<p>“If the parent can report low income, a student could see enough aid to cover the lions share of college costs.”</p>
<p>the big lie…"</p>
<p>I actually dont think that is a lie. my friend got into UF with a 4.1 GPA and only a 20 ACT. her EFC was 0 and she got everything paid in full, for the summer and the fall term.</p>
<p>Me, on the other hand, got accepted to UF with a 4.3 and 24 ACT. my EFC was $703 and UF cover everything except $738. i was offered work study of $3000 and a subsidized Stafford loan of $3500. USF, too, offered me a similar package that also include a unsubsidized stafford loan. USF actually over met me.</p>
<p>what i am trying to say is the quote is misleading if you think the school will cover the COA without any loans or work study. if you dont want none of these, then that is when you have you have very high stats and recieve scholarships to replace work study and the loans. but if you are an average student, expect to be offered these type of FA packages.</p>
<p>“Is there any state in the nation where you can’t get educated for less than ~7k/year in tuition costs? This is a serious question.”</p>
<p>Florida state schools tuition are only $4300 and COA $18000-$19000, but that they are increasing every year, though</p>
<p>*Is there any state in the nation where you can’t get educated for less than ~7k/year in tuition costs? This is a serious question. *</p>
<p>Yes, I think there are some midwest or southern schools that have really low instate tuition. I think there are some still in the $5k-6k range.</p>
<p>You’re in Calif…how much are the Cal States right now for tuition? Aren’t they under $7k?</p>
<p>UFBarbie…You are in one of the exception states. Florida has really low instate rates and you may have state grants as well. </p>
<p>For the students who aren’t in state like yours, where their public flagship costs $20k+ per year and the state doesn’t provide additional aid, the “lions share” won’t likely get covered - not even with loans/work-study.</p>
<p>No one is saying that there aren’t some states like yours. The problem is that when a person who lives in a state that is NOT like yours, and they read that article, they are going to naively think that the “lions share” will get covered. And, it won’t.</p>
<p>Those saying that low income families get their needs met are absolutely wrong. </p>
<p>Also, community colleges don’t have very specific(focused) specialty programs and don’t look as good on resumes. In this recession where many big-shot university graduates can barely scrape by with a bachelor’s, community colleges are a lot lower on the food chain than they were before.</p>
<p>I applied to 6 colleges, 5 specializing in art and 1 the art program at a community college. I’ve been accepted to two so far(I get more news this next week) and rejected by 1, my over-reach school that I knew was hard to get into. My EFC is 0 and my second choice is a small school that’s a separate branch from a small university. Even so, I’m weighing options on how to come up with roughly 24,000 for it as financial aid covers barely half and most of it are from two loans I’d already have to pay back. Loans on top of loans. I’m considering going to community college(at the moment unless I get a better deal at the other art schools) for a year or two to lower costs but I would consider them years lost and money wasted on a program I won’t be satisfied with.</p>
<p>These times are full of ironies and paradoxes where you need a good education to get a good job but need a good job to pay for a good education.
Life is always full of confusing circles: You need a car to get a job to get money but you also need a job to get money to pay for a car.</p>
<p>I tell people not to get discouraged though. I spent years out of school and this year decided enough is enough and I’d finally pursue my passion no matter the costs. You only get one life, no? Education satisfies knowledge; your naturally human curiosity. I sort of envy those that go to college countless times pursuing different interests.</p>
<p>If I think the school will prepare me and I find it the best way to invest in my future, I’ll take loan upon loan and figure something out. I just wish there was more help around for those that slip through the cracks.</p>
<p>I’m rambling now but I hope people get the gist of what I’m saying. :)</p>
<p>"Those saying that low income families get their needs met are absolutely wrong. "</p>
<p>Those making generalizations are absolutely wrong. I’m getting mine met and then some. But like mom2 said, it depends on where you live and where you’re applying.</p>
<p>Okay I have to admit, I did not read this article in the NY Times. But, there is a lot of discussion about paying for college if you are a low income student. What about the middle class student?</p>
<p>We are in a situation that until 5 yrs ago I was a single mom and my d would have definetly recieved a 0 EFC. My husband makes a fair income and last yr worked a lot of overtime to pay for my d and I to travel for college trips. She had to also audition for her major. Unfortunately, our annual income was over inflated because of this overtime. And the extra money was spent for an unusual circumstance. We do not live on the money.</p>
<p>Every school offered a Financial Aid package in which the EFC as determined by the FAFSA. WE cannot afford the EFC. I have two questions.</p>
<ol>
<li><p>Do we bite the bullet and pay (or rather take out loans, pay what we can afford for now.) and try to start over for next yr?</p></li>
<li><p>Next yr. should we have my d to become an independent student. She will be working in order to contribute to paying for the cost of her college. She has also this yr been awarded the maximum of subsidized and unsubsidized student loan. </p></li>
</ol>
<p>Of course we don’t qualify for a Perkins loan/grant. And one school offered Parents Plus loans. I read somewhere that if only one parent (me) who works part time and my income in less than 10K/yr., applies for the Parent Plus loan without my husbands income that the student would qualify for more grants or a higher student loan. This confuses me because I thought the maximum unsubsidized and subsidized st. loan is $5500.</p>
<p>I really need advise from someone that really understands the financing and the financing laws. Personal opinions are just that, I need real advise.</p>
<p>It WAS a general statement.
I’m happy for you, Congratulations! and I hope you’ll continue to receive such help, but you’re just the rare phenomenon compared to the sheer amount of those not getting their needs met. It’s not the norm which calls for a general statement and not a specific statement zooming into those statistics for a Ms. Jones or Mr. Smith. I did give my details on my situation though.</p>
<p>Another situation would be my eldest niece who is going to be attending college the same year as I am. She’s the NHS, AP class galore, straight A student and she would need a lot of help from Financial Aid as well. She busted her behind in school and still continues to do so. Hours upon hours of homework and then straight to bed after a long night studying. She has gotten into every college she applied to but one and that was only because they ran out of room; they did accept her in a separate program though. Only one of the colleges covers full tuition and the rest are crazy out there expensive even with scholarships. For the medical career she wants and the state she lives in, it’s hard to find ANY low cost colleges. Yes, she applied to state schools and she doesn’t want to go out of state so she can be close to home/no travel costs.</p>
<p>The one that pretty much gave her a full ride is in a really sketchy area(thousands of motels lined up) with a prison-like campus. She’s not thrilled but still considering it due to costs.</p>
<p>Just another perspective for those saying that above-average students get a lot of help. There IS more help but there also more factors.</p>
<p>From sewhapppy a few posts back: “Some prosperous Mommys and Daddys got to be prosperous by being fairly hard headed with their expenditures and even though they can afford $200k to send junior to college, they just won’t.” AMEN</p>
<p>The middle class is really stuck because the tuition is going up so fast and salaries just don’t keep up.</p>
<p>Mom at home: you might post your specific questions and start a new thread. There are many very informed people on here concerning financial aid.</p>
<p>I’m about 90% sure that if one parent is denied the PLUS Loan but the other is approved, you won’t get an increase of the Stafford Loan. I think they also check in the FAFSA if your husband is on there and it might raise some questions.</p>
<p>I do know that if denied the PLUS Loan, you WILL get about $4000-$5000 increase in the Stafford Loan. I read about it, asked FAFSA about it, was told by a Financial Aid Officer about it and also asked two other Financial Aid Offices to confirm. </p>
<p>Even so, I’d ask around the forums with a more specific thread.</p>
<p>*2. Next yr. should we have my d to become an independent student. She will be working in order to contribute to paying for the cost of her college. She has also this yr been awarded the maximum of subsidized and unsubsidized student loan. *</p>
<p>It’s very doubtful that she could become an independent student as long as she’s under the age of 24 and unmarried.</p>
<p>That’s close, but not quite right. The actual story is that if you apply for a Parent Plus loan and are rejected, the student will qualify for a $6000 increase in the unsubsidized Stafford loan. Essentially, the maximum Stafford loan increases from $5500 to $9500, but the increase is entirely unsubsidized and no additional grants are allowed. </p>
<p>You only need one denial (for either the mother or the father) to apply, so if your plan is to have one parent apply with the hopes of being denied to get the Stafford loan, then you should not have both parents apply since that doubles the risk of being approved. </p>
<p>Now, if that really is your plan, it would be better to talk with the student’s financial aid officer at the college to pre-arrange this. See, the Parent Plus credit check is fairly lax and there’s always a risk that you might be approved when you don’t want to be. Financial aid officers know that many parents are in this situation and have the authority to grant a determination that you won’t qualify for the PLus loan before you apply, allowing you to bypass that step and take the unsubsidized loans directly.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>As mom2 said, this is fairly difficult to pull off. The federal government, for this purpose, uses a definition of the word “independent” that is much different than the colloquial usage. The only way you can become independent is if you fall into one or more of these categories:</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>A lot of people think that they can just declare themselves independent by moving out and getting a job, but there’s more to it than that or everyone would be doing it!</p>
<p>Parents and children would be well served to stop thinking about a college education as a right. I wrote on another thread… my Dad worked his way through college while working FULL time at Hughes Aircraft. I worked 16 hrs./wk along with (in today’s dollars) $10k per year from my parents. My wife worked 16 hrs. per week with ZERO from her parents the last two years of college after her Dad lost his job. She did take out $10k in loans I believe and paid them back over a 10 yr. period.</p>
<p>In CA, we have three levels of public university:</p>
<p>1) Community College, at about $1,000 tuition per full year
2) Cal State (there are 24) at about $6,000 tuition per year
3) UC (there are 9 undergrad) at about $10,500 tuition per year</p>
<p>Room and Board is of course another matter, as well as books, and other expenses.</p>
<p>A student can certainly pay for Community College 100% from working and living at home, then pick a CSU or UC close to home and come out with zero debt. If the student chooses a UC away from home, then it becomes more costly and the student might need to take out about $5-$8k in loans the last two years.</p>
<p>It’s doable, but we need to stop thinking that a 4 year college with room and board included is a right, or even “normal”.</p>
<p>*The actual story is that if you apply for a Parent Plus loan and are rejected, the student will qualify for a $6000 increase in the unsubsidized Stafford loan. Essentially, the maximum Stafford loan increases from $5500 to $9500, but the increase is entirely unsubsidized and no additional grants are allowed. *</p>
<p>That’s great for California, but it’s not the case here in Maryland. Where I live, the tuition for community college is just about $5000 a year (I think it was $4750 last year). $5000 per year itself is not difficult to work and pay for (actually, my Pell Grant would cover it), but you have to add in the cost of buying, maintaining, putting gas in, and paying insurance on a car. Then, eventually, a student has to transfer. You may be able to commute to a local school, but the nearest four year university to me, for example, is well over 2 hours away (without traffic). Even without room and board costs, tuition is $12,000 and again, a car must be used (no public transportation). That increases costs significantly. This is certainly doable for low-income students - possibly even without debt. But when other factors are considered (for example, that a low-income student is often providing for the family as well as holding down an almost full time job), graduation becomes unlikely.</p>
<p>I don’t think you can treat California as being representative of the entire country, although I take your point about how a community college -> state college route is often the best option. States take extraordinary lengths to keep community colleges affordable, and while they have had to increase tuition these past few years as of now it’s still doable with a partial Pell Grant + a Stafford loan in most places.</p>
<p>I wonder if because some state CCs know that low income kids can get Pell, it encourages them to charge an amount that takes full or near full Pell.</p>
<p>I don’t know about that. The average cost of community college is just $2,402. States like Maryland are outliers, and they also have higher than average state university costs and the highest median income in the United States.</p>
Can’t be done unless she meets one of the criteria. None of the criteria relate to being claimed or not claimed on parents tax returns, living or not living with parents, or working and being self supporting. My son returned to school at 22 after 3 years of working full time, living in his own place and paying his own rent and bills etc. He was still considered a dependent for FA purposes.</p>
<p>What about kids like me who want to go to a school that costs over $200,000 and have parents who have substantial income and assets but won’t pay for my education? Not only do I get jiped by my parents, but I also won’t get any financial aid for being low-income/needy. I’ve been trying to get scholarships, but a lot of them are based on need, so I don’t qualify. Am I just going to be stuck with a ridiculous debt burden or going to a school I don’t want to go to?</p>
<p>You’re probably going to be stuck going to a school that you don’t want to go to. Will your parents pay for a cheaper school? If they will, be grateful that you will graduate debt-free. If they won’t, I’m not sure what your best options are. You could work to pay for CC for two years, and then work and hopefully get merit scholarships to reduce the debt load at the last two years of university.</p>