Is it possible to be pulled out of homelessness by Student Loans/Fin Aid?

Paying for College
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<p>Hi all, the tl;dr version will benefit you all since you don't know me or probably care about my story, so:</p>

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<p>What I found now is a problem, a problem to my vision. I registered an account to possibly get help with thi problem. It is this :</p>

<p>1) I have no tax history. No federal taxes, and I have heard that colleges when deciding how much aid to award, look at your tax history.</p>

<p>2) I have found out that colleges are not required to give out the full amount for the Stafford Loan. The Stafford Loan amount would be my lifeline, the max amount for an independent student</p>

<p>So I am quite depressed now, as I was walking under overpasses in my ghetto I realized... This is how people lose hope, this is hopeless!</p>

<p>Hopefully some people can give me some info or advice on what I can do, and answer if it's actually possible for me to go to school and attempt to turn myself around. Can it be done? Can someone who is homeless, no tax info, over 24, actually get loaned funds to live on while going to school?</p>

<p>Im starting to think... No. I'm thinking that the loans are for people who are not actually AT the bottom, but people a couple of steps up from the bottom :/</p>

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<p>Tomorrow, walk into that community college you are interested in, and sit down with an admissions officer. That person will be able to talk you through your options.</p>

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<p>Is it possible? Yes. Does it happen often. No. Does it work for everyone? No.</p>

<p>First of all if your income/asset situation is low enough, you can qualify for a PELL grant of up to about $5700. You can qualify for Direct Loans of up to $9500. You can ask what the official Cost of Attendance including living expenses is at the community college and can get up that amount in awards, though only the Pell and Direct Loans are guaranteed by need. Any school money or state money can be obtained only by qualifying through their rules and channels. </p>

<p>So, yes, it is possible that after paying for tuition, fees, and other necessary expenses for going to college, there is enough to meet living expenses. But the return of funds from the school that you want to use for living expenses typically does not happen until at very soonest a couple of weeks after the term begins, and sometimes later than that, so most people need some seed money to get through till then.</p>

<p>My one son’s close friend is living on his financial aid. He lived with parents for a couple of years and commuted to a college, got enough credits to meet junior standard. Quit and went back at age 24 when he qualified for independent status. He is going to the flagship state U on financial aid and a part time job. But he was able to transition easily as his family does live close to that school, and he knew a lot of people there, and found a cheap room share, was able to use family resources (slim as they were, there were some including a cot and 3 squares) until he could make the bridge over. He will be graduating this January–took him 2 1/2 yeas there to get his BA with his earlier community college credits applied. </p>

<p>Happymom’s suggestion is a good one. Someone there can probably help you work out the numbers.</p>

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<p>And if you can, maybe get a job, any job, fast food, etc close to you so that you can maybe save up some money for a downpayment on an apartment. They would also maybe let you eat some leftovers. And maybe someone would know if anyone is looking for a roommate.</p>

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<p>The young man we know did work part time at a food place which did defray a lot of his food costs. He also was in a room share, not just an apartment share with his own room. There are often others who also need to cut costs to the bone, and sharing a room is one way to do that You find bulletin boards on campus and online looking for roomshares. Saves sometimes on that down payment, security deposit. </p>

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<p>Cpt, yes I have researched into the plel grant + the government loan that will award 9.5k, that’s originally what convinced me to attempt to go to college instead of continuing doing what im doing that isnt working(ie job hunting with no transportation, no valid liscense, terrible work history, etc)</p>

<p>The problem that I found with expecting to receive those funds is that colleges are not required to give out the full amount of the direct loan, even though I would qualify for it. So even though yes, I qualify for that money, I may not actually receive that money, and honestly without the full amount from both of those, I don’t think it would work out</p>

<p>I appreciate the advice also, the problem is that I’m in a semi-rural area without a car, and the only community college within walking distance is a branch office that doesn’t have a financial aid office at this campus. About jobs/fast food, I honestly want to encourage people to try to get into one of the fast food / low wage jobs for once so people don’t always just command people to go get a ‘fast food’ job. Even Taco Bell asks on their pre-application disclosure about yoru work history, if you have reliable transportation, I think even they probably look at the valid liscense </p>

<p>It really is a bad cycle. Believe me, Ive walked into many places looking for jobs, and maybe its the area Im in that is very economically depressed with a lot of people looking for work, but I think the low wage jobs around here are very coveted and fought over. Its a very bad situation all around</p>

<p>So Im not sure what to do, it seems like theres obtacles in every direction</p>

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<p>If the school participates in the Direct Loan program, and the Stafford loan of $9500 with the Pell Grant isn’t going to exceed the set Cost of Attendance, the school more than likely will offer you the full amount. If you know that they haven’t offered the maximum, you can go request it. </p>

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<p>You need to talk directly with a fin aid officer at a school that can spell out what that school can give you in terms of federal loans and awards for a full time program there. </p>

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<p>You have a work history, even though it is a ‘terrible work history’, but you never filed tax returns for those jobs?</p>

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<p>To kgos, it will exceed the cost of attendance by a long shot. That is the problem, the estimated cost of attendance for the community colleges in the area are like 2.5 - 3.5k, so even though I could qualify for those other funds, it doesnt seem I will be able to access them</p>

<p>I could be misunderstanding the process, but it seems as if the COA is what determines the loan amount, and that you won’t get offered loans that exceed Cost of attendance – is that right?</p>

<p>To Madison, not sure what your point is other than to scold me? Or was I not clear in my OP that I haven’t filed tax returns? </p>

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<p>You need to talk to a fin aid officer. You need to make it clear that you are an independent student who has to come up with room and board yourself, not a commuter. The COAs are different for that category. Some schools do not give much allowance for room and board when a student is commuting from parents’ home. A whole other story if student is living off campus in a place, not with family and paying rent and expenses out of pocket. </p>

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<p>COA might include living expenses in your case. My COA for the local CC is $15,000/yr, even though tuition, fees and books are generally less than the amount of a Pell Grant. The rest is offered to me in loans every year with the option take out up to the maximum amount. As others have said, however, the money is not disbursed until after the term starts. The school I attend, however, offers book vouchers that are deducted from the FA package and allow students to purchase needed materials for class before FA funds are available.</p>

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<p>I find it hard to believe that the estimated cost of attendance is only 2.5-3.5k. I’m at a community college and the COA here is about $15,000. The TUITION is only around $2500-3000 per year, but that’s not the same thing as the cost of attendance. Financial aid is based on the cost of attendance, which includes housing, transportation, food, book costs, and tuition costs. </p>

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<p>I am guessing that the tuition, fees, transportation, books and supplies has an estimated cost of $2.5-3.5K. There are CCs that are very inexpensive in cost, and public transportation is free or reduced for those going to college. If most of the students are commuting from home, there is sometimes a commuter COA which would not include room board, sundries, living expenses. The student needs to talk to someone in financial aid and explain the situation.</p>

<p>However, the school is not likely to advance money for anything other than maybe book vouchers even if the COA is close to the full PELL and direct Loan amount. OP is going to have to get things set up until there is a return of excess funds over the direct billed items.</p>

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<p>OK, Comfortablycurt was right actually, the tuition was 2.5k! BUT, I found some strange website that actually listed the COA at 4k for the Community College I wanted to go to, but then I checked the community college’s website and saw that they had the COA listed at either 12k or 14k… or 11k, I cant remember</p>

<p>To Cptofthehouse, based on my experiences, ive found every person out there who is paid to provide you info, is usually NOT willing to provide info very easily or politely when you’re ‘down and out’, so that’s why I avoided that route. Too many psychopaths/and or scolding women who’re angry that you’re poor and nearly homeless</p>

<p>Now I feel that this thread has given me some very useful information, much more than having the 100 tabs I had open. However, I am not clear about one more thing : </p>

<p>Will I get the funds equal to the colleges cost of attendance? Like is that a sure thing, even without any tax returns?</p>

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<p>Check to make sure that the CC that you are considering participates in the direct loan program as not all community colleges participate </p>

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<p>How will you answer the FAFSA question on Student 2014 Tax Return? Choices are </p>

<p>Already completed
Will filed
Not going to file</p>

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<p>Arbothegreat, if you can give the name of the school, I will try to answer your question. I don’t know if you can PM me (you might not have enough posts) - but if you can’t, and if you are willing to post the school name here, that will help.</p>

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<p><a href=“How to Complete the FAFSA When Parent Didn't File Tax Return | Fastweb”>How to Complete the FAFSA When Parent Didn't File Tax Return | Fastweb;

<p>This article has a section on what happens regarding federal financial aid when required tax returns were not filed. See the third paragraph from the end.</p>

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<p>Madison, yes but they ask for last years return IIRC, and i still may file this year if I can get a job… I appreciate what ur aying if its from valid concern, but certainly theres going to be the option of someone who was out of work or on the street to get fafsa funds, basically I did not have any taxes to report so… yeah</p>