<p>My son is 21 and going to try college for the 3rd time. We paid for one semester at a private college...he couldn't cut the grades. Paid for a 2 year college to a golf academy and got an associate degree and now he decides he wants to go to college AGAIN to get a 4 year degree. We have told him he will have to pay for this himself this time. </p>
<p>We make too much money for the student aid I suppose...can he get a student loan on his own, in his name, where he will pay this back when he graduates? He is living with us now, but will be moving out on his own after he finds a job...and we may help him with living expenses? </p>
<p>I think that is a great idea. Pick a good, low cost school. Best choice would be your state university unless his grades were good enough for scholarships. </p>
<p>Alternatively, stop claiming him as a dependent on your tax return for one year and have him work for one year. He can then apply as an independent student for aid purposes and possibly get need based aid.</p>
<p>"
Alternatively, stop claiming him as a dependent on your tax return for one year and have him work for one year. He can then apply as an independent student for aid purposes and possibly get need based aid."</p>
<p>Are you sure about that? I was told no matter what I did I couldn’t be considered an independent unless I was a certain age, married, or had a kid. Given that I had to take private loans-- my parents cosigned but they could have opted to make me wait until I established enough credit to get them by myself.</p>
<p>Taxguy, I do not think that he can qualify as an independent until he is at least 24 unless he meets certain criteria (married, active duty armed services, verteran, and a few others) at least for federal aid or any aid based on FAFSA.</p>
<p>Not only can he not become an independent until he’s 24 (or married, has a dependent, or is a vet), it’s doubtul he’d get any scholarships, since those are for mostly incoming freshmen only - out of high school.</p>
<p>To the OP…Student loans are financial aid. But, he can take out some loans, but you’ll probably have to co-sign for any substantial loans.</p>
<p>To minimize loan repayment, he should try to borrow as little as possible.</p>
<p>There is an on-line link at the FAFSA site to figure out if you are independent. The current birthday listed is January 1 1986. So if they are younger than that, born after that, then they aren’t going to make it unless you can answer the rest of the questions positively. S1 found some law schools did not count that he had been on his own for years, was employed, lived in a different state, etc. If he was not 29 then our finances had to be filed. He did not apply to those schools.</p>
<p>Not claiming him as a dependent on tax returns will not make him independent for FAFSA. He is considered a dependent on FAFSA until he is 24 (or meets one of the other criteria). My son was out of college for a couple of years and was completely self supporting and not claimed on our tax returns, when he returned to school at 22 he was still a dependent for FAFSA.</p>
<p>OP - your son can get Stafford loans in his own name. Unsub Staffords are not need based. They are limited in amount - $7500 for 3rd year and above.</p>
<p>I would be very careful not to borrow too much. How much is “too much” ? I don’t know - you will have to decide. Will you have to cosign the loans? You just don’t want your son to join the ranks of the unemployed with college degree and massive debt.</p>
<p>A 21 year old with his 2 year degree is fairly steady progress forward. I guess I hear exasperation between the lines when the OP writes that he wants to go back to college “AGAIN”. I say kudos to the son!</p>
<p>That doesn’t mean the parents have to foot the bill. The son is in an awkward place until he turns 24. If you want to be a help, sit down and help him strategize several different plans with total costs and pro/cons. Then let him choose and make it happen.</p>
<p>For example - one option is 4 years in military and when he gets out he not only will be 24 and FAFSA independent but he will have military scholarship money for school.</p>
<p>Another option is that he works full time for a year or two, and then goes to the 4 year college with money saved up.</p>
<p>Another option is student loans. Be sure to figure out what interest gets tacked on top of the loan. A 20K student loan can actually mean 35K in repayment! Figure out if his work/career options after college via loans can pay back whatever loans he took out. Computer programming major can earn a lot more than an elementary teacher major. Etc.</p>
<p>Best of all worlds might be a state college he can attend part time while he works and pay as he goes.</p>
<p>My suggestions in post number 2 weren’t complete. Thus, here is what the FASFA instructions note about being independent:</p>
<p>Determining FAFSA Dependency
The Department of Education uses a very rigid set of criteria for determining whether a student is INDEPENDENT for financial aid consideration (which means that the custodial parents’ income and asset information is not considered in determining a student’s financial aid, and therefore not required on the FAFSA).
Regardless of how much support a student actually receives from his or her parents, he or she is still considered a DEPENDENT student for financial aid purposes UNLESS at least one of the following criteria is met:
For the 2009-10 school year, the student was born before January 1, 1986; or
the student is married; or
the student has a child or children who receive more than half their support from the student; or
the student has dependents (other than a child or spouse) who receive more than half their support from the student, and who also live with the student; or
the student is enrolled as a graduate or professional student (pursuing a master’s degree or doctoral degree); or
the student is a qualified veteran of the U.S. military, or currently serving on active duty in the U.S. armed forces for purposes other than training; or
the student is an orphan (both parents deceased) or ward of the court, or was a ward of the court until age 18; or
the student has special and unusual extenuating circumstances that can be documented for his or her college financial aid administrators, who may then request a “dependency override” on the FAFSA application. (Note: Exceptions are granted very rarely and only in extreme cases.) Students should contact the financial aid office at the school they will be attending for additional information.
IMPORTANT:
Many students feel that they should be able to declare INDEPENDENT status because they live on their own, file their own taxes, or receive no support from their parents. Unfortunately, the Department of Education is extremely strict with regard to determining dependency status.</p>
<p>Bottom line: If the student was born before 1986, it is possible to claim independent status. If not, it might be tougher but NOT impossible. Frankly, I see nothing wrong with a kid spending a few years in the military such as Coast Guard etc. They can get VA aid for education and also claim independent status. Moreover, many states will give post 9/11 vets in-state tution for out of state students. This varies for each state.</p>