<p>What do i do if my parents don't want to pay for college. I'm an international student and it's cheaper if i go to a local college. But i would really like to go to college in the US. They don't want to pay. What should/can i do?</p>
<p>You indicated on your other thread that you’re a US Citizen, which is different scenario than an international. You may not have a “home state” but you can file FAFSA and be eligible for federal student aid. It doesn’t seem like your gpa/SAT are going to be competitive for merit aid, which is unfortunate as that could make things much easier for you. What grade are you in and do you know your overall gpa (weighted or unweighted)? Do you have family in the US that you could perhaps stay with, even rent a room from, while you’re in school?</p>
<p>Someone has to pay the bills. If your parents will not but could do so, you will have to look for college options that are in your financial price range.</p>
<p>If you ARE a U.S. Citizen, you are eligible for federally funded need based aid IF your family qualifies for it. The maximum entitlement for need based federally funded aid is the Pell Grant for about $5000 and the Stafford loan for another $5500 (for freshmen). To qualify for that maximum Pell award, your FAFSA EFC would have to be $0.</p>
<p>EFC is based on the income and assets of your PARENTS…regardless of where they live.</p>
<p>IF you are a US citizen, you do have the option of moving back to the US, finding a job and a place to live, and working your way through college. Hard I know, but there are plenty of people who are doing this right now. In Maryland, you only need three months of in-state residence to qualify for in-state tuition and fees at a community college. Other states have different policies so you would need to investigate on a state-by-state basis.</p>
<p>Small but important point - federal Stafford loans are not need-based aid, they’re available to all US citizens and certain eligible non-citizens who file FAFSA.</p>
<p>OP, have you taken the time to run your family income/asset figures through an online EFC calculator? Do you know if you will qualify for any other need-based aid?</p>
<p>If your parents have a decent income, then it’s very doubtful that you can come to school in the US, because they won’t pay their EFC.</p>
<p>Why don’t you figure what their EFC is?</p>
<p>Is the reason they won’t pay because you can get educated in your home country for free?</p>
<p>And, if you’re a US citizen, don’t say that you’re an int’l…you’re not.</p>
<p>Okay, i’ll calculate my EFC. And i didn’t know that i U.S. citizens aren’t considered international. So on the college website am i supposed to goto out-of-state or what?
If i don’t come under international or out-of-state then what do i come under?</p>
<p>Also, no i will not be going or free :P. I will have to pay here too but the cost is much less. Approximately $10,000. Just like being in-state.</p>
<p>See I was born in Portland, OR and moved to India when i was about 12. Ever since i’ve always wanted to come back for college. So don’t say coming back isn’t an option :P</p>
<p>But see i can’t calculate my EFC cause my dad refuses to give me any information. He says he’s not paying. When i asked him he said " Put zero. I don’t care. Just put zero."
What do i do?</p>
<p>The way it works for college here in the US is that the parents are held responsible and are allowed to choose what they want for their kids, just as they are for high school. Yes, you can apply on your own, but when it comes to financial aid, they have to fill out the info or give it to you to complete. You can be asked to provide verification of the numbers so making them up can get you in trouble.</p>
<p>If your parents don’t want to pay for college, it’s just as though they don’t want to pay for high school and you wanted to go to private boarding school in the US. If you, personally, don’t have the funds, then you are out of luck unless you are such a stellar catch for a college that they offer scholarship money for you. </p>
<p>Until you are age 24 or meet other independent student criteria, your parent information is required for aid.</p>
<p>Unfortunately there’s really nothing you can do if your parents won’t pay and you don’t qualify for merit aid. What FAFSA could make you eligible for is a drop in the bucket at all but community colleges. Set your sites on grad school when it’s easier.</p>
<p>thesushi:</p>
<p>My understanding is that you are a US citizen living abroad. Your parents want you to go to a local college—i.e. one in the country you currently live in?</p>
<p>What country are you living in? Do you want to stay there long term? Why or why not?</p>
<p>What local colleges are you able to get into?</p>
<p>What would you like to do <em>after</em> you graduate from college?</p>
<p>The answers to those questions might be relevant to deciding whether it really is worth the effort to try to finance the cost of a US college education totally on your own, which will be very, very difficult.</p>
<p>But see i can’t calculate my EFC cause my dad refuses to give me any information. He says he’s not paying. When i asked him he said " Put zero. I don’t care. Just put zero."</p>
<p>This is why people are saying that you can’t come to school in the US. Without your dad’s REAL info, you can’t complete the financial aid forms. Your only other option is if your SAT/ACT and GPA are high enough to get a full ride somewhere - thru merit alone.</p>
<p>You would be considered a non-resident or “out of state” for state schools. You’d just be considered a citizen for private schools (since they don’t care which state you’re from).</p>
<p>Why don’t you go to one of the EFC calculators on line and put a guess estimate of your fathers income and assets and see where it falls. It might happen that the EFC is low and you might get most aid (assuming that your father’s salary when converted to US dollars may be low, even though it may be high in your country). </p>
<p>If it is still high you have two choices, either come back on your own and get a job (as suggested by happymomof1) or get significant merit aid. You will not get any PLUS loans as your parents may not have recent credit nor any interest</p>
<p>Look at Momoftexas thread on full ride colleges. If you get into one of those, you may not need FAFSA, financial aid or your parents financial support.</p>
<p>Beginning in 09/10, eligible students can file FAFSA without parental financial data and receive unsubsidized Stafford loans. That is the only form of federal “aid” they’ll get though!</p>
<p>OP, US citizens living abroad are often referred to as “ex-pats” - you can search this site for more discussion on how others have financed going to school in the US but, at private schools, there will be no cost difference. Yes, you are considered an OOS student for all publics here, but there are public uni’s where the tuition cost difference is not astronomical. The other expenses you should consider will come from transportation costs, assuming you intend to visit your family in India, personal expenses (international calling, purchasing more items here rather than bringing everyday things from home, lodging during short breaks, etc.) and room and board charges.</p>
<p>You don’t indicate why your father is so opposed to a US education…is he an Indian national who intends to remain in India? Perhaps he’s afraid that you’ll never return? If not, and this is truly based on financial fear, perhaps he will be more accepting of your choice once you’ve identified some schools likely to give you decent aid. If he’s also a US citizen then he should realize that ,if you intend to live and work in the US, a degree from a US college will be much more readily accepted by potential employers than one from a foreign institution. How does your mother feel about this?</p>
<p>To get a better handle on higher education in the US, read everything at [EducationUSA</a> | Study Abroad, Student Visa, University Fairs, College Applications and Study in the U.S. / America](<a href=“http://www.educationusa.state.gov/]EducationUSA”>http://www.educationusa.state.gov/) Then make an appointment with the counselors at the advising center closest to where you live. If you can’t visit in person, they may be able to help you by email or over the telephone. If they haven’t worked recently with any ex-pats like you, they have a colleague in another office who has.</p>
<p>There are good FAFSA calculators at:
[FinAid</a>! Financial Aid, College Scholarships and Student Loans](<a href=“http://www.finaid.org%5DFinAid”>http://www.finaid.org)
and
[College</a> Calculators - savings calculators - college costs, loans](<a href=“College Board - SAT, AP, College Search and Admission Tools”>Calculate Your Cost – BigFuture | College Board)</p>
<p>The threads mentioned above started by momfromtexas are:
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/148852-what-ive-learned-about-full-ride-scholarships.html</a>
<a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/291483-update-what-i-learned-about-free-ride-scholarships.html</a></p>
<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>
<p>if your dad will not supply his accurate income info, then you can’t file a regular FAFSA for full aid consideration. Even if you would qualify for Pell, you wouldn’t qualify if your dad won’t supply the right docs/info.</p>
<p>You might be able to file a FAFSA to get just an unsub loan for $5500, but that won’t be nearly enough to pay for college. And to file for that I think you need your dad’s signature or something saying that he refused to provide info (or something like that). Not sure, this is a new thing. </p>
<p>Anyway…the point is…that guessing your dad’s income/assets won’t do you any good if he’s not going to cooperate and provide info. </p>
<p>Your only choice is to seek out big scholarships.</p>
<p>What are your stats?</p>
<p>Is the issue that your dad refuses to help you go out of the country? Or, is it that he doesn’t want to pay more than what he’d have to pay in India? If it’s the former reason, then he won’t give you the money that he would have paid in India. It it’s the latter reason then he may give you THAT amount and nothing more.</p>
<p>Are you a girl or boy?</p>
<p>The American FAFSA process is confusing to foreigners. It makes it sound like the USA has affordable college and parents are legally obliged to cooperate. Neither is true. College costs ca very well be out-of reach and there is no “FAFSA court” which can order your parents to comply.</p>
<p>There is an exception, however, if you carefully read the FAFSA web site. Students can choose not to put their parental info down and with a “special circumstances” exemption. If you do this and get accepted, you will have to contact the Financial Aid Administrator at your college and explain your case to him/her. They will then decide whether or not your parents need to provide info.</p>
<p>According to FAFSA some special circumstances are “your parents are incarcerated, you have left your home due to an abusive environment, or you do not know where your parents are and are unable to contact them” It goes on to say that parental refusal to pay or to supply info is not a special circumstance. This is a college-by-college decision, though, so you should check with your college to see if you are have special circumstance according to them. </p>
<p>In short, you probably won’t get this unless you live away from home or you have a total breakdown of your relationship with your parents.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Right. the scenario you’ve described does not apply to the student. He lives at home and the only problem is that the parents won’t pay for a US college. So, that’s not a reason to get independent status (which is what you’re describing.)</p>
<p>The OP has posted his stats in a different forum, which I happened to see. He has a 1800 SAT and not a very high GPA. His chances of getting FA from any school is limited especially the schools he was considering like ASU. He needs to have plan B.</p>