I currently live with my mother who has full custody of me. My stepdad makes over 100,000 a year. My mom does not work. My real father still pays child support and he is far under the poverty line (11,000/yr). Will I be required to list my stepdads income on the FASFA?
It has been discussed that I am solely responsible to pay for my college tuition. I’m nervous about being in severe debt after college.
Yes, you have to list your step-dad’s income on the FAFSA and CSS Profile (for private schools). YOU can only borrow ~$5500/year (the federal student loan). If your parents won’t pay, you need to find merit aid, commute to a local university, or start at a cc. What state are you in and what are your stats?
Your bio father makes $11000 per year and pays child support? Good for him.
Is there any way you can live more with your bio father than you mother and stepfather? For FAFSA, you list the income of the parent you live with most during the 365 days before filing. If you can live with your father, do it and delay filing FAFSA until you hit that ‘more than’ number for this year.
I live in Mississippi, but not interested in any schools down here. I want to apply to Florida schools. I have a 30 ACT (taking again in September), 3.8 GPA weighted and 4.4 GPA unweighted.
I can get a 12,000 scholarship per year at USF in Florida, but will still be around $80,000 in debt when I graduate. Is that worth it?
No! And you can’t borrow that much.
On your own, you won’t be able to borrow enough to go to a Florida school. Unfortunately, you’ll be a dependent on your parents for financial aid purposes until you are 24. You can read the rules about moving to Florida, working until you are independent, and then going to college. You might get instate tuition after 1-2 years, but for FA you’ll still need to file FAFA with a parent’s information.
Another factor that plays in to this is the church that I go to. My mom would disown me if I decided to leave the church. And my father does not have the means to support me living with him
What I mean by this is the church I attend is only in certain places, I have to make a college choice based on the location of a nearby church
You need to get realistic. You can only borrow $5,500 this year. $6,500 Sophomore year, and $7,500 each of your Junior and Senior years. That’s it. That’s all you can borrow on your own.
Well obviously my parents will be able to sign for loans. My sister is going to university in New York City. What I wasn’t implying was that my parents will not hand me free money like some do. I have 7 siblings. I think I’m being pretty realistic here.
It’s not obvious to us that your parents will sign for loans. Many parents will not. I could easily qualify, but I would not sign for my kids because I wouldn’t want them to borrow more than they could under the federal loan program ($27K). Your parents’ willingness to sign for loans gives you more options, but it puts you into a risky situation, as well, since graduating with a significant amount of debt is rarely a good idea. Fortunately it looks like you understand that.
Are your stats such that you’ll qualify for merit aid at any of the Florida schools you’re interested in?
How does your sister manage school in NYC, birth interns of finances and religion?
You asked if it was worth it for you to be $80k in debt to go to USF. No, not when you can have a much cheaper experience at Ole Miss or Miss State for a lot less.
Your mother and stepfather may run out of ability to qualify to sign loans for you. This could mean you have to stop attending college. You will still have large Loans to repay, but no degree to help you secure good salary.
How many children will be in college st same time? There is a loan limit based on income, assets, and other outstanding loans.
Please research more about colleges that won’t cost as much money.
Your religion may be represented in other places than Florida and Mississippi.
You have to be flexible and look everywhere that is possible.
Have you run the NPC on different colleges such as Eckerd, Rollins, UTampa, UMiami…?
Are you retaking the ACT and prepping currently to reach a 32? (Magic number that unlocks a lot of scholarships and merit aid is your best chance at college outside of Mississippi).
If your parents took on college loans for your sister, they’ve probably maxed out so you really can count on the 5.5k in federal loans only (+ any merit scholarship you get + any money your parents give you even if for transportation and books or help with food costs +any savings from part time and summer jobs.)