Hey everyone. I am new to these forums and I am having some difficulty. I am 20 years old going to be 21 soon and I graduated high school in 2013. I have been out of school for almost 2 years but I went to college part time in the fall after I graduated high school. I was then forced to drop out due to financial reasons. My mom got laid off from her job in December 2013 and is still to this day unemployed and my dad was forced to take a paycut last year. They promised to help pay for part of my college expenses while I paid for the rest with my job. I currently work full time and have been working since high school, but I don't make enough by myself to pay for my education alone. I understand my parents' inability to help me out but there is one other thing that I do not understand. Despite my mom losing her job and my dad taking his paycut, you would think that I would be eligible for financial aid, right? Wrong.
I filled out the application and they said since I am under the age of 24, I am considered by the government to be a 'dependent' student and must provide not only my financial info but also my parents.' They input their financial info into my application too and it came back saying I am ineligible for any financial aid whatsoever due to the combined income of my dad and me being "too much" to qualify. Okay, so our house is in forclosure, my parents owe over $70,000.00 in credit card debt, my mom is close to running out of her unemployment benefits because she's close to her cutoff deadline and she's been trying so hard to find a job but can't due to the economy, she's had 2 interviews in 2 years but both turned her down. I had to drop out of school and up until a few months ago I was working a 2nd job to help my parents out with their struggle. And yet despite all of that, the government says, "Nope. We ain't gonna help you. You guys have plenty of money. You're on your own. Sorry." I even brought up the situation to the financial aid office at my local community college and the lady told me, "If you just input your own income and not your parents, you'd be able to qualify for financial aid but since you're under 24 you have to put your parents' as well and your income plus your dad's income makes you ineligible for financial aid because of how much you guys make combined annually."
She told me my only option would be to save up the money myself or wait till I'm 24 to go to college and apply for financial aid then. I see both of those options as last resort but I am at this point willing to consider anything. But the financial aid advisor I talked to did tell me that anyone can qualify for unsubsidized Stafford Student Loans which, unlike subsidized loans which don't accumulate interest until after graduation, unsubsidized loans accumulate interest while you're in school and say $20,000.00 of debt could turn into $40,000.00 in 4 years depending on what the interest is and when it accumulates. I heard the same thing about private lenders too, plus the fact that private loans are generally credit based and some private lenders require a cosigner and my parents can't cosign for me due to their credit difficulty and I don't know anyone else who can cosign for me. I "might" be able to do private or unsubsidized loans but I feel that it's a risk. The interest will keep accumulating regularly even when I'm still in school and even before I start paying on them, they generally do not have fixed rates, their rates are pretty high and plus in the economy that we're in right now, it is getting tougher for college grads to find jobs in their fields due to the jobs shortage. But no matter how hard it is for young college grads, it's 100x's worse for non-grads like me. Believe me, I know. And with me taking out $20,000.00 but with interest accumulation in 4 years it turns into $40,000.00 and with interest continuing to accumulate even after graduation and me making those payments, and me not having a good paying job to pay for them due to bad economy, that's going to kill me big time and like I said earlier it's a risk, it's a gamble. I try looking for scholarships on search engines such as scholarships.com but almost all of them say I must be current junior/senior in high school or I must be currently enrolled in college to qualify.
Or, not to be offensive, nearly all the scholarships I've searched say that I must meet that criteria and nearly 1/2 of them say that I must be a female and/or ethnic minority to qualify. I am not making that up, I am serious. I am a white male. And no offense to anyone who is female/ethnic. Please forgive me. I think all should have the opportunity to go to college majority or minority. But I did recently find one other option, crowfunding. I've seen search engines like gofundme.com where students ask for donations to help pay for school and it works. But I also feel that it's wrong to take money from strangers and there's also the fear that someone might come across me and suspect me of being a scammer, which I'm not, report my account and have it closed or possibly even sue me. But I've heard that it's worked for countless others who are in a similar position as me but I don't know. It seems like whatever option I choose, there's going to be pros and cons. I am not asking for any money, just some advice on what should I do. Should I try to raise the money myself through working, wait until I'm 24, consider an unsubsidized loan, a private loan, are there any scholarships that I can apply to, or should I go ahead and try crowdfunding, or should I do a combination of what I mentioned or consider something else altogether. Please forgive my rather long thread, I'm sorry if I bored anybody to death lol, I just need some help. I'd appreciate it very much.
Thanks, Bacondude94
Your only option is to get a job that pays tuition for going to college part-time.
If you are almost 21, stop leeching off your parents (and hoping to leech off others) and be responsible for yourself. FA doesn’t matter if you either get a job with tuition benefits, or you get a job at a college which has tuition remission for employees.
I got married young, and that kept me from being a dependent of my parents before age 24. That is another option.
For the record, I do live by myself now. I forgot to mention that in the OP. Leeching off my parents, I think not!
I don’t think crowd funding is a sustainable plan for you, unless you knew family members and friends would be willing to donate to you. I for one wouldn’t donate to someone’s cause unless I knew the person, and I don’t think too many others would give to someone they don’t know. It’s just too easy for someone to make something like this up and just pocket all the cash they earn (not saying you are).
What was your h.s. GPA and ACT score? What is your intended major and career goal?
Sorry about the ugly answer you got. You wrote an awfully long winded post I am trying to get through it.
You just are stuck in a place where the system isn’t working for you. You are a dependent for financial aid until you are 24. But unfortunately for potential students that have to work, your work earnings count quite a bit toward your FAFSA EFC. The govt doesn’t SAY anything, like “nope, we aint gonna”. They just issue the FAFSA EFC based on factual numbers which qualifies you or not for Pell grant. it is strictly a financial calculation. It doesn’t take into account consumer debt. At the most you get 5,770 from Pel per year.
Then you can get sub or unsub loans. Sub loans are depending on your income as well. But all students can qualify for up to 5.500 in federal loans which may or may not be partly unsub. (6,500 for sophomore, 7,500 for Jr and 7,500 for Sr). When parents are turned down for plus loans, students can get 4,000 more each year. You can read about it here. Try to read all the federal pages so you can understand all the aid and how it works The interests does not make 20k turn into 40k in 4 years that will never happen. You can use loan calculators to figure out interest and payments, google ‘student loan calculator.’
https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans
Scholarships are often just for graduating Seniors. There are others that are for certain groups that are underrepresented in colleges. But most are for low income students. If you aren’t Pell eligible, then you aren’t ‘low enough’. I don’t think crowd funding is a reliable way to get funds. You can try but I personally do not know anyone who got money that way nor have I ever responded to random links from strangers. If you do something to go ‘viral’ then you are a marketing wiz and maybe it could work, but that isn’t something to count on. You also need a 4 year plan.
Usually the most money comes from the school itself, but again it is dependent on your income and parents income. Also transfer students don’t fare too well in the process. Did you go to a college that gives any aid? Maybe they can reevaluate your situation. But usually students in your position try to do 2 years at a community college, paying their own way by working. Then they take the loans for the last 2 years somewhere cheap. Or as suggested, find an employer with tuition reimbursement programs.
The crowdfunding thing is up to you. I think crowdfunding really only works if you have a really compelling personal story as well as the time and media savvy to market yourself to the general public. But if you’ve seen it work for ‘regular people’ then it might be worth a shot.
I think a more realistic goal is to look for colleges that will give you merit aid for your scores and GPA. The problem with crowdfunding is that you’re basically dependent on however much money you can get from that, which may not be anywhere near enough to pay for the full cost of attendance at your college.
The best thing you can do in my opinion is to get your SAT and GPA, figure out what kind of college program or major you’re interested in, and start trying to formulating a list of affordable schools. You can get help with that here; I don’t think anyone is going to endorse crowdfunding or getting married (!) but there are colleges that have full-tuition or full-ride scholarships available. There are people here who can help you understand how federal Stafford loans work and give you guidance on how to evaluate your options.
I’m sorry your family is struggling. What state are you in? I’m surprised that the federal student loan and work earnings aren’t enough to cover community college costs. If I were you, I’d continue working and take classes as I could afford them. By the time you finish cc, you may be just old enough to be considered an independent student.
I think the crowdfunding will only work if there are people who otherwise would give you gifts and they can give you money in this way. A friend started a page for her daughter who wanted to take a May-mester trip to Europe. She applied and was accepted, but needed about $6000. My thought was, well that’s nice but I wouldn’t otherwise give this girl a Christmas or birthday gift, I have two kids to pay tuition for, so good luck to her but I wasn’t going to donate. I think she got some money from her grandparents and relatives but no where near $6000.
The government’s answer to most people is “sorry, we’re not going to help you.” You and your father make too much to qualify for low income. Your mother’s unemployment payments also count.
Most people do take some unsubsidized loans (only $3500/$4500/$5500/$5500) can be subsidized, but often the entire Stafford loan is unsubsidized. How much is your CC tuition? Usually that is the cheapest option.
Attend a local CC which is very affordable. Work and get a Direct Loan. When you have enough credits transfer to a four year institution. BTW the Direct Loan is assured by the federal govt you are trashing.
@austinmshauri 's advice is sound.
My 2 cents: if you’re interested in a Finance degree, check if the local banks have tuition reimbursement programs for any finance courses taken by employees.
“I went to college part time in the fall after I graduated high school.”
Some places would consider you a freshman applicant if you have less than one year of college credits, so if your grades and test scores in HS were excellent, take a look at the thread at the top of this forum that lists all the threads on merit-based aid, and see if you do qualify for any of that money.
I just read an article about this topic called Kickstarting college: Students use Crowdfunding to pay for school. I am curious if monies raised in this manner get reported to the IRS or to the schools. Would it be reported on the CSS and/or FAFSA? It would seem fair to do so given that assets, 529 accounts and the like are figured into the calculations.
Students are required to report on next year’s FAFSA money either paid directly to the school on their behalf, or money they receive from outside parties. If a grandparent pays the funds directly to the college, they can give above and beyond the gift tax limit without having to file the gift tax form… but if they hand the kid 50K, there are no tax implications for the kid, but the grandparent has to file the gift tax form.
Presumably, the same holds for a total stranger.
@rhandco - “Leeching” off of his parents? Did you not read where he took a part time job to HELP his parents??? SMH
@“Erin’s Dad” - where did he bash the government. And I wouldn’t blame him since they are the ones that created the financial mess that people are in because of student loans.
Gov’t backed student loans are limited to <$30K for an undergrad education. The “financial mess” due to student loans is due to cosigning of additional loans by adults who should know better.