<p>I am a twenty one year old from Indiana. Since Summer of 2007, I have been attending Ivy Tech, a community college in my city. Just this past few months or so, I have decided to apply to a large college, Purdue University, a larger college in my state.</p>
<p>I have been able to procure student loans to attend Ivy Tech from Sallie Mae because the tuition has never exceeded fifteen hundred dollars, and I was able to live at home while I was attending school.</p>
<p>Well, Purdue is about an hour away from my home, so it isn't possible for me to live at home and attend school full time, but the problem is, at the moment, I am not financially secure enough to live on my own. Another problem presents itself when you think of the cost of going to college. I haven't been able to get over five thousand dollars from my Sallie Mae loans and that isn't even half of the price of attending Purdue University. At rougly eighteen thousand dollars, at the moment, it's far out of my price range.</p>
<p>Is there a student loan where I can ask for enough for a year at Purdue, plus enough for living expenses (rent, utilities, food) for a year or so if I wanted to rent an apartment near the school. I would be looking for a job in the meantime, to help pay down my debt. By the time school is over, I expect to be far in debt because of all of my student loans.</p>
<p>I haven’t, but when I went to the financial aid office right before this last semsester, they said that I don’t qualify for a pell grant or any other form of free financial aid. </p>
<p>At the time, however, both my mother and stepfather had a job. Now he is laid off, so it might be different. I was just unsure of the Fafsa deadline.</p>
<p>You should go ahead and file. Even if you do not qualify for grant aid you may qualify for some other federal aid like loans which may be a better interest rate than the private loans.</p>
<p>You may have missed priority deadlines for the school but it is worth trying. The FAFSA EFC for 2008-2009 is based on 2007 income (and assets on the day you file) but If your stepdad was employed in 2007 and is out of work now you may be able to ask for a special circumstances adjustment.</p>
<p>Wait until you know whether or not you may be eligible for grants or scholarships with an assessment beyond the informal opinion at the school office. Your likely past the FAFSA deadlines, but you need those statements of eligibility. It could be wise to hold off until your families economic situation stabilizes, because to say the least rushing into some 18,000 yearly debt is inadvisable in our currently troubled economy.
And get some better information before taking out loans, Sallie Mae is hardly one of the easier to deal with lenders out there. And if your education doesn’t go the way it’s expected SM also has a reputation for being less than tolerant and even outright abusive to those who are struggling to pay. Keep in mind they also have one of the largest and most aggressive collection agencies in the US. And if your parents are already having economic trouble, they may not have the reserve to hold off future demands by SL companies.
Since you plan to work in the interim it might be better to wait, try to build up a financial reserve so the need for loans doesn’t become excessive. As you noted you are expecting to be in debt for your education. But under current conditions any more than a trivial student loan debt is ruinous. Additionally the student funding/loan situation is unstable right now, especially insofar as the recent influx of governmental money intended to reform the mess is mainly going to one company (SM), who will soon control an expected 38% of the SL market. Not exactly a situation which will encourage them to be competitive, or for that matter especially tolerant of student borrowers caught in a struggling and very troubled economy. The whole mess is a situation which is already very politically controversial and may provoke a substantial reaction in the fall. As a result whomever the incoming Congress and President will be, they won’t be in a position to politically ignore the situation or support the currently dysfunctional status quo. As such it may be better to wait to consider loans, or delay the decision of going to an expensive school until the political pressure for reform in the SL arena takes effect or the economy improves.
It’s hard to wait, but now is not the time for precipitous decisions.</p>
<p>Thanks for the responses. I can’t wait. I’m afraid that if I do, I’ll never go and I’ll never get anywhere in life. This whole college opportunity is akin to a type of therapy for me, which I need very badly at the moment. That and I want to get on with life and a career as soon as possible. I’m not looking forward to paying off loans for the rest of my life, but it seems I haven’t a choice if I want to go to college. It isn’t like I have a choice anyway. I’ve stopped going to the community college and I’ve already accumulated a little over five thousand dollars in Sallie Mae loans from it.</p>
<p>I really would prefer not to get my loans for this bigger college from Sallie Mae, but I will if I have to. </p>
<p>If I am admitted into this college and go for the fall of 2009, then I am going to sign up for as many scholarships as possible. Next year I am going to fill out the FAFSA again so I can see if I qualify for any grants at all, but that will still lead me in a bind…even If I can get the money.</p>
<p>Do scholarships and grants pay for living expenses while you go to college? </p>
<p>Does anyone know of a bank loan that you can get that will pay tutition and living expenses?</p>
<p>I plan on getting a job when I move, but I need money to start out with. Finding a job that will support someone going to school isn’t exactly easy.</p>
<p>filing a fafsa will get you at the very least the ability to get an unsubsidized stafford loan. Depending on what year of school you are in determines the loan amount. the limits for these loans was just raised. If your parents are turned down for a plus loan, you can get more stafford.</p>
<p>all this said, taking out 15K+ a year is not a good thing imo</p>
<p>I find this interesting (this is from a California newspaper)
<<in 2006-07,=“” only=“” 32,000=“” of=“” the=“” system’s=“” 2.6=“” million=“” students=“” took=“” out=“” federal=“” loans,=“” he=“” says.=“” but=“” who=“” do=“” need=“” loans=“” are=“” facing=“” fewer=“” options.=“”>></in></p>
<p>Geez, less than 2% of California students took out a federal loan?? I wonder what that statistic is for other states?? anyone got a chart for that!</p>
<p>I know that taking out 15K isn’t good, but what other choice do I have if I don’t qualify for any grants or win any scholarships. I NEED to go to college. This isn’t something that I really have a choice on. My future career requires some college courses and I think that college would be fun, ignoring the fact that I may very well be in debt.</p>
<p>Also, thanks for the article. It helps a lot.</p>
<p>sueinphilly: I read that article, being a California student myself, and that statistic about how many CA students take out loans is in reference to community college students specifically. The CA community college system is very inexpensive at $20 per credit unit (give or take a few dollars depending on the year), so I don’t think it is as necessary to take out loans as it is at a CSU or UC.</p>
<p>okay that makes more sense then. I didn’t pick up on that nuance. I was thinking that either you all are rich out there or your schools were cheap :-)</p>