Thank you! I will look into that.
Your son could also go to CC during summers to reduce his total cost and graduate early from the 4yr school.
Yes! During the summer!!! Good call thank you!
What are the actual costs the school bills you for? Tuition, fees, room, board? COA usually includes estimates for books and transportation that are kind of on the high side. Books can be rented or bought used to save money for example.
So subtract the $2k scholarship, $5,500 student loan, what you and ex can pay, is it enough?
Your son should get a summer job and campus job too to help.
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Friggin Illinois.
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Well, Illinois is a hand-out state. They give out so many hand-outs, and obviously its residents support its over-generosity, that one result is high college tuition and little/no aid.
^I don’t think you can sum up Illinois’ problems like that. Anyway…
@MaryB7899:
add your $8,400 + 5,500 + $2,000 + what your ex offers to pay = everything else would have to come from somewhere. (Don’t tell your son right away you could stretch to 10K, as if things get hard you can try recalculating with him).
He’d need to get a job RIGHT NOW as I assume school is now an afterthought. Then go full time, perhaps more, during the summer. That should net $1,000 part time till summer break, and perhaps $4,000 for the summer. Is he WILLING to start working a lot of hours NOW, meaning get his resume in shape by tomorrow, go interview at Walmart, every retail and fastfood place, etc., this week? Assuming he is, add all this: can you afford ISU? How big is the gap?
If not, his choices are:
- apply elsehere => adults here probably have suggestions for his stats (3.4, ACT26).
or - go to comunity college first
Or: can he commute there?
Are there any 4-year branches near you? Commuting can be a huge savings.
We have a slightly higher income than yours between my husband and I and with 4 kids in the house will get zero financial aid when my junior goes off to college in 2018. I have just started investigating all of this stuff and am so happy (ok, actually horrified!) to sort of get an idea of what to expect. Thankfully she should qualify for some merit aid, so that will help pay for maybe half her tuition somewhere if we’re lucky. I am trying to give her a reality check of the difference between a full ride somewhere, and a lot of debt where she really thinks she needs to go. Kids don’t understand what a burden debt can be.
Kids are limited to 5.5K for their freshman year. That’s it. The amount increases slightly afterwards to cover possible tuition increases. That amounts to 27K over 4 years or 31K with interest, what a college graduate can reasonably pay over 10 years. Make SURE your kid knows that.
Anything else is on the parents and is HIGHLY not recommended.
So, run the Net Price Calculator at many colleges. Look at “meet need colleges” where your child could qualify for admissions (with 4 kids, you’d likely get a free ride up to 85-90K). Look at public and private colleges where she is top 10%. Look at the thread for “most popular financial aid threads” in the Finance Forum, and look at what applies to you (high stats, NMF, up to 25K…)
Better yet, run the NPC with your child on a bunch of different colleges.
OP, I feel for you. I’m an Illinois resident as well. In fact, ISU is local for us. D17 didn’t apply, nor did she apply to UIUC, despite its national ranking in her major. It’s just too tenuous right now for public schools in Illinois.
As for it being too late, it’s not really. I understand that your son would be horribly disappointed, but you can withdraw from the school and from housing. You could ask to defer for a year, which would give you time to organize financial support with your ex, and time for your son to work and save money. That would put you in a much better position to allow him to attend all four years, rather than doing the CC-to-University route. (Parkland is a good option, though.)
Thanks for everyone’s help! We live in a small community and not many jobs available…he has applied everywhere! And he doesn’t have a car so he can’t work out of town. I hope when he turns 18 in July SOMEONE will hire him…Also, we are only 45 minutes away from ISU…but again…he doesn’t have a car and commuting may not be feasible.
I appreciate everyone’s comments and suggestions here…lots of good ones! Thank you!
Oh, and UIUC is VERY close…but it is also MUCH more expensive…he could definitely commute with me, as I work in town. But the money saved by doing that would be out-weighed by the higher tuition, I am afraid.
Can he babysit, mow lawns, pet sit, etc in your small town? If youmare commuting to Champagne Urbana every day…any chance for summer work there where he could commute with you?
If graduating early is an option that could make it work, I highly recommend CLEP tests, which are about $80-100, letting you test out of a class and get the credit for it (anywhere from 3-8 credits). I personally found them to be pretty easy. People just don’t seem to know about them!
OP. You are dealing with what most parents go thru. You had a vision of what could happen for your student and come to find out it did not work out. Many, many parents like you exist.
If you don’t have it, you don’t have it. The options are still there but most of them involve commuting to a local school or a CC. Great advice was given on him working now and summer. As was said, two years of CC and working all hours he can might just be enough to make it to the school he wants.
Good luck.
It might be a lot cheaper to buy a car and live at home. The car solves a couple of problems (job, school). My daughter doesn’t have a car and she’s limited in some of her choices like where to live (she lives right off campus with the freshmen dorms in her backyard) and jobs. She has lots of friends who give her rides, but no one is going to drive her to a job every day.
True, more good ideas. Problem with UIUC is…he probably won’t get accepted…he is on the average side. But I guess he won’t know unless he tries!
Take a close look at Southeast Missouri. We are also in central IL and went south. It has a different feel than ISU, but he can still qualify for the Midwest Achievement Award right now, and would give him instate tuition. His total cost of attendance would be less than $15k leaving your 10k after his $5500 student loan. He could still be a red bird, just a Red Hawk instead.
What are his stats?
If you give us his stats we may be able to suggest quick apps at universities still taking applications.
UIUC is insanely selective for stem and very selective for business. He can try his luck there for other majors. However I’m not sure it’s worth it from a financial point of view since scholarships and grants may have been allocated already.
Murray State in KY might be another decent option.