Need Help Picking Out a Reputable Private Loan

Paying for College
1

Excuse any confusion, I posted this on Reddit and I figured here is more busy and I would get assistance better. So sorry if something seems off.

Now before I start I’m not the smartest when it comes to financial situations, FAFSA, or any of the sort. Gonna also get out of the way that I tried to get help with it, but I was shoo’d away (I’ll explain later)

So I’m in a situation where I waited too late to get my FAFSA in order (mainly because I just got access to my parents’ taxes, yes they do technically live out of the country) and I thought I could wait until summer to get that all in order.
I couldn’t.

I wasn’t expecting to get any grants or anything by now, but I was hoping to get a loan where I could pay off my money for the last year. I couldn’t, no one told me. :frowning:

I didn’t realize that I wouldn’t be able to get any money after the school year ended (I didn’t realize that subsidized loans were handled by the school, and not the government themselves). Now I’m left in a situation where I can’t get aide, I can’t pay back my school, nor can I register for classes for next semester.

Are there any other options I should consider before jumping off the deep end?

What are some good private loan companies that I should go to? I’m looking at Sallie Mae, but I’m not sure since I hear a lot of complaints.

Not sure if this is also important but:

-Yes this would be my first private loan, I already had a parent plus loan from the last year

-Yes I’m a dependent (19 currently)

-Yes, I plan to pay them back immediately

-No I’m not planning on getting anymore loans, as I now know how to maneuver my parents’ tricky tax situation with the help of a social worker

Bonus Rant:
A huge reason why it took me so long was because I didn’t know how to handle my parents’ tax information and last year I ended up registering more money than my parents actually made. I ended up getting no financial aide as a result. My parents’ situations was that they:
-Lived and filed in a territory, but they came to the States for medical reasons so it was hard getting their taxes from back home
-Filed differently (idk why)
-Both are retired

Multiple times throughout the year I have visited my school’s financial offices and advisors for help and they said that they couldn’t help me. All I asked was if I could sit with someone, who was hopefully more knowledgeable than me, and maybe they could help me with my FAFSA. Not to do it for me or anything.

All of them told me no, that they couldn’t help me, and shoo’d me away. Most of them were pretty rude. :frowning: Also, not once did anyone mention to me that I have to get all if this done by the end of the school year.

Now, people are telling different. NOW they are telling me that there are many schools that help students with their FAFSAs, and even the people at my school are telling me that the advisors SHOULD have helped me. Now I’m all stressed and depressed over the situation because I feel super stupid.
I really don’t want to deal with them anymore.

2

How much money do you need?

Can you just get a summer job to earn that money to pay off what you owe your college/university?

3

You can not get any type of student loan to pay for a past term, not from the school (govt) or from a private lender. A lender could make a private loan but not a STUDENT loan. A private loan will be very expensive and require qualifications.

I think you’ll need to earn money to pay that past due amount.

4

Can you live with your cousin in FL and work to repay the HBCU? You could get counseling for your depression/anxiety then transfer to a FL college for your last 2 years.

5

It’s around $13,000+ unfortunately. :frowning: I was thinking so as well.

6

Thank you for telling me! I didn’t know that, and it’s really disappointing. I mean, there are people my mother could speak to about getting a loan.

This is entirely what I wanted to avoid, but I guess if I have to.

7

Ummmm, I don’t think I’ll be able to make up the money in time, and I not up to taking a gap year. Do you know if my mother would be allowed get a loan to pay it off though?

With the way she is paid, both her and I can pay them back within a few months

8

If you can repay a $13k loan in a few months, can you just repay the school directly over the summer instead?

9

Did you talk to the financial aid office of your school? Is there any way they can get help get you and your parents a loan to pay off your school obligations. If not? It’s totally up to your parents to get a loan. A teenager is not likely to get any unsecured loan. Anything you got through the education channel other than Direct loans and other financial aid office loans would have had to have involved your parent assuming responsibility for them.

You mother can repay the college over the summer so that you can register this coming fall. You may lose your classes and have to re-register for them but I’m sure the bursars office will work out some payment plan so that you can resume your attendance as long as the. Scalable is paid before the term begins

There is a serious question here as to whether you and your family can afford this school. Doesn’t matter who should have done what, when. Bottom line is that you are now an adult and it’s up to you to make sure it’s all done, or out you go. It’s not just for college tuition but other bills you will face in life. You gotta pay, regardless of what’s happening or you will get cut off unless you get very very lucky. Very little luck of that sort floating around, so I wouldn’t count on it

Whether you are up to taking a gap year to think this over or not, isn’t even relevant. Can you and your family afford this school? Are you mature enough to handle the financing of this school? So far, the answer is no.

10

This doesn’t seem to make sense. If this was true then your family to pay it off by December and then you could just start school again in the spring

11

What financial aid would you have qualified for if you had filed the FAFSA on time?

The Pell Grant of up to about $6,000? The student loan of $6,500?

You said last year you filed FAFSA and didn’t qualify for aid other than student loan and your parents took out a Parent Plus loan.

How much do you owe the school?

I agree, the school doesn’t really sound affordable.

12

I am also struggling to make sense of the situation. I have many questions as to how you ended up owing $13K, but let’s focus on moving forward.

Your parents are retired, correct? What is your mom being ‘paid’? To qualify for private loans (unlike parent plus loans), your parents will need assets to use as collateral as they are retired and not earning income.

Even if you were able to pay the $13K with summer earnings and/or private loan, how would you pay for school the next 2 years? Do you have a job for this summer? How much will you earn?

Realistically, it looks like you may have to take a gap year (or semester) to earn money, or transfer for the spring to an affordable school, perhaps UCF----you received good advice on that thread. Do you still see transferring to UCF as an option?

13

@Mwfan1921 if the parents have retirement income, that can be considered when applying for a loan.

And of course…if they can breathe, they could get a parent plus loan for the upcoming year. Too late for the past year.