live on campus at least two years I believe and I don’t know how close the town is if he wants to get a job.
Edinboro is really not inferior to Clarion. If the major program is accredited then either school would be fine.
What many students run into is that they are not prepared for college level work.
That’s where a community college for the first two years can help and it is much cheaper.
OP, you need help fixing your FAFSA. Contact Edinboro FA and visit the office if possible to go over your FAFSA to get all aid you are eligible for.
But $22,000 at Clarion with rising costs is not affordable I think.
The classes are not $200!
Tuition for a full time student is about $7,5000 and then there are about $3,200 in fees a year.
Plus whatever the dorm and meal plan costs per year.
My GPA ended up being a 3.00 and my SAT was about an 850 (pls don’t ask how but I also was accepted into Cal U) the grant I received was the PHEAA grant and was a total of $3100 and was only enough for classes for both semesters. i filed my fasfa around the beginning of this month and yes they are separated now but not legally though the fasfa still wants the 2015 info, which they were together in 2015 so that’s why i listed both of their info. she currently makes an accurate amount of $30,009.00 and that’s the only income we have at the moment. I’m assuming I’ll acquire a total of $9000 for loans by what you guys are saying?
i think the credits were $200 idk
You don’t seem to understand the true costs and the aid you can get.
If your mom only earned $30,000 in 2015 then that income would generate a much lower EFC.
You might get a partial Pell grant. If you had done your FAFSA earlier then you might have gotten a SEOG grant and maybe federal work study.
You will most likely get a state grant of a few thousand, but if you take less than 12 credits you only get half of state grant and a prorated amount of Pell and half of the loans.
$3,000 is NOT paying for a year of fulltime tuition.
Also, a 850 SAT out of 1600 is below the national average of about 1000.
So in order for you to be successful in college I would recommend for you to either go to community college to start out or to commute to Edinboro and take a reduced course load to see how you do in college classes.
You don’t want to take out loans in order to afford school and then not do well, and then lose all of your aid and not be able to continue going to college, but having to pay back the loans anyway.
To keep getting federal aid you have to meet SAP policy of your school.
To keep getting PA grant you have to pass 12 credits a semester for fulltime grant and 6 credits for parttime grant as far as I know.
If you start out with classes, but then drop them or withdraw from them, you might lose your aid for future semesters or owe the school money if they have to return your aid.
So you will want to set yourself up for success and start out with classes you can pass.
Post #62 should say tuition at Clarion for a fulltime PA student should be about $7,500 a year.
no no no no, she makes 30,000 this year. they were together in 2015 and made more. and i’m willing to accept any classes by now.
How many credits were you taking?
It would not make sense to pay $11,000 a year just to dorm at Clarion and then only take 6 credits a semester!
But you could commute to Edinboro and take less than fulltime credit load, because you wouldn’t have to pay for the dorm.
Just remember that your aid will be reduced if you are less than fulltime.
Tuition costs should be less as well.
Do you have a community college nearby?
no cc nearby, i will be going fulltime and this is my first year.
Then how do you figure that tuition will only be $3,000?
I linked to the Clarion page where it explains that students who take 12 or more credits pay $7,500 tuition and $3,200 in fees. For a total of $10,700 a year!
You don’t understand. Your mom is separated now. The income from 2015 is used on this FAFSA.
But since your mom is separated now when you are filing the FAFSA, only your mom’s income from 2015 should be listed!!!
If your parents filed 2015 taxes together then you need to take the W2 from her job to prove how much only her income was.
If the 2015 tax return had both parents’ income listed, then your dad’s income would have to be subtracted out on the FAFSA.
I think you should go to Edinboro.
Take your mom’s 2015 W2 and tax return from 2015 to the EU financial aid office to get their help to fix the FAFSA.
Then see how much aid you will get.
Do you have any siblings? Your mom probably doesn’t have huge savings.
The EFC should be much lower.
Then pay for your classes at EU with Pell, state grant and maybe a bit of loans, but don’t take more than is needed.
Then ignore any partiers, make good friends, form study groups, work hard, go to the writing center and tutoring if needed, and get your college degree!
Your future self will thank you if you have less loans to pay back.
You might also need to prove that your parents live at separate addresses. EU will tell you what they need and you get them this asap.
Go on Monday.
You also need to withdraw from Clarion if you already paid a deposit and enrolled in classes.
And PHEAA will need to be notified which school you are definitely attending, so it can disburse the state grant.
alright, should i fix the fasfa then? i will be visiting clarion on monday to explain everything and just check stuff out, still waiting for an answer from EU which should be soon. i have 1 younger sibling
OP I’m sorry for being harsh but with a SAT of 850 and GPA of 3.00, I wouldn’t expect it to be anywhere close to easy for you to balance work and school to pay the bills. One of them is going to suffer and if either of them do, you’ll be in a serious amount of debt either because you can’t pay for college or you can’t find a job out of college.
For god’s sake, listen to @mommdc
Yes fix your FAFSA. Without a correct FAFSA you won’t get correct federal and state aid.
But I am not holding out much hope that it will be enough for Clarion for the simple fact that $22,000 will be hard to pay for.
If you only have to pay $10,000 for EU that would leave you with much less debt.
If it takes you longer to graduate then you can do that easier at EU.
Clarion is not worth $10,000+ more.
Right now you can live at home and get free food and housing.
Then when you are graduated and get a job you can get an apartment. If you have high student debt you might not be able to afford rent and utilities and food.
Would you rather live at home now or when you are 22?
I would definitely not work during your first college year. Work in the summers.
alright, lemme see what i can do with the fasfa then
Yes, the FAFSA is the key to your federal and state aid.