<p>My EFC is $11,500 out of the $76,000 that was the combined income of my parents last year.
There is no way my parents could afford that every year. They are paying on two vehicles (soon to be a third for my college car) and a big boat. Not too mention all the other bills that have to be paid (credit cards etc).
My parents bought these things when our family was making more money, but that money making has slowed down now.
So why doesn't the FAFSA take into account that my parents own things and have to pay bills? It's not like that $76,000 is free reign money that my parents can do whatever they want with.</p>
<p>FAFSA does take into account that your parents have bills. That is why your EFC is 11,500 instead of 76,000.</p>
<p>Consumer debt such as credit cards, cars, and big boats is not taken into consideration by FAFSA because it is considered a choice your family has made. You don’t have to have new cars, big boats etc. that is your choice - many people with college age kids do not have new cars or big boats. In our family for instance my car is 11 years old, my husbands truck is 16 years old, and my daughter’s car is 17 years old.</p>
<p>A lot of college students don’t even have cars. Mine takes the bus.</p>
<p>Bus is not an option in our area. Where we live there is literally no public transportation (no trains, no buses) so everyone has cars. I found it hard to believe when I first moved here as I had always lived in places with good train and bus service and I didn’t even drive till I moved here in my 30s. But there are places without these services.</p>
<p>My parents bought those cars and that boat five to eight years ago.
They have a side business where they serve court summons and at the time they were serving alot, so they had the income for it. Now that business has slowed down and most of the money my parents are making goes to bills. We tried to sell the boat for two years with no luck. My mom is also on a credit counseling program.</p>
<p>The car I’m getting is only 8K, so it’s not brand new. I need it because it has All-Wheel Drive and I’m planning to go to college in Fargo, ND.</p>
<p>I live in CO by the way.</p>
<p>You’re still making payments on 5-8 year old cars? That’s unusual.</p>
<p>Regardless, consumer debt is not considered by FAFSA. The same applies to everyone. Are you OOS for the school you are going to? Does the school promise to meet full need? You do realize that the EFC may not be all you will be expected to pay right? It is just a number used to determine eligibility for federal aid and yours is too high for federal grant aid, so as far as federal aid is concerned you will only get loans and maybe work study. Does your school offer institutional aid (their own money)? Some do but many do not. Very few state schools can promise to meet full need, especially for OOS students.</p>
<p>My parent’s got long loans on those cars so the payments wouldn’t be high.</p>
<p>I know that my EFC isn’t necessarily what I’m expected to pay, but I just worry that have an EFC that big will prevent me from getting any other aid. And I’m worried that the only way to pay for college will be to get loans. I would prefer not to do work-study because I’m going to college to be a Pharmacist and I want to have as much time as possible to concentrate on my schooling.</p>
<p>I’ll be able to go into North Dakota State University as a Western Undergraduate Student. This means that I’ll pay 150% of in state tuition, which is still alot cheaper than OOS. NDSU does offer institutional aid, but they won’t tell me what I qualify for until the end of May. The overall expense of NDSU is around $25,000 a year.</p>
<p>Sounds like your parents really are having money troubles. I just wanted to say that work/study can be a really good thing. It is easy to work just a few hours a week and bring in a couple thousand a year. Also, it gives you a boss who can write a good recommendation in the future for scholarships or other jobs.</p>
<p>Are you a junior? If so work with your parents to explore pharmacy schools and try to find your best financial option. If you are a senior as soon as your get your finaid letters from your colleges sit with your parents and analyze them to see what your best financial option is. If your parents apply for a PLUS parent loan and are turned down you will be able to add additional loans in your name. The probability of you finding a situation where you, personally, have no loans is fairly slim. Make sure you get a good summer job and save your money. Do not discount work/study. The jobs are not difficult and if you find the right ones often you can study some of the time while you are working/“on duty.” You will also need the work study money for spending money and maybe transportation to and from home to school. Good luck.</p>
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<p>Who is buying your car? It doesn’t sound like a good idea for mom and dad as they have debts of their own to settle and it’s not clear why you actually “need” a vehicle at all. I’m thinking it would be a much better idea to get acquainted with Amtrak for trips back and forth to school and avoid more debt/use capital for tuition. There’s a station in Fargo and numerous stations in CO. </p>
<p>Btw, my D is a pre-pharm in Buffalo and has no need for a car…public transport works just fine for her off campus forays and the train is much safer in bad weather! It’s easy to travel by train and study while you ride. When it’s more convenient for me to send her back with a vehicle, she usually gets the 10 y.o. Blazer with 4WD! Please start out learning to be frugal and making clear distinctions between wants and needs…unlike many Americans who are now paying the price for spending rather than saving. Spend for things you actually need, but save for the things you want!</p>
<p>Listen to sk8mom’s advice. It is excellent advice, really. Oh, and my son will be freshman somewhere next year. Regardless of the school, he will not have his own car.</p>
<p>My son’s college doesn’t allow freshman to have cars. And parking is costs money, too.</p>
<p>Everyone needs to come up with their own criteria for selecting schools.
One thing that we scrutinized for oldest was availability of transportation.
What it took ( time/$$$$) to get there, and what it took to get around town.
She chose a school within a town with good public transportation and where it was relatively easy to get back and forth to her home town, and to visit friends elsewhere.</p>
<p>She graduated college 4 years ago, still lives in her college city, and only uses a zip car occasionally.</p>
<p>Cars are a huge money suck.
gas, repairs, insurance and time.
There are always people to get rides with, and you can pay for their gas and expenses, much cheaper than it would take to maintain a car of your own.</p>
<p>My parent’s got long loans on those cars so the payments wouldn’t be high.</p>
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<p>Lesson #1: The longer the loan, the more you pay. Interest compounds. Please remember that as you consider your own expenditures for college & in the future. If you have to have a long loan, buy something less expensive.</p>
<p>My son will be going into pharmacy, as well. He would LOVE to go to several schools to which he was accepted, but he will not be going to them. These schools did not offer scholarships or adequate non-loan aid to him, which would have been necessary in order for us to afford the costs. He has chosen a state school with a very solid reputation in training pharmacists. It is in the middle of nowhere, and the campus isn’t “cool.” However, he will receive a very good education, he will be able to finish the program in 6 years (thus saving money over the long run), and he will have only a manageable amount of debt when he graduates. The point is, he had to settle for what worked … or we would have had to borrow (or co-sign his loans), which was not an option for our family. According to the federal government, we can afford to pay much more than we really CAN afford to pay. That’s a reality, and we had to work within that reality.</p>
<p>Not everyone has an affordable option for their program. Pharmacy is one of those programs with limited school options. However, you can still be creative. You could go to a community college & take the pre-pharm courses, saving quite a bit of money. You could do without the car, as suggested, and put that money (as well as insurance money) toward school, instead. You could buy a bare-bones “beater” car, if a car is absolutely necessary (which it probably is not, at least for a college kid). There may be other ways in which your family could save, if necessary. The important thing is to recognize the reality & work within it.</p>
<p>Disappointing? Certainly. Life is like that, though. The happiest people figure out how to deal with reality by focusing on what they CAN do, not what they cannot do. I don’t mean to discount your feelings, honestly. I do recognize how you feel. But at 50, life has been “unfair” to me many, many times. Yet I am happy. Just my two cents …</p>
<p>Ha! You can tell I started one sentence and then changed it above. OK, what we are saying is that if you can find another way to college (have your parents or a friend drive you, take a train or bus) you will save at about $8k.</p>
<p>What are all your options.</p>
<p>I doubt that an OOS public is going to help you with aid. They charge 150% for a reason; they aren’t then going to give you money to pay for it. Otherwise, why would they bother to charge an OOS fee? </p>
<p>If you’re in high school, then you should consider going to a cc for 2 years. During that time, your parents need to pay off their debts. </p>
<p>It sounds like they can’t afford their EFC. Your EFC is the MINIMUM you’ll have to pay…not the maximum. </p>
<p>What are your other options? Did you apply to any in-state schools?</p>
<p>Are you a junior or a senior? If junior then it is a good thing that you are looking at WUE schools. You should apply broadly across the WUE schools so that you have some financial aid packages to compare. If you need to attend a CC for two years then make sure you work with both the colleges and the CC to ensure that you take classes that are transferable. I’d say forgo the car if at all possible. It makes no sense whatsoever to spend money you may need for your college education. Most colleges (especially the types of schools that have Pharm programs) are large enough and have much of what you would need within walking distance and there always kids that have cars if you need to grab a ride somewhere. And yes, EFC does not necessarily mean that is all that a family needs to pay, often a student will have more than the EFC to pay. Finally as tough as it is you need to understand if your parents can contribute any money to your college and if so how much so that you have a frame of reference for decision making. If they apply for a Parent Loan and are turned down, you will be able to access additional loan mone as well as $5500 of Stafford loans for freshman year which you will be able to obtain. These loans will need to be paid back but they will be available to you. Generally the colleges will include the Stafford loans in the total of the aid that is available to you.</p>
<p>Wow alot of posts in the last day. Thanks guys.</p>
<p>I am a Senior and I have been accepted into NDSU. Which is actually a really cheap Pharmacy school at $25K, compared to in state at CU for $38K or $32K for Wyoming.
So I’ve already picked the cheapest school.</p>
<p>I understand that $8,000 could go to paying for my college, but me and my mom are already sharing a car. On Tuesdays, Wensdays, and Thursdays I get her car because I have school until 10:30, then work, and then school again at 2:30. So I need a car to get to my job for the Summer while I’m still at home. I live in the small town of Delta, there are no taxis, buses, etc.
My dad is the one who found the car I’m getting. I didn’t talk my parents into it or anything. There is no way that they would send me off to college without a vehicle, my mom would go crazy worrying.</p>
<p>My parents will definitely be able to contribute money, probably around $5,000 a year. That’s nowhere near my EFC though. I might have to pay for most of my college with loans, which would suck, but I understand. I know you can get loans that don’t start accumulating interest until 6 months after you graduate. I just don’t know how to determine what kind of loans I’ll even qualify for.</p>
<p>And to mom2collegekids: it’s not an OOS state fee, it’s WUE which is different.</p>
<p>Did you get your financial aid package yet from NDSU? Do you know that you’re OK except for your EFC or is there a gap?</p>
<p>it’s not an OOS state fee, it’s WUE which is different</p>
<p>I know what a WUE rate is…it’s 150% of instate that is charged to WUE states. That extra 50% is because you’re OOS, but in a WUE state. Either way…what would be the point of charging that extra 50% if the school is going to cover it with FA? </p>
<p>Keep in mind that you’ll have to borrow a LOT for pharm school. How much debt do you think you’ll have by the time you get your PharmD?</p>