I graduated from high school this past year and have been forced to go to my local community college, due to my parent’s unwillingness to allow me to go away to college. I have enough AP credits that I am able to transfer as a junior after one year. I live in California and my first choice of college is UC Davis, second choice is Sacramento State. I have a college fund which can cover tuition at either school, but is not enough to cover room and board in addition. The college fund has approximately $28000, probably around $26000-$27000 by the end of this school year. With the cost of attendance estimate on the Sacramento State website for two years of schooling I would need an additional $22000 in total outside of my college fund.
As I am in an extremely difficult financial situation, it seems Davis is out of the question which is heartbreaking to me considering how much work I’ve put into my education and how much I am continuing to do with Davis as my end goal the past four years.
Despite my parent’s unwillingness to pay, we are well off. Due to this I qualify for little federal aid and have no choice other than private loans. However, I have no credit score and no cosigner, so if I were to find one I miraculously qualified for, the interests rates would be astronomical. I work for my parents in their business but the work is minimal and my money has to go to living expenses and gas in order to get to school, so I do not have savings. I am attempting to find other employment and am hoping to get a job through my community college. I apply for scholarships and grants nonstop in my free time but I cannot rely on that.
I don’t really know what to do. I have very minimal understanding of college expenses because my parents did not go through the American school system. I don’t understand how on vs off campus living works or how to figure out general costs. If anyone has any advice on how to work around my lack of cosigner and still achieve my goals and if anyone could break down for me how college expenses actually work I would be incredibly grateful.
Ok so you have all of this year to work part time on weekends, and full time in the summer to save up money for school.
You can also take out a $7,500 loan for junior and senior year.
That together should be at least $20,000
So how much more would you need?
Make sure you check wity UC Davis and Sac State that your CC crefits and AP credits will be accepted and you will have junior standing after only one year.
Are you a CA resident? Then see how much tuition and fees costs at the schools you are interested in, then figure how much a shared apartment might cost, books, food, utilities, transportation, etc.
You can borrow your federal loans - if you filled out fafsa, you could get $5,500 for a freshman, plus $6,500 for a sophomore. Take the federal loans and bank them (put them on your bank account.and save them for later. )
Look for a job that pays better than your current one. Explain to your parents, who may be displeased, that 4-year college’s for your junior and senior year are going to cost you way more than cc (but the degree is more valuable.) unless they commit to paying the difference in costs you have no choice but work elsewhere to fund the difference.
Apply to UC Davis as well as Sonoma, sac state, and one more, perhaps ucb or UCLA (may your parents be swayed by the prestige of these two universities?)
Your parents may be able to claim AOTC credit on their tax return for your educational expenses up to $2500 per year. Ask them if they can/do claim it and if you can have this money.
You parents pull the purse strings. There is nothing you can do until you are more self-sufficient, i.e. consider the advice above. At some point, it looks like you will be disappointing, disobeying, dis-something your parents so you should also prepare yourself for that.
Didn’t you fill out FAFSA? (Well, your parents)? Even if you don’t qualify for financial aid, most colleges request it. The loans are a sure thing, everyone can get those.
Ask financial aid at your current CC?
For federal loans, you fill out the FAFSA and have it sent to the colleges you are applying to transfer to. You need your parents’ help with that, but they are not on the actual loan. You also check the box indicating that you want to apply for need based aid on the application to the college. They send you info on a financial aid package when you get accepted that generally includes the federal loans. You tell the college that you accept the financial aid package. There is then some kind of online piece you are instructed to complete (it is like an education on the loans). Then the loan money gets paid to the college and applied to your tuition/fees/etc.
Depending on the loan and your college, you start accruing interest on at least part of the loan as soon as it is paid to the college. If some of your loan is subsidized (you will see that info in your FA packet), then no interest accumulates on that until you are out of college. You don’t have to make payments until after you graduate. Federal loans have more protections for you than private loans, and definitely should be the first loans you take if you need them.
Says who? There’s no IRS or any other type of government guidance on what the credit is “meant” for.
Again, says who, and what type of “problem”? There are no AOTC police that are checking to make sure that anyone who receives the credit is using it for college expenses. Any taxpayer that receives any amount of the tax credit is free to do whatever they want with the money, period.
I know no one will sue parents who take the money and don’t use it for their kid’s college, but isn’t the point to help with college?
On another thread, people were being judgemental about people who use food stamps to buy chips… and American Opportunity is supposed to help with college expenses. I mean, sure, buy yourself a new flatscreen TV, but it goes against the spirit of the credit, and it seems more egregious than a packet of chips - more along the lines of parents taking kids’ food stamps.
I guess I see that as a social compact.
And of course I hope that parents will do what’s right, even if there’s no AOTC police.
I filled out the FAFSA but my financial aid package came from a school I did not end up attending. I opted instead to change to my local community college rather than the one I had the information sent to so I do not know if I have a financial aid package available at my school.
It is a reimbursement for money paid for educational expenses. The educational expenses have already been paid, so if the parents get a $2500 refund and buy a TV, that’s their right. Yes, the student could pay tuition and the parents take the credit, but that requires the student to be a dependent. Even if the student paid the actual tuition, it is assumed the parent has supported the student.
If the student doesn’t like that arrangement, he can become independent for tax purposes (move out, get a job, support himself). If the government doesn’t like that arrangement, it can change the AOTC and make it a requirement that the parent pay the AOTC qualifying expenses.
It’s a credit based on payment of qualified education expenses, not a credit to pay for qualified education expenses.
Huh? What’s the spirit of the AOTC? What’s the spirit of the child tax credit? Is that supposed to encourage people to make more babies? What’s the spirit of the residential energy credit, or the retirement savings contribution credit? Probably to encourage people to do things that the government has deemed to be good public policy. The AOTC is probably supposed to encourage people to fund higher education. If parents are on the fence about paying more (or some) for a kid’s college because that would mean giving up the new car/vacation/IRA contribution/flat screen TV/whatever, and they learn about the AOTC and decide the credit means they can do both, that’s great! Who cares what the credit money is actually “used” for?
You should be able to have it transferred. Go see your financial aide office. I agree, you can take out a $6500 loan this year and put it in the bank to save. Take out $7500 the two years you are at Davis, plus your college fund and you should be good. Where do you live? Is there a decent university within driving distance? Do your parents want you to continue living at home, is that their issue?
@MYOS1634 the AOTC is only given to folks who have ALREADY paid for college costs. Qualified educational expenses. It’s sort of a payback in the form of a tax credit…not something you get that MUST be used for college in the future.
I agree that the taxes and credits are agnostic in practice though clearly designed for specific social engineering. But I think the point is that the parents are holding the OP as a financial hostage - or at least it feels that way. Hard to imagine that these parents will make life easy. But unless the OP wants to emancipate then he/she is stuck in the parents’ world with only a few levers to pull (e.g. the small loans available to the student).
@rbb234, you can go into your existing FAFSA and do a correction and add the school code for your CC to the FAFSA. Then let the financial aid office know to look for it and tell them you want to take out your loan for this year.
But only if you think you need it.
OP has stated that s/he has a college fund of $28,000
What is UC Davis instate tuition and fees for one year?
What does a shared apt run? Close enough so you can ride the bus?
Then OP can take out loans and work now and in the summer.
Agree that AOTC is reimbursement for education expenses paid. Parents might not qualify income wise, there is a limit of $160,000 MAGI K think for married couple.
You could ask if you could have the credit money if they qualify.