My parents make 180k a year. They have zero and I mean ZERO extra money to spare.

How does one get fafsa or the school to assist with the financial situation. I’m looking at Wagner college which is 50k a year. My folks make 180k a year. Which is 145k after taxes. They are in crazy debt themselves. So im on my own. I buy my own clothes, food, phone bill. I’m own my own, but I do still live with them. Times are hard. Fafsa wants Them to pay for school, when we are struggling already. With 3 kids in school? It’s really difficult, 200k in debt at graduation is borderline insane. Any help is appreciated. How do I get help? Where do I go? What do I say?

You will need to look affordable schools and merit aid. Here is a link: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html#latest

What do they owe money for? It makes a big difference if it’s for non-elective medical as opposed to, say, second homes, boats and vacations.

You go to your local university and live at home, or you are a great student that looks at the right school for merit. What are you stats, major etc? Loads of kids are in your spot, plenty of wealthy parents also refuse to pay full pay to schools because that is a financially sound decision for many families. CC is not representative of even your own peer group. Most kids stay local.

What state do you live in? What are your grades and test scores?

<<<
How does one get fafsa or the school to assist with the financial situation. I’m looking at Wagner college which is 50k a year. My folks make 180k a year. Which is 145k after ta


[QUOTE=""]

[/QUOTE]

FAFSA is just an app for fed aid. Your parents income is WAY TOO high for federal grants. Those are for LOW income only.

Schools won’t care that your parents have debt. The only way schools will give you aid is if you apply where YOUR stats will give HUGE merit.

Are you saying that your parents won’t pay ONE CENT towards college? If so, then you have to apply where YOUR stats will get a near “free ride”.

It won’t help for you to get some partial award…you don’t have anyone to pay the rest.

YOU can only borrow $5500

Generally true, but there are special circumstances that can be the exception.

Are your parents paying debt because of a major health issue? Are they I debt because your house burned down and you didn’t have insurance to replace it and your belongings? Are your parents in debt because of the need to put a sibling into a therapeutic treatment school that costs a fortune?

Or are your parents in debt because they have an expensive house with mortgage, and large credit card debt?

Their take home pay of $145,000 a year is quite substantial. Where is that money going?

Lots of options for you for college that don’t cost $50,000 a year or more. There are your instate public universities. There is the possibility of commuting rather than living on campus. There is the community college for two years, with comletion of your bachelors for the two additional years. You could,work part time and attend college part time. You could take time off and work yourself, save money, and go to college part time…or at a later date.

Why is it essential that you attend Wagner, which is expensive and doesn’t guarantee to meet full need…not that you have need.

With a $180,000 gross income, you can expect a family contribution which is close to the full cost of attending Wagner.

Credit card debt

Nj. My grades arnt anything special. I had like a 83 gpa and a 1500 sat score. Lower than most. I screwed myself

I wanted to major in film. Every school with that major either production or Cinematography are very costly.

Credit card debt is a choice…and the schools aren’t going to give two hoots that your family is living beyond their means…and have amassed significant credit card debt.

You need to find a less expensive college option if they can’t pay $50,000 plus for you to attend Wgner.

Do you have a fantastic film portfolio? Maybe you could get some merit aid based on that someplace.

Is this for real?

@ Madison, For sure LOL. Must be a quiet day.

Ok…I’ll bite again. Their credit card bill is how much? What about their other living expenses? $145,000 a year is NOT being spent on credit card debt…is it? Say your mortgage was $3000 a month. That would be $36,000 a year…leaving you with still more than $110,000 a year of that take home pay. That is almost $10,000 a month…exclusive of a mortgage of $3000.

So what are they paying with all of that other money??

Consider doing ** military service **and then going to college free on tbe VA Bill. Several of my extended family members have done that.

Please do military service only if you have a true desire to serve in the military. The benefits are very good for those who want to serve in this way. But this is not something to be done solely for college financing purposes.

See 'My Degree Has Been Pretty Much Useless' | HuffPost Latest News

If you plan to major in film then you should borrow nothing for college.

Thats a fantastic option for alot of kids, thank you for mentioning it GMTplus7, its far too often overlooked.