<p>My husband and I went through a bad time financially several years ago when he lost his job and we started our own business. As a result of this, our credit is now very poor and we have an extremely high mortgage rate and credit card debt that isn't paid off yet. According to the financial aid guidelines, our daughter isn't eligible (they do not consider mortgage cost or credit card debt even if it is not high due to exotic vacations or such extras). We are now financially stable enough that we could pay a college loan but are unable to get one because of our credit. We are also unable to cosign on her getting a loan so she is unable to get one. Any one else experienced this? I don't know what to do as I really want her to be able to go to college.</p>
<p>I sent you a Private Message :)</p>
<p>ericka23 -</p>
<p>If you click on the Financial Aid Forum link on the left-hand side of this screen, you will find lots of useful information. Your daughter has lots of options. She will be able to go to college somewhere that your family can afford even if she can’t attend her “dream” school.</p>
<p>Good luck to all of you!</p>
<p>Generally this means that your child has maxed their federal stafford loans. So they are taking out greater than 5500 their first year. I would not advise putting your child in more debt than their anticipated starting salary which can be very low in this economy. Don’t be a credit junky you just recovered. There is always community college and state universities. </p>
<p>It is unfortunate they don’t take into consideration debts or parents willingness to pay. They just take into consideration cash in your bank and your income. </p>
<p>Watch out student loans will not discharge in bankruptcy. They will garnish you until your death if you don’t pay. If you cosign you are held just as responsible as the person in school. </p>
<p>Private loans are very dangerous since they cannot be deferred in some situations regardless of the situation. Forbearance is also not included with some private loans. The bank wants their $ they will not forgive or allow forbearance if they don’t have to. Private student loans are also non-dischargeable.</p>
<p>Wow! I could have written that exact same post OP. We too have recently gone through financial difficulties after DH lost his job and started his own business (which he is no longer doing). We have just finished “cleaning up the mess” of the bills and that sort of thing, but I know that we’re not going to qualify to get a loan for our DD to go to college.</p>
<p>Our DD is very bright (although she doesn’t always apply it, aka normal teenager!), has an unweighted GPA of 3.7 but is taking almost all AP or college classes. She has high aspirations of college and would prefer to go to a private school. When she graduates high school she will have 2 years of college in (an AA degree from our local CC) most likely (and we’ve checked with the colleges she is interested in, all of the classes will transfer).</p>
<p>Even though we’ve righted our ship and our financial picture is rosy again (back to a good paying job (actually 2!)) I know we’re going to struggle getting a loan for her to go to school. I’m still bitter with my husband for some of the mistakes and I need to get over it, but the way it’s going to affect our DD is killing me.</p>
<p>Any help would be appreciated. I’m in the same boat OP - hopefully we can both sail into the sunset from here on out!</p>
<p>Don’t relapse and borrow too heavily for your daughter’s education. Especially if there are cheaper state school options. Bankruptcy will not work next time if you have student loans. Go get some counseling with a financial planner to avoid becoming a credit junkie again.</p>
<p>Thanks, but we weren’t credit junkies, nor did we overspend on frivolous things (that’s not only tacky and ridiculous, but disgusting). The business transition did not go well and both our accountant, financial planner and lawyer were the ones who advised us how to handle it.</p>
<p>We had outstanding credit before that, and will again (and yes, I know it takes 7 years to rebuild your credit score). It just frustrated me that in the short span of 1 1/2 years, things could change so quickly. But, that said, I’m going to take a positive outlook and say we’re on the road to recovery.</p>
<p>We are realistic on what we can afford for an education, but regardless, it’s going to be a struggle to get a loan, be it private or public. My daughter would prefer a smaller setting (less than 5,000 students) but the 3 public institutions here in Iowa are much bigger than that. She will have already completed her time at a CC, so that doesn’t help. I hate to throw her to the wolves and say, too bad - you have to go to a large institution - because that would be setting her up for failure. </p>
<p>She is a rising junior, so there is a little time to get money saved, but I know it’s not enough to cover a private school. I’m sure she will get a decent amount of scholarships, and I’m pushing her to study harder for her PSATs in hopes that she’ll be a national merit scholar. It’s definitely within her reach mentally, so we’ll see.</p>
<p>Thanks for listening.</p>
<p>^repeat, would your D be interested in Grinnell, or is it too close to home?</p>
<p>Can you have someone cosign the loan for you? Another family member? That is what my friend did for her son - her mom cosigned. It all worked out and he went to college. :)</p>
<p>Grinnell is her ultimate and she would PREFER to be close to home (how many teenagers say that?!?!). Unfortunately, it’s got the steepest price tag of all colleges around us. In a dream world, that’s definitely where she’d go. I figure we’ll apply, see where the chips fall and decide from there. Luckily, we have time to weigh our options.</p>
<p>I’m thinking my parents would co-sign for her (or us - however that works). Hopefully, in a two years when it comes down to it, we’ll have quite a bit banked and we won’t need to borrow as much (and she’ll get decent scholarship $$).</p>
<p>Thanks so much everyone - you’re making me feel much better about the situation.</p>
<p>I agree, apply and see where the chips fall. Especially, with them offering both Merit and Need Based FA.</p>
<p>It all works out when the loan is paid back. Not when the kid goes off to college. You default on a student loan for long enough and you will pretty much ruin your life. The amount of default required to ruin your life could range from a few years to a few months depending on the holder of the note. Just remember you sign the note or cosign the note you will pay period. They will garnish until death and bankruptcy will not make it go away.</p>
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<li>just to clarify, I do not support taking out 100k for a bacherlors agree. My friends son needed a small amount (about 10k total) and I have no doubt he will be able to repay this loan, he has had a job through most of highschool and college.</li>
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<p>I understand now about the loan (wasn’t sure since we were talking about having a co-signer). I, myself, paid for all of my college and paid off my loans within 2 years of graduation.</p>
<p>Hoping for the best, but thankful you all are helping me figure it out!</p>
<p>When a student already has some college courses, especially two years worth that will transfer, they are considered by most schools to be a transfer student instead of incoming freshman. That often means receiving less aid/merit scholarships, since schools like to spend most of that on incoming freshmen who they are trying to attract for 4 years, vs. just 2. This has been pointed out numerous times here on CC, expecially on the Financial aid forum.</p>
<p>I thought I had read that when I was browsing that forum. That makes things even more difficult… on one hand we’ll have less college to pay for, but what we do have, she’ll get less money to go on. It’s a double edged sword!! UGH! Hoping that she gets good scholarships (which she should…), I think that’s going to be our main hope!</p>
<p>We are in same situation could afford the payments on Parent Plus loan if we could get it unfortunatly all my family live overseas and husband doesnt have many relatives</p>
<p>catlover2 - have you come up with any ideas on how you’re going to swing it? </p>
<p>I keep hoping that DD will study hard enough (not likely!) to get a full ride somewhere… this week off to cheer camp for her, it’s a nice quiet 4 days for us! hard to get PSAT studying in there unfortunately!</p>