single parent- no financial aid

Paying for College
1

<p>I'm trying desperately to get financial aid right now. My mother is a single parent teacher making $43,000 a year and my father left when i was in 3rd grade and although i still receive child support at the moment, im going to be cut off of it because im 18 now. my FAFSA said that my efc was arounf $5-6000 which i think is absolutely ridiculous! I couldnt even afford to get senior pictures and invitations! how am i supposed to afford $6000?. I'm trying to attend the university of oklahoma and overall its about 23,000. My sister never went to college because of this and now it looks like i may end up doing the same thing. I was accpeted into the School of Drama and a work study program is nearly impossible with the kind of schedule associated with the major. I only recieved a $2600 stafford loan from the university and my mom is probably unable to take out PLUS loans because of her horrible credit. Everyone i have talked to says that my EFC is too high... is that a normal EFC for a single parent making 43,000 a year??</p>

<p>im so frustrated right now. i have applied to every scholarship available and havent received a penny. are there any more scholarships out there? should i have my mother explain our situation to the financial aid office at the univ. of okla.?</p>

<p>I really need some advice.
thankyou!</p>

2

<p>The University didn't give you any need-based aid? Income is not the only factor that FAFSA evaluates. Your mom may only make $43k yearly, but I think they also consider any child support you're getting (at least for this year, probably not for subsequent years) and investment values like homes and retirement).<br>
Also, even parents with horrible credit may qualify for PLUS loans. If you don't apply, you'll never know.
You should try to find a summer job to help contribute to the costs of your education. If the costs are genuinely impossible for you to meet, you should definitely discuss the situation with someone in the fin. aid office.</p>

3

<p>I am sorry to hear about what you are going through. Despite your challenge, please don't give up home. This is a temporary setback. It does not mean that you will never go to college. There are ways of going to college this year or in the near future, including ways that could include your going to U of Oklahoma.</p>

<p>State universities do not have unlimited financial aid, so unlike some private colleges, do not guarantee to meet 100% of students' documented financial need. This is why private colleges may end up being a better financial deal than are state universities even when the sticker cost of the private colleges is much higher. Harvard, for instance, costs about $43,000 a year, but students from families of students making $40,000 and under do not have to contribute to the student's college education, and Harvard also reduced the family contributions expected of students whose families make from above $40,000 to $60,000.</p>

<p>U of Oklahoma also gives merit aid to National merit scholars, and their using merit aid to lure high-scoring, students (many of whom are affluent) also decreases the amount of financial aid that they have available to give students like you who are very needy.</p>

<p>My advice to you would be to either take a year off and work while applying to colleges that will likely give you better financial aid (Berea College in Kentucky, which serves only low income students and gives all need-based scholarships covering tuition is a college to consider) or go to community college for 2 years and then transfer to U of Oklahoma or to another university.</p>

<p>Depending on your grades and scores, you also may be able to go to a private college that is recruiting low income students and gives good financial aid. </p>

<p>If you go to community college, just make sure that your credits will transfer.</p>

<p>Another option would be to do Americorps for a year, which would give you about $5,000 for your college education.</p>

<p>And yes, you should discuss your situation with U of Oklahoma just in case they can increase your aid.</p>

<p>Best of luck to you!</p>

4

<p>Dramaaddict, this is indeed a difficult situation. Most state schools gap--terribly. Especially for out of stater and waitlisters. If you are in those two categories, it is a problem. My advice to you is to start working a job, waitressing, bussing, etc, two jobs if necessary and pound salt all summer. My kids have made a lot of money over the summer that way working up to 90 hours a week. You can start weekends now if your grades and courses are in good shape. It is possible to get about $10K accumulated that way depending on where you live. You then pass the hat for graduation money through a discrete grapevine and hopefully get some checks that way from relatives, family friends. Hit up Dad, for some money too. For the rest, Mom will have to take out some PLUS loans and you will have to borrow too, and work at the college as well. Even MT majors take jobs--we talked to some when we were auditioning. MIght as well get used to being a poor, starving actress early. That is one alternative, but it does mean debt for someone going into an uncertain field. Once you get to the college, you may be able to get to know the financial aid folks and wrangle some $$ from them, get ideas for some money. I am not going to tell you it will be easy, because it is not. But it can be done. Scrounge, beg, work, borrow. </p>

<p>Otherwise, you need to look at low cost alternatives. I know how much you wanted to go to OU and what an excellent program it has, but the money is a real thing. We know a young man who desperately wanted to go to NYU several years ago, but could not come up with the money. He is doing very well, several professional roles, king of the hill at another school that does not cost as much and allowed him to work and audition as well as study. You should call financial aid and the drama dept and see if they can come up with any suggestions for you, also. Good luck, and I hope something works out. Please keep us apprised.</p>

5

<p>The EFC doesn't sound out of the ordinary. Our income is about double and our EFC is 3x that. The above posters are right - because so many publics gap, privates very often end up being less expensive.</p>

<p>Ask your mother look at her divorce decree. Most have stipulations extending support if the child continues their education beyond high school. If there is no such stipulation, she might want to talk to an attorney about a modification. The additional support should far outweigh the cost of the attorney.</p>

6

<p>I didn't thinkthe EFC sounded out of line either- sucks I know how hard it is, but our family of four has a similar EFC +$10,000 and our income is only about $15,000 more than your mothers.
But lots of things to do to meet EFC.
work during summer and school year as my daughter does, a gap year to earn more community college credits/education vouchers, and subdized loans are nothing to be afraid of it they help you acheive your dream</p>

7

<p>The problem does not seem to be the EFC. The problem is that the school is only offering a Stafford loan for $2600 when the COA is nearly 10 times that amount. If all she had to do is come up with the EFC, it would be doable. But even if Mom comes up with $6K, and Dramaaddict has $2K from somewhere and the loan of $2600, the gap is well over $12K. Being a state school, I doubt if they are going to give 100% of need, and coming off the waitlist does not help either. Don't know if this is a homestate school. Sounds a bit high for that.</p>

8

<p>It does sound like out of state school
Out of state public schools can be some of the worst for finaid.
They reserve generally merit aid for instate students and need based aid is generally loans.
While my daughter was offered merit aid at one out of state school, she had applied to three instate schools as well and recieved only $600 in merit at one of them and only need based loans at others.
Some states have reciprocal agreements that can save money as then you only pay 150% of instate tuition.
Other states sometimes have governors scholarships that will give students of certain income/GPA bracket money if they attend instate school.</p>

9

<p>Even if it is an in-state school, it may not have the $ to offer financial aid to all students who need it. From what I have seen, private colleges are more likely to offer to meet 100% of documented financial need than are public ones.</p>

<p>I think it's also likely that there may be a first come, first served policy with public colleges, many of which operate on rolling admission.</p>

10

<p>"Tuition in state deemed too high
Oklahoma was one of several states to receive an "F" in college affordability.</p>

<p>Annie Gasparro - Daily Staff Writer
October 19, 2004</p>

<p>Oklahoma colleges and universities received a failing grade in affordability, according to a report card issued by The National Center for Pubic Policy on Higher Education.</p>

<p>The report card, titled Measuring Up 2004, evaluated the affordability of colleges in each state by comparing net college costs with the average family income. Net costs equal the price of tuition and room and board, minus financial aid.</p>

<p>While the highest grade of a “B” was given to California, 35 other states received an “F” along with Oklahoma.</p>

<p>The study showed that on average, low and middle income families in Oklahoma with a child attending a public college are facing a price that makes up about one-third of their annual family income. Even after financial aid is taken into account, the report shows the net cost for a student to attend a public four-year college in Oklahoma would represent about 33 percent of their annual income....</p>

<p>A combination of factors, including the state’s low investment in need-based financial aid and a lack of low-priced college opportunities, led to Oklahoma’s poor performance in affordability, according to the Measuring Up 2004 report."
<a href="http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/10/19/41748b6796af3?in_archive=1%5B/url%5D"&gt;http://www.oudaily.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/10/19/41748b6796af3?in_archive=1&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p>

11

<p>From Oklahoma U's web site: "OU Financial Aid Services uses a first come, first served packaging<em>plan</em>when awarding aid.<em>We use</em>the financial aid complete date, which is the date that all the documents are<em>received by</em>our office from the student.* A complete file gets "a place in line" for awards, so to speak. It typically takes 4-6 weeks processing before aid is awarded. The aid is packaged automatically based on eligibility and funds available.<strong>Many aid programs<em>run out early, so getting everything in early is important.</em>It's a very complex process. Once completed, the student will be sent an OU-FAN (Financial Aid Notification) to the students' OU email address. The student can then accept, reduce or decline the aid offered. If a student receives additional funds from an outside source, such as a tribal grant or scholarship, their financial aid awards<em>may</em>change.*" <a href="http://asksooner.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksooner.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=FhhUGVFh&p_lva=&p_faqid=288&p_created=1053700919&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTQxMCZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PWZpbmFuY2lhbCBhaWQgJnBfcHJvZF9sdmwxPX5hbnl_JnBfY2F0X2x2bDE9fmFueX4mcF9jYXRfbHZsMj1_YW55fiZwX3BhZ2U9MQ"&gt;http://asksooner.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/asksooner.cfg/php/enduser/std_adp.php?p_sid=FhhUGVFh&p_lva=&p_faqid=288&p_created=1053700919&p_sp=cF9zcmNoPTEmcF9ncmlkc29ydD0mcF9yb3dfY250PTQxMCZwX3NlYXJjaF90ZXh0PWZpbmFuY2lhbCBhaWQgJnBfcHJvZF9sdmwxPX5hbnl_JnBfY2F0X2x2bDE9fmFueX4mcF9jYXRfbHZsMj1_YW55fiZwX3BhZ2U9MQ&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&p_li=&lt;/p>

12

<p>Hearing things like this really concern me.
If we want our citizens to be able to afford to live where they work, to be able to purchase homes and raise families, we have to be able to provide education for them so they can find a job that pays a living wage.
I see providing educational opportunities for all as a priority to insure a quality standard of living for our citizens, even if it means raising taxes and spending less on military.
We did find out that comparatively, private colleges were able to offer a better financial aid package than public school, but it is counterintuitive.</p>

13

<p>I think Dramaaddict should talk to that Gary Musler quoted in the article NSM is sharing with us. He might be able to direct her to all of the aid that he says exists. Thank for the read, NSM. Wonder what the other state schools are. Am willing to bet Pennsylvania makes the list. </p>

<p>It is a matter of great concern when the state school gaps so much. Commuting is not so cheap either so a local state school is a problem for those kids without money. My friend's D went to Pitt--she commuted. But to do so she needed a car. She needed to park, she needed to have some cash for lunch. Really the cost of commuting from the suburbs was pretty danged high. Cheaper than the $8k to live on campus, but not that much cheaper when you include those car costs. And though Pitt has some very generous merit awards, its financial aid sucks. They really gap you. Loans, loans, loans are what you get if you are not one of their coveted scholars.</p>