Hi, name is Mike from NY. 21years old.
I want to know if moving out of my parents place would be a good move to get more aid?
That would not change your aid, why do you think it would? Need based aid is based on your parent income until you are 24, unless married, join the military etc. Are you already in college?
COA is higher for non-commuters. So it is possible aid offered would increase, but more likely to be loans than gift/grant aid.
Check your school’s policy on whether financial aid changes for commuters versus students living on their own.
But note that if your parents are letting you live there at no charge, they are effectively subsidizing your food, utilities, and perhaps other costs. Even if your school increases financial aid if you live on your own, your net price may increase, since they assume that commuters have non-zero “room and board” costs (food, utilities, etc.) and that you would be giving up this amount of parental subsidy if you live on your own.
No you won’t get more aid. You’d still be a dependent.
Besides…if you can afford to move out NOW, then use that money towards college.
It doesn’t matter where you live if ypunare 21. You will still need to include your parent financial information on the applications.
Hi Mike. Your parents probably remember when you could be independent at 21. I started college in NYS (eons ago) when I was 21 partly because only my income would be considered for aid. It’s not like that anymore, so moving out wouldn’t gain you anything. What school are you attending?
Look up what constitutes independence for FAFSA purposes. Moving out doesn’t do it. Nor does age 21. The auto age is now 24.
Other posters have mentioned getting more aid when you are living independently vs being a commuter from parents home. Though, yes, the cost of attendance is higher, making the maximum aid possible to be more when making such a move, it doesn’t mean you get more. Most schools gap,and gap badly. IT may simply mean getting more in loans, for example.
I say this because my friends son did do this when he turned 24, and did get more money, but it was all in the form of loans. He ended up spending far more than he got , and owed more to boot. FInding room and board for as little as your parents charge or for their marginal cost is very difficult if not impossible. My friend could always set out an extra plate for a meal, let those in house share in the larder of supplies at no cost to them, and had a room available, but she certainly could not provide the $7-10K a year for him to live independently, and the school did not give him that much more in grants, but in loans that didn’t even cover the expense fully.
Hi. Thanks for the replies.
I am not in school right now because of finances.
My reasoning for believing that is believing what my college buddies were telling me. Shame on me for just believing it without actually doing the research. FASFA information is very easily skewed when passed on from friend to friend.
My parents income is not sufficient and only one of my parents has one. Reason i did not file was because i was waiting for their taxes… didn’t know until i read on here that i could have still done so with estimates.
@austinmshauri Was attending Bergen College. a local school in jersey
Ask your college buddies how much in grant money they are getting in terms of financial aid. My friend’s son got full PELL which is about $5700 plus $12500 in LOANS, with most of it unsubsidized. Tuition at his school is about $7K a year, so with his part time job earnings and Pell, he could be getting through loan free, as he did during his first two or three years of college. Now he’s been borrowing, owes over $25K from those loans and is still strapped and still goes home when things get really tight and mom subsidizes as she is able. He may well end up $50K in debt by the time he gets out. The payback on those loans would be able to be buying a whole lot of needed things when he is a new grad. It’s not like a well paying job will drop into his lap when he graduates. He probably could have worked less and knocked off a year or half of one, had he stayed at home, but he had to get out and live the independent life. DIdn’t want to live at home any more. The irony is that he may end up back there if he can’t pay back that loan living on his own when he’s done with school.
Are you from NY or NJ? Are you paying out of state costs for Bergen?
Honestly… this is what i am scared of. Debt. IT. Scares. Me.
My credit is good now… i know people whos credit is wrecked because of school… @cptofthehouse
I really want to go back. But if i can not afford it… i have no choice.
My buddy gets college paid for. He has a good financial aid package.
@erinsdad I am from NY. i am living in NJ for the time of school. No funny games on the books and all.
Run your parents and your financials–income for 2014 and assets at hand right now through an EFC estimator and see what you get. You might qualify for PELL which could help you go to school locally at a state college near by or a community college. That’s how many get through college.
So you must be paying OOS costs for Bergen. Why? There must be less expensive CCs in NY. And you lose out on TAP in NJ, right?
You are attending college in NJ? Were there not any less expensive options in your home state of NY?
What does your buddy’s financial aid have to do with this at all? His financial circumstances might be different than yours anyway.
I’m very confused by your thread. On one hand, you sound like you want to save money. On the other hand, you are attending an OOS school. These two things do not usually go together.
Please explain.
Are your parents living in Jersey? If so, how long have they been there? Where did you graduate from high school?
@thumper1 hi thumper. I was just answering someone question about my friends financial Aid.
I am not sure what a OSS is but the school I attend in NJ is a community college.
I live in Jersey now so I attend here(or used to), and I don’t plan on moving back.
I thought moving would give me more aid if I moved out, and I was wrong and got some useful info here
Where are your parents residing? Where? NY? Or NJ?
OOS means out of state. If your parents reside in NY, and you are attending college in NJ, you are paying the out of state rate. Why would you do that if you really want to save money?
@thumper1 Oh, no no. I guess the misconception came in me saying i am from NY and not emphasising the i currently reside in NJ lol. Parents and all… No OOS at all.