Is it possible to pay for my first year of college without any help from my parents?

Paying for College
1

<p>So because of some recent events, my parents will not be contributing anything to my first year of college. Depending on some certain factors, though, they will be able to pay for the rest. I was planning on going to University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, so it would be about 26k for the first year (in state). I did not get any sort of financial aid because my family is pretty well off. Help would be much appreciated considering the May 1st deadline is approaching soon. </p>

2

<p>^If you filed FAFSA, you could borrow up to $5500 in Direct Loans; then you parents could borrow up to the cost of attendance (minus all other financial assistance) in Direct PLUS Loans. See <a href=“http://www.direct.ed.gov/applying.html”>http://www.direct.ed.gov/applying.html&lt;/a&gt; & <a href=“http://www.direct.ed.gov/parent.html”>http://www.direct.ed.gov/parent.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

3

<p>I don’t see a way to do that except for what @4kidsdad just posted. Can you defer your acceptance for a year, work to earn some money to help cushion issues in future years, and start a year later? Not sure UIUC will allow this or not, you would have to ask.</p>

4

<p>That’s a question only YOU can answer. Do you have money? What can you earn this summer? You know what you need in funds for your choice of schools. Most 18 year olds cannot come up with $26K for college, unless they have been saving the money over the years. If this year has some temporary financial hardships, it may be a good idea to take it as a gap year. You can request it from the school --don’t know the policy for it, or give it another go next year Spend the year working and saving money. You could probably come up with more than half of what you need by next year. </p>

<p>As others have said, you can borrow $5500 on your own. That’s it, without parents getting involved. Even for that they need to fill out their part of the FAFSA for you to get that.</p>

5

<p>are the “recent events” financial hardship issues your parents have run into, or parental expectation issues you have run afoul of?</p>

6

<p>You, the student, will be able to take a $5500 Direct Loan in your name. That is the on,y loan you will get in your name only. I can’t think of any way that you could pay $20,000 more unless you have the money saved, or your parents will cosign a loan for you.</p>

<p>Are you saying that THIS coming school year is the only one where finances are too tight? If so, have you considered taking a year deferral, and waiting until 2015 to enroll, when your parents can pay?</p>