<p>Mine is 25k, it was 36k last year (and next year they’ll realize my parents house is paid off), and the only scholarship I’ve ever gotten is the Michigan Promise-- which helped for CC but I am likely not going to get the last 2k I was awarded because the state congress is desperately trying to cut it, and I was offered a 1k scholarship at a school 8 hours away from home that was not really any good for my program. How about now? Is there an option I’m missing here, rocket?</p>
<p>^^I’m sorry for your situation
But I stand by my statement. Maybe you can take time off and work and save money. That’s what my mom did. It took til she was 26, but she found a way</p>
<p>twisted-- you are doing very, very well in life and there is no reason for you to have to defend yourself. I am absolutely certain that your parents are delighted to assist you with your education. You have worked incredibly hard, already, and you deserve your education. Rocket is in a different set of circumstances and fortunately she has found a way to feel good about herself in those circumstances. It’s not about you. I’m sure you “get” this.</p>
<p>well put poetgrl</p>
<p>“^^I’m sorry for your situation
But I stand by my statement. Maybe you can take time off and work and save money. That’s what my mom did. It took til she was 26, but she found a way”</p>
<p>What kind of job do you think I am going to get with no degree that is going to pay for an apartment, purchasing a car, fueling a car, insuring a car, my own health insurance, and my current 25k debt that I will be able to SAVE anything at all? In the Metro-Detroit area, no less. This is one of the worst places in the country for unemployment, and my age group in particular is among the worst for un and underemployment. Your mom lived in a VERY different world when she was 20 and it is very naive not to realize that.</p>
<p>It’s just frustrating to me, because so many people-- my parents included, think that parents have no responsibility to assist, and without having access to financial aid that’s pretty much left me up a creek. I mean, REALLY, I would really like to know what I am supposed to be doing here that I am not to not end up drowning in debt or otherwise in poverty the rest of my life. I would like to be enlightened by those who seem to understand something that I do not.</p>
<p>^^when my mom was 20 she had a kid(me), an unemployed husband and worked at a fish store for minimum wage. She found a way to put herself through a Engineering BA program. It IS possible. I just think we sometimes forget that kids can do it on their own. For some people, this situation doesn’t work. But i think an effort should be made</p>
<p>How can they do it on their own, exactly? You have failed to come up with one actually feasible solution that does not leave me bankrupt. Really, I want to know. You are obviously much wiser than me and know something I don’t. Why won’t you tell me?</p>
<p>In your paticular situation I don’t have an answer. But for most people, the answers i have given will suffice.</p>
<p>There are organizations that will let you take out loans without a cosigner, granted the interest rates are high. But, if you would take one out, work, and go to state school, I’m sure you could find a way perhaps</p>
<p>twisted, if this is not too personal, what kind of debt will you have when you finish?</p>
<p>I am not sure what exactly it will pan out to because there are a lot of contributing factors. The short answer is 50k after undergrad if I do not manage to earn any scholarships from here on out, give or take 5-10k.</p>
<p>I have no debt for my first two years because I paid for community college out of pocket and with the Michigan Promise. The COA here is about 25k for upper division students. I applied to a bunch of in-state schools of varying costs (this one being the most expensive) and compared the different factors and there turned out to not be nearly as much difference as I would have guessed, and what little difference there was was worth the benefit of being able to live this close to my family, as I have health issues and may need them somewhere down the line, and vice versa. I am taking out about 17k per year in private student loans this year and next year, the rest of the 25k I got covered with stafford loans. </p>
<p>When I graduate I am either going to go back to the cheapest school I can find to get a teaching certificate (unless I am hired in a job in my field first), or (my plan A) is to go to law school, likely take on even more debt, however Michigan law does not take parent information into account so I am hoping to be able to get loans that are eligible for loan forgiveness because I wanted to be a civil rights attorney and work for a non-profit anyway-- so I’d be on income contingent repayment for the federal loans for 10 years and then have the balance forgiven and just be left with the private loan balance, and I am told Michigan has some other nifty programs for students who go into public service. I am also beginning to research lower tiered schools (though then I have to go out of state) that would still have such opportunities and maybe would be less competitive for aid. That’s really not ironed out yet, I’ve been so busy working out the transition from CC to here that I am just now getting into making concrete plans for the rest. BUT, if a miracle occurs and I am not completely miscalculating everything (not likely), then 10 years after I finish law school I’d have 36k left to repay.</p>
<p>I recognize I have not made all of the brightest decisions here. I probably should have saved the extra few grand per year and gone to a cheaper school than Michigan. But I would still have had at least 40-45k in private loan debt pretty much no matter what Michigan school I went to, Umich’s program was the only one in the state that allowed for me to complete my program without my learning disabilities destroying my GPA, is close to my family, and is in a town I feel safe in. I had to figure out ALL of my financial aid and loans and everything completely by myself and educate my parents because they did not care enough to learn anything about college to help me understand, so if anyone reads this and thinks OH MY GOD WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? that would be why. My decisions up to this point made sense to me but I feel like I must have missed something.</p>
<p>Nope! I’m not going to shout what are you doing? I was going to say that since I’ve noticed from your posts that most of your plans have to do with public service, I’d let it go…I think you shouldn’t stress it. Go and do the work and focus on doing well in school, and don’t worry about it since your plans all revolve around the professions which will be allowed loan forgiveness. No reason to add stress now that you’re already into it. I think it’ll be just fine.</p>
<p>Well, I think this country needs to make up it’s mind…It’s a bit psycho. </p>
<p>On one hand, there is no legal requirement for parents to help with college because students are over 18. </p>
<p>But, even though kids are over 18, they’re considered “dependent” for college purposes for determining need.</p>
<p>If your parents are married to each other, then both incomes are considered.</p>
<p>If your parents have split, only the “custodial” parent’s income is considered for FAFSA (funny to use the word custodial, since once you’re an adult, you don’t have a "custodial parent).</p>
<p>IF your non-custodial parent is a millionaire, and he has been actively in your life, his income still doesn’t count for FAFSA. So, he’s not expected to pay anything.</p>
<p>Parents can make a ton of money, so EFC is high, yet refuse to contribute one red cent.</p>
<p>The whole thing is nuts.</p>
<p>I agree with taxguy 100% because it’s happening realtime for my HS senior:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>DS loves Math and got perfect scores on the math section on both the PSAT and SAT. Also, he has good stats all around. This has lead to “He should apply to Harvard” from both the HS and relatives. This came especially from his Math teacher throughout his junior year. We would just smile and nod. We are not need based, but certainly don’t have any intention of paying for Harvard. Luckily DS has no interest in that area of the country and would prefer if he sees no snow throughout his college years. It’s a myth that only the top tier will provide a good education.</p>
<p>harvard would be a great school to apply to - they have GREAT financial aid for folks with incomes up to about $180,000!!!</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>That may be, but there are many families with incomes that exceed $180,000 that would find ivies unaffordable.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Exactly…</p>
<p>and I agree with the statement that many kids and parents think colleges are just going to “provide what you need” ignoring a couple of points:</p>
<p>1) Someone else decides your “need”</p>
<p>2) Colleges decide to “generously give” you a package that includes a bunch of student loans and often a big ole gap. (this is one of the most misunderstood part for many high school kids and their parents)</p>
<p>3) if you apply to a so-called “generous” Profile school they want your info, your new spouse’s info, your ex’s info, and your ex’s new spouse’s info. </p>
<p>Rarely does anyone at a high school encourage a family to determine its EFC, determine if their EFC is affordable, and then make choices that fit those circumstances.</p>
<p>Along with that, many think their “good student” is going to get a big ol’ merit scholarship - even from schools that don’t give merit. Or, they don’t realize that their child’s nice stats are not “merit-worthy.”</p>
<p>As to the second part…that is another common mistake. There are very few professions that require a person to graduate from a top 20 school in order to be successful. VERY FEW.</p>
<p>Rocket, I have more respect than most for people who work their way through their degrees (My dad got his BS in Engineering while working full time with two kids [w/ a stay-at-home spouse] ), but not everyone can get just “a job.” I have a physical disability that essentially makes me unable to work most, if not all, non-specialized jobs–waitress, secretary, grocery store stocker, retail, etc. I’m lucky to have two jobs at the moment–and yes, I’m using them to cover my school expenses for the year–but they are highly specialized jobs specific to my field. </p>
<p>It bothers me to no end that people assume people can just get whatever job and those that don’t are lazy, spoiled, or picky. I don’t have those “fall backs.” I never will.</p>
<p>One thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet is that college is more expensive now than it was in my day, relatively speaking. My college cost $300 a semester–I made $2.00 an hour at my job–college cost 150 times minimum wage. Now that same semester would cost $2400 and the minimum wage is $7.25–college now costs 331 times minimum wage.</p>
<p>^^Yes. In the past, working your way through college was viewed as virtuous. Those days are gone. My figures are from 2006, but in that year, tuition plus room and board at private universities averaged over $29,000, and at public universities, over $12,000. A part-time job, even assuming more than minimum wage, won’t make a dent in that. Plain and simple, without huge institutional grant aid, kids whose parents cannot or will not shoulder part of the load can’t enroll in college without winding up in serious debt.</p>
<p>Yes, in the past, it was “easier” to work your way thru college. However, since college costs have soared past inflation rates, that has become a much harder thing to do (without merit/grant/etc). </p>
<p>For instance…when I was at UCI in the 70s, my quarter tuition (aka fees) could easily be paid with salary of about 2-3 weeks from my part time job (yep, that’s how cheap it used to be!) Now, no student could do that. The tuition for one quarter is now over $2000. It would take most students the full quarter (or more) to earn that much working part-time. And that’s just tuition!! The student still needs money for books, room, board, transportation, personal expenses, etc, etc.</p>
<p>Those who qualify for full-aid without loans have it pretty good (of course, those schools are few). </p>
<p>Those who get great merit also have it good. </p>
<p>However, the kids with stats below the merit benchmarks, who have families that can’t pay their highish EFCs, are the ones who really have it hard paying for college.</p>