<p>I have a dilemma. I'll be attending a community college beginning next month, but I need to take out a private student loan to help pay for rent/living. My school only offers a Stafford loan for $3,500, which is what I'm using toward tuition. </p>
<p>I applied for a Sallie Mae and Wells Fargo loan, but they each said I need a co-signer, which isn't possible for me. I don't have any credit either. Are there any other options? I need it for about $15,000.. Thank you!!</p>
<p>Is this for one year?</p>
<p>No, no private lender will lend you money without a cosigner that has good credit.</p>
<p>The maximum federal direct student loan for a dependent freshman is $5500 of which up to $3500 may be subsidized. So you may be able to borrow an additional $2,000 as long as your total aid, including loans, does not exceed the COA of the school you are attending.</p>
<p>Even if you had a cosigner or a parent willing to take out a PLUS loan, you cannot borrow more than the COA of the school. I don’t know of any CCs that have a COA of $18,500.</p>
<p>Borrowing $15k per year is NOT a reasonable amount anyway. That means $60k of debt PLUS your Stafford loans. And, who knows how much more you’d need once you transfer to a university???</p>
<p>Thankfully, no one is going to lend you that much money. What is your future career? how much do you think you’ll be earning upon graduation??? </p>
<p>You need to find cheap living arrangements, such as living with a parent or parents.</p>
<p>If your parents don’t live near this CC, then go to a CC near where they live.</p>
<p>If you can’t live with a parent, then you need to work full time, pay your rent, and go to class part time. </p>
<p>"I really think I’d like to go for theatre/acting "</p>
<p>If that’s going to be your major, then you need to borrow as little as possible. There are too many starving actors out there unable to pay back their Stafford-only loans.</p>
<p>swimcatsmom,</p>
<p>If the student is attending a community college that is in a different part of his/her own state and needs to pay for meals, housing, and transportation, the COA could approach this figure. If the student is OOS, COA could be even higher. I researched this a year and a half ago for friends who live outside the country. All of the CCs that I looked at had OOS costs of more than 20k.</p>
<p>I live in MA. I just received a mailing today from Citizens bank, advertising their Trufit student loan. If you are international or under 18 you need a co-signer, otherwise you don’t! That really surprises me. It does say students who apply with a co-signer may qualify for better interest rates though. No fees, competitive fixed and variable interest rates, flexible repayment plans. online application. search for Citizens bank. Trufit loan. I know borrowing too much is not really smart, but if it is a small amount for one year, or the student has not borrowed a lot from other sources, then this may help. I have not taken one of these loans myself, and don’t bank at Citizens. I was surprised to get this in the mail.</p>
<p>I can think of very few reasons to ever go to a CC that isn’t in your home area. And, even fewer reasons to ever attend an OOS CC. What a waste of money in most cases. </p>
<p>If the student doesn’t have accomodating parents with an extra room for him/her to stay in while attending the local CC, then taking out big loans isn’t the answer. The student may need to work full/near full time and go to school part-time during the day or night.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone.</p>
<p>This loan will be for a year.</p>
<p>I know it seems like a waste to go to an out-of-state CC, but I want to gain stateship so I can transfer to UCLA or another U of CA. </p>
<p>I tried applying for Trufit, but I was denied because of the lack of co-signer and credit.</p>
<p>I’m very stressed now about what I should do. I need to pay for my classes by August 1st, but I don’t think I’ll even end up doing that because I can’t get the private student loan. </p>
<p>Any ideas on what I should do? I’m considering staying where I am, attending a CC, and working. I may do this for the first semester, or the whole year… Probably the year though so I can earn more money.</p>
<p>I’m very disappointed my college plans didn’t work out. :(</p>
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<p>Unfortunately, it’s not that easy. Gaining in-state status for UC tuition purposes means you have to be financially independent for two years. That means you need to support yourself for two years without receiving money or loans from your parents. Your parents will also be unable to claim you as a dependent on their taxes. </p>
<p>There are some exceptions, e.g. you’re older (24+), have a child, are married, etc. </p>
<p>Your alternative plans–stay local, save money–sound good. I can understand your disappointment, and hope that things work out well.</p>
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<p>You may find that you have NOT established instate residency for tuition purposes at any of the UC campuses by simply attending a CC as an OOS student. You will likely STILL be categorized as an OOS student by the UCs.</p>
<p>Also…much of California’s aid for it’s public univs depends on the fact that the student must have graduated from a Calif high school, which you have not. </p>
<p>The UCs are expensive - even as instate schools - and you couldn’t borrow that much.</p>
<p>Thumper is right. Attending a CC in Calif isn’t going to help you gain residency. It will still be obvious that you’re in Calif solely for education purposes.</p>
<p>Once you have your education from your own state schools, you’ll be very glad that you didn’t rack up debt to go to school in Calif.</p>