<p>Some background before I ask a couple questions...</p>
<p>I am a Junior transfer student to Rowan University (a four year public college in NJ) for Fine Arts, I went to community college where I earned my associates degree. This will be my first semester at the school, and I am attempting to figure out how financial aid works for the first time because I paid all of my community college tuition out of pocket with money I had saved from working since I was 16 and the help of my mother. My mother will be losing her job in 2 months, and it is just myself and her living in a home we rent. She just told me that she will not sign/cosign on any student loans for tuition because of this. </p>
<p>What are my options for receiving student loans if neither of my parents are willing to cosign? Once my mom loses her job, will I be able to fill out fafsa again for the spring semester and receive more aid once we have no income other than what I make at my retail job? If so, can I take all of my stafford loans ive been granted for the year (7500) and use them for this fall semester instead of splitting it between 2 for the whole year? </p>
<p>FAFSA is based on the prior year’s income so you won’t be able to reflect the lost job until next year. You can ask your school FA for some professional judgement to see what they can do for you.</p>
<p>You cannot use up your Direct (Stafford) loans in one semester. It will automatically be cut in half for each semester. Tuition and fees are ~$6K/semester at Rowan so you’ll have to make up the difference.</p>
<p>Your cost at Rowan if you live there will be $26K approximately for the entire year. If you commute, about $16K. Have you submitted FAFSA to Rowan and requested financial aid? Have they given you any? </p>
<p>You cannot use half the Direct Loans ($7500) all in the fall semester but you can for the spring semester. That’s the way it works. How Rowan will adjust your EFC when your mother’s job is terminated is up to them, and schools often won’t make an immediate dislocated worker designation, and want to wait a few months to see if the parent finds work. Call the financial aid office at Rown and see if you can get some idea how it works when a parent loses a job mid year, whether your EFC would be changed to zero, and whether that would net you any more money, such as PELL funds. Usually Perkins and SEOG money is long gone by them. Probably gone by now. </p>
<p>The $7500 in Direct loans is all that you can get on your own. I don’t know how the NJ student loan program works; you can check it out, whether a parent is involved and how much you can borrow.</p>
<p>If your mother applies for PLUS and is denied (denial is based on credit report showing over due owed amounts for over 90 days) then you can get another $4-5K in DIrect loan money. But unless your mother or father is denied, you don’t get that. It is possible even without a job that a parent will get PLUS. </p>
<p>My suggestion is that you try to pay the fall amount without the Direct Loan with your summer earnings and whatever you mother can pay, put what you can from your job during the year as well, and then take out the entire amount of the loan for second semester even as you appear for a dislocated worker designation for your mother to get some PELL funds. The fin aid office is probably going to advise that your mother apply for PLUS and see what she gets from there since her unemployment won’t make any difference, but I would not blame her if she would not, given she is without a job, unless she is pretty sure to be denied.</p>
<p>"You cannot use up your Direct (Stafford) loans in one semester. It will automatically be cut in half for each semester. Tuition and fees are ~$6K/semester at Rowan so you’ll have to make up the difference. "</p>
<p>Actually, you can, but only in the second semester.</p>