My family is struggling a lot financially, and even with the financial aid many colleges provide, I’ll have to owe a lot in loans. I am googling for cheaper schools out there & I was wondering if the price affects it. Some are very inexpensive, and I was wondering if the quality of the degree is lower if that is so
Thank you for helping!
You can’t borrow much. you can only borrow about $5500 for frosh year.
How much can your family pay each year towards college?
It depends on the school you’re looking at. The better you do on your standardized tests and grades, the higher chance you have at a good scholarship.
Expensive doesn’t mean better. One of my siblings attended a cc and a state school and works at a TV network in a major market making the same as her coworkers who graduated from NYU. She’s always worked hard and is good at what she does. I think that matters. I wouldn’t search out expensive schools just because they’re expensive.
First, you need to set a budget. Can your parents contribute anything? Can you work? Students can earn ~$3k over the summer. If you fill out the FAFSA (at Fafsa.gov), you can find out your family EFC (estimated family contribution). All it really tells you is if you qualify for a Pell grant. If your family income is ~$60k, you probably won’t qualify for much (if any). The lower your income, the higher the grant you may be eligible for (up to about $5k). And you can borrow about $5500/year (you have to file the FAFSA for the federal student loans to be abailable to you).
The other way to get money for school is through scholarships from the schools. The best aid comes from the colleges. Some offer merit aid if your SAT/ACT scores and GPA are high enough. Others offer need based aid, but I think spots at those colleges are tough to get. Run the Net Price Calculator on each college website to gey an estimate if how much they’ll cost.
What state are you in? I’d start by finding a couple of good safeties (a school you know you can afford, that you can get accepted to, and would be happy to attend). Then add schools where you may qualify for scholarships.
Generally not. There are some relatively affordable colleges here: http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1651944-very-low-cost-oos-coa-universities-less-than-25k-coa-for-everything.html#latest And if your grades/stats aren’t good enough to get any merit aid it makes a lot of sense to start at a local CC and look what options you have in-state.
Thank you for the advice! I live in CA; unfortunately, haven’t found many schools I like here. I’ll keep searching, though. 
In California, there are 32 public universities that should offer good financial aid to low income California residents. Have you checked their net price calculators? Are you sure that you cannot find one that you like? For even lower cost, there are community colleges that you can attend for the first two years, then transfer to one of the universities for the last two years. If you do not like large schools, you can look at CSUCI, CSUMB, HSU, SSU, and UCM.
If the net price calculators do not indicate affordability, you need to make a merit-seeking list. With a 3.85 unweighted HS GPA and 1770 SAT score indicated in one of your other posts, you would get a full ride at Prairie View A&M. You may get some of the other big scholarships, depending on your SAT CR+M score. A higher SAT or ACT score would open up more possibilities. See http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ . Additional lists, including competitive large merit scholarships, can be found at http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1678964-links-to-popular-threads-on-scholarships-and-lower-cost-colleges.html .
Lifesaver, thank you!!!