<p>my sons 1st yr breakdown after Financial Aid</p>
<p>direct loan subsidized 3466.00
direct loan unsubsidized 1980.00
Educational Lottery 2700.00
UNC Need based 690.00
Pell Grant 700.00
Parent Plus Loan 6000.00</p>
<p>My ? is what are the other options for my son to get money for college he was short 2880.00 per semester so thats why i got the plus loan, i cant affford 6000.00 every yr thats 24000.00 after he graduates before interest plus i got a daughter going to college in near future. My son understands the situation and has no problems with paying for college by himself then ill help him out. But how does he go about getting a loan like this in his name?</p>
<p>Does your son have a job? IMO, the $6000 can easily be made by a summer job or working part time during the school year. Some kids don’t like that but he should really have some skin in the game. If you even qualified a little bit for the Pell, then I would suspect $24,000 in debt is not something you can handle. If he wants to continue at school, he should work for it.</p>
<p>He doesn’t. He can’t. Private loans might be possible but with you as a co signer and that basically means it’s your loan but with both of you on the hook. Unless you can get a great interest rate , it’s not worth it due to a lot of ramifications. </p>
<p>The bad news is that the first year packages is almost aways the best. It isn’t likely to get better. Your son should be talking to financial aid about the fact that your family is PELL eligible and that it is unconsciounable to be putting you, the parent in the postion of borrowing that much each year. Have him ask for work study, ask about SEOG and Perkins and any other grants out that might be there. He needs to have them know him, his face, his situation so that he is first in line for anything that come up. That’s what DH and I did when we were incollege.</p>
<p>The problem is that most schools do not meet need. Unless you can afford to borrow $24K over this time period, your son is in a school that the family cannot afford. He should consider looking for something less expensive. And, yes, if the schools do not guarantee to meet full need which this one clearly does not, your daughter’s going to chool is likely to cause you even more strain. That you will have more need means nothing at schools that don’t meet it fully. It’s just “oh well, too bad. Heres’ what we offer.” Called gapping.</p>
<p>UNC-CH does claim to meet need (even for OOS), but meeting need depends on the definition of “need”, which is based on the “expected family contribution” (EFC). Families which cannot afford the EFC will be gapped even at schools that meet need.</p>
<p>A job, yes. Outside scholarshps for a second year is unlikely to pan out especially that amount. Less expensive living arrangements, also a go. Where would the kid find a loan at age 19 with no credit without parent cosigning which is essentially the same as her taking out the loan but often with less flexibility. School costs about $14K a year and very little money is coming from school funds, mostly government money.</p>
<p>I disagree about the scholarships. If he had declared a major, there are a lot of options out there, maybe even at his own school.</p>
<p>“The Blanchard Scholarship is a one-time award of $5,000, though in the event of demonstrated financial need, the scholarship can be renewed on a year-by-year basis. To apply, send a letter of interest, together with documentation showing affiliation with an Episcopal Church (baptism/confirmation certificates and a letter from a church official suffice). Priority consideration is given to applicants with financial need. To determine your financial need, you will also need to submit a FAFSA and CSS/PROFILE application.” </p>
<p>The above is one option–not sure if they meet the requirements but it’s $5000 renewable…</p>
<p>Did he apply for any outside scholarships?</p>
<p>The question really is, why is he attending this school when you can’t afford to pay for it???</p>
<p>UNC Chapel Hill has the Carolina Covenant which meets full need and that does not include parental plus loans. However, maybe the plus loans were offered to cover the families’ EFC?</p>
<p>Also I assume he is living on campus with a meal plan? There is a lot of play in those arrangements. But we need more info first…campus, EFC, work study eligibility, in-state or OOS?</p>
<p>He attends UNC-Pembroke and yes its in State as a 1st yr college student its required to have a meal plan which is like 1200.00. His major is Criminal Justice. Federal Work Study? Living arrangements hes got to stay on campus we live like 3 hrs away. Can he still apply for scholarships even though he going into his 2nd yr? are meal plans mandatory after 1st yr?</p>
<p>Just so others reading this, the student is NOT at UNC Chapel Hill but rather UNC Pembroke which does not offer the Carolina Covenant ( the promise to all students to meet all need, without loans).</p>
<p>I have to run out for a few hours but will try to follow up better when I get back.</p>
<p>Maybe others will be able to help in the meantime!</p>
<p>Federal work study is typically awarded when one is Pell eligible and eligible for subsidized loans. He would have had to check to box that said he would want work study.</p>
<p>Living off campus can be cheaper than living in the dorms and then that does not require a meal plan.</p>
<p>Hmmmm Criminal Justice, is there a NC community college close to your home? I only mention this since the CC near us does offer all the classes for the first two years of the criminal justice major with an easy transfer to ECU, and Pembroke. At $50 a unit and living at home the financial strain is lightened considerably.</p>
<p>Not that I would recommend he does this but the financial liablity is dramatic. Having his loans and then yours for $24,000 for UNC Pembroke for CJ seems excessive. 3 hours from pembroke, are you in eastern or central Carolina? Wake?</p>
<p>Teddysjam, you can have your son ask his advisor, as well as the financial aid officers about more non loan funds for future years. You should also call financial aid. As I said earlier, I do believe that expecting a PELL eligible family to take out PLUS is harsh. </p>
<p>As others have said, work study, or work at all that your son finds, should be part of this picture. My kids work, most of them during the school year, and they really pour it on over the summer to get a stash of money. Also, he should look for a cheap place to live off campus and work on feeding himself well on the cheap. Maybe if he worked in an eatery that could help, I worked in the school cafeteria which greatly reduced my food bill in college.</p>
<p>In my experience, there are not many scholarships or grants out there for upperclassmen. Far fewer than those available for first year students. But your son should inquire and look.</p>
<p>SteveMA…this student already HAS the Direct loans in his financial aid package. Taking out additional loans will require a cosigner and that is typically the parents. He will not be able to secure $6000 in loans without a cosigner.</p>
<p>Might want to look into RA or assistant RA, sometimes they reduce housing cost for that. Somewhat unfortunate to be working on this issue after already committing to and going to a college. It seems odd that a Pell eligible is getting so little from the institution.</p>
<p>If the son is a URM or group, there are some programs on some colleges which also provide scholarships, like TRIO and MESA (California versions…). I’d have his butt planted in the financial aid office sooner rather than later before they are as utterly buried as the will be in a matter of days or weeks. The amount of debt contemplated is not manageable for the family (especially with kid #2 coming).</p>
<p>One other option is to possibly consider transferring and seeing what another college might be able to pay for.</p>
<p>For those saying get a job,move off campus…UNC Pembroke is a small state school in Pembroke, NC (population 2400) which is basically just a wide spot in the road in an impoverished county. There’s not much there. There is a nice student apartment complex near the campus but don’t know how much that would save if any.
Unless he could get a work study job on campus, pickin’s in Pembroke are slim to none.</p>
<p>Small, non flagship state school that does not guarantee to meet full need, nor does it most of the time. Few work opportunities off campus, few low cost housing alternatives off campus. Few departmental grants or any school grants whatsover. Unless the OP can find work over the summer where he lives, I don’t see any other way. Perhaps the school has some work study money for the school year. A couple of grand during the school year for work study, and $3K over the summer would make a big difference. The money isn’t going to show up spontaneiously.</p>
<p>And unless the next student, the daughter finds a school that meets full need, she may get gapped too. When dealing with schools that don’t meet need, halving the EFC with another student or coming up with more need means little. </p>
<p>Going to a local state school may be the best option, as room and board covered at home takes care of a nice hunk of the cost. It’s not like this school is giving OP’s son much of its own money.</p>
<p>" IMO, the $6000 can easily be made by a summer job or working part time during the school year" - I think “easily” is an overstatement. Yes, it’s possible. But not typical. More typical is probably inability to find a summer job in bad economy.</p>
<p>I agree that it’s easier said the done to earn $6K. I have a friend who lives in a very depressed area and even the min wage and below part time jobs are snapped up by adults looking for every penny that can be made. She was able to get an “au paar”, type of position with friends who lived somewhere that had jobs available and he worked all summer and helped out around that house when he wasn’t working. He netted about $2K doing so. Another $2K might be squeezed out of the school through work study funds. That would relieve the loan burden for the mom by quite a bit. </p>
<p>There really aren’t any good answers in terms of finding money where there are no jobs. The OP lives in NC where the state tuition rates are very good comparatively. It’s the living expenses that are the issue, and really, who should be paying for this kid’s food and place to sleep. It may be that a local option is what is affordable, hopefully. There are places where even commuting involves a lot of expense if there isn’t any public transportation and car pooling options can’t be worked out. Buying another is no small expense.</p>