<p>My husband and I are in the midst of Chapter 13 bankruptcy. We are not finalized yet, still modifying our plan. My husband and I make decent money but chaos and our own mistakes led to filing bankruptcy. As such, we cannot take out ANY loans over the next three years. Our son is 17, very bright, a 4.0 student, has received admission to a highly selective college. Merit based scholarships will make up 50% of his expenses. Any suggestions on the other 50% ($15,000). Does anyone have experience with what bankruptcy judges will decide as far as letting us incur some of our son's college expenses. It has been suggested to us that the court may not allow us to pay ANYTHING towards our son's education because he will be more than 18 years old and we didn't put money into a protected educational account. Will he be able to get loans on his own?</p>
<p>He will likely qualify for the unsubsidized Stafford loan (2650 for freshmen). But w/o a credit worthy cosigner, his possibilities of other loans in his name are practically non-existent.</p>
<p>I'm definitely not an expert, but it sounds incredibly unfair of the courts to disallow disbursements for college expenses because your son is 18. After all, it's not like he has the option to emancipate for college financial aid purposes....that option won't be available until he is 25. It seems punitive to put him between the rock and the hard place for 7 years. I'd definitely question this information if I were you.</p>
<p>chrisoco, he can get the unsub stafford for $2625 (sybbie said it was going up to $3500) plus when you get turned down for a plus loan (which you will) he can automatically get another $4k unsub stafford. Both of these numbers increase some in later years (to $5500 and $5000). That gets it down to $4500 to $8500 per year left uncovered. Some of which he can earn in the summer. Good luck.</p>