The amount this student has to cover is similar to what is expected at the Ivies for the student contribution. His tuition is covered with a little left over for expenses, and he could borrow and work to cover the rest. He’s instate, so transportation shouldn’t be that much. Yes, he has to live lean and mean, but is that so different than what we’ve read about some of the poorer students at Columbia having trouble finding meals? I bet it is a lot easier to find a cheap meal in Tallahassee than it is in Boston or NYC or Princeton. FSU has several different housing options and meal plans, and in fact doesn’t require students to live on campus. It’s not as much fun to not live the campus life, but it can be done.
I’m having this issue with my own daughter right now. She wants everything covered and she doesn’t want to work. Too bad, she has to work AND spend the money on meals and housing even though she’d rather spend it on Starbucks and cute tops and boots. It is unfortunate that she doesn’t have a full ride and has to work and figure it out. We all talk about how kids these days can’t work and full fund college. Well, they can contribute. She is taking the loans, but also has to work.
OP, this isn’t related to your original question but is rather some unsolicited advice. If you have not done so, see if you qualify for Florida’s Braille and Talking Book Library services: http://dbs.myflorida.com/Talking%20Books%20Library/
I used to work for Michigan’s BTBL and we had a lot of students at various universities using our services. But in order for us to help them, they had to give us their reading lists really early so we could get books recorded if they haven’t been yet.
with your stats it seems you odd that you didn’t receive any merit money. you do mention submitting info after 1/1, though, and I think fsu may have more money for the earlier round of applicants. I wonder if you may be eligible to get any for future years? Please call the fin aid dept and see if there are any options. I have heard of a coop type dorm there, also. Being an R A saves lots of money, but it is a selective program and it wouldn’t appeal to everyone.
I see you expected better financial options , you expected your hard work to be rewarded, but don’t give up. if you can stay on your parents health insurance, you are only 2k short. Be your own advocate. if it turns out that living at home for 2 yrs and going the cc route is the best path, fine, but don’t give up starting fsu now until you have tried to work with them.
you probably feel like it isn’t fair that you may end up at cc after all your hard work, but if that is the most sensible financial option, go for it, and find out how you get into a program that will give you a fairly seamless academic transition for your second two years. you can certainly still graduate from fsu
my daughter’s close friend went through a similar situation last year, and she finally decided to do a year at a local cc. we were shocked that no college met her full need, I naively believed need translated to aid, but of course, it does not. she did well at cc, and will start at our state flagship this fall, she will still owe about 25k at graduation, but is considering it an investment in herself.
Tallahassee Community College is about 2 miles from FSU. It’s a very good community college. The area in between the two schools is full of student apartments. There is both student and professor overlap at the schools. Under the Golden Guarantee program (guaranteed transfer to FSU) I believe TCC students can also get access to FSU libraries and gyms. And the tution is half that of FSU. This program would save money and provide for a seamless transition to FSU.
Take the subsidized loan and ask for the 10-month payment option. That’ll work for your first year - and the subsidized loan will not accumulate interest as long as you’re in school.
Working more than 12-15 hours will likely damage your grades. Don’t shortchange yourself, think long-term. Think of it as an investment in yourself, insuring you’ll graduate with the best possible grades and professional record. Working one or two jobs may sink your GPA and then where would you be?
Your other choices are deferring and applying as a freshman to FAMU ENGINEERING for fall 2017 (apply early for the full ride) or attending TCC2FSU.
The loans you are looking at are not huge over four years. They are the federally funded loans in your name. If you take the loans, you will have your costs pretty much covered…especially if you get a part time…say 10 hour a week…job while in school.
Note to poster above. This family has twins enrolling in college. The family income is $70,000 but with two in college, that qualified these twins for the full Pell Grant…or nearly full. This means the EFC is $0 or close to it.
Actually you have one more choice: take a gap year and, using the guidance from adults on this website, devise a proper college list including college’s sure as Davidson that don’t package loans.
So, you have lots of choices
take subsidized loans, attend fsu, live frugally
see if you can enroll in the TCC2FSU program
take a gap year and apply to FAMU for full ride
take gap year and apply to a better list of colleges, including Famu and no-loans colleges.
As for today, call fsu or go there to see a financial aid officer (NOT a student worker) to discuss your situation.
Good advice here for those who are encouraging you to look into a community college. TCC is the community that is most closely aligned with FSU, although FSU likely enrolls transfer students from all 28 public community colleges in Florida, so you do not have to move to Tallahassee to go to CC - consider living at home and attending your local community college for 1 or 2 years. Many students stay home (and attend their local CC) for one year, and then move to Tallahassee to attend TCC before transferring to FSU (or Gainesville to attend SF and then UF). Another option… I see your name here is “strongswimmer”. Indian River State College (Ft. Pierce, FL) has a very strong swimming program that awards athletics scholarships. Depending on how strong you , this might be an option, too. Good luck!
OP your parents should qualify for the American Opportunity Tax Credit when the file their taxes https://www.irs.gov/publications/p970/ch02.html. They will get a $2500 credit on their taxes. I take this money and use it to pay down my kids’ loans each year.
Even if they don’t actually pay for any of your college, by you taking the loans and being their dependent, they can get the credit. If they get it all 4 years that is $10,000 that can be used to pay your loans down before you graduate. That is what we are doing in our house because I don’t want my kids to have a lot of debt either.
A traditional four year college undergraduate experience covers all or part of five tax years. The American Opportunity Credit can be taken for the first four tax years, and the Lifetime Learning Credit (20% credit on up to $10k of qualified expenses) can be taken for the fifth year, if the taxpayer meets the eligibility criteria.
@BelknapPoint If you don’t qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit because of income, I don’t believe there are any other credits. Is that correct? If correct, that means even though college spans 5 tax years, you can only receive a credit for 4 of them.
^ also, you won’t be eating at home - the savings could be transferred to you and used for books.
The Aotc can also be used to pay for tuition. It’s given either to help parents pay for college (when they’re paying) or to give the student to help him/her pay for college.
There are other limitations for both credits besides income, so make sure you understand what those are. But yes, it is possible to qualify for the American Opportunity Credit but not qualify for the Lifetime Learning Credit based solely on income. I believe that these are the only two tax credits for higher education. There are some unrelated tax *deductions/I.
The Lifetime Learning Credit starts phasing out at modified adjusted gross income of $55k and is completely phased out at $65k (the figures are $110k and $130k for joint returns).
The American Opportunity Credit starts phasing out at modified adjusted gross income of $80k and is completely phased out at $90k (the figures are $160k and $180k for joint returns).