<p>Hi everyone. I will be attending an out of state college in Fall 2013, and my parents are not willing to help me pay for college. After the financial aid award and loans, I still have $22,000 to pay for my first year of college. I applied for a summer job which I will start work by May 20. Would it be alright if anyone can recommend me other methods I can pay for the cost of college not covered by the financial aid award? Can I apply for other scholarships from the college? Will I be able to obtain other loans and pay back after graduation? Thank you everyone for your help!</p>
<p>Amethyst, the way the college financial aid system works is that your parents financials are used to determine whatever financial aid you can get until you are age 24, married, have a dependent, are a veteran of the Armed Forces or if you had been court ordered away from your parents before age 18. You have to contact the college as to what they have for you in terms of scholarships and other resources. But the answer is that you cannot get much money other than scholarships and the Stafford loans without your parents cooperating. </p>
<p>Going out of state is usually not a good idea, as there is often an OOS premium charges, and OOS public schools usually put their own students first in terms of meeting their need. THe students most wanted at any schools are given the best scholarships, and if you are not in that category, you are not likely to get much money. To borrow the type of money you are talking about means getting a cosigner with a credit history and willing to take full responsibility for the borrowed amounts with the loan going on his/her credit record as well as yours until it is fully paid. The only folks usually willing to sign for that sort of thing are the parents. </p>
<p>You are talking about close to $90K in loans over 4 years plus what you are already offered in your package times four, and the costs just go up each year. For an 18 year old to take on that kind of debt is not a wise move. Your best choice is to find something affordable locally, a local state school, where you can commute, find a part time job and maybe gradually move out of your parents; home as you will meet a lot of kids in your same situation at any school, and pooling resources together you may find you can live independently. But it is highly unlikely you are going to find anything or anyone to fund your independence. It doesn’t work that way.</p>
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<p>No, you won’t be - not if it means coming up with $22k/year to cover the cost of attendance!</p>
<p>You cannot borrow an additional $22k/ year above and beyond the federal student loans you already have . . . not unless one of your parents or another adult with good credit is willing to cosign for you - for each of your four years of college!</p>
<p>Without a creditworthy co-signer, you’re not going to be able to get loans other than the federal ones that are likely already in your FA package, and that is a good thing, because coming out of school with $80,000 of private loans on top of about $27,000 worth of federal loans is a VERY bad idea. That is a crippling debt load that will ruin your life. It’s unlikely that there are additional scholarships to be had at your school that haven’t already been offered, although you can always ask. Bottom line, if your parents aren’t going to fund your $22,000 shortfall, this college isn’t affordable.</p>
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Borrow from your parents? They may be willing to lend your the money.</p>
<p>It seems that the most feasible way is to borrow money from your parents if you insist going to this out of state college. My friend has 2 kids attending the state flagship university and borrow money to them for their graduate education. Both got professional degrees and decent jobs. My friend’s kids are very grateful for parental help, especially when they see how their peers are overwhelmed by student loans. They do not take it for granted that parents should help them. They do pay back their debt to their parents. It’s a win-win solution as long as the parents have the means to pay.</p>
<p>Did you apply to any realistically affordable schools? Some schools with rolling admissions or late deadlines are still accepting applications for fall.</p>