Hello everyone, my name is Rachel.
I have some questions about financial aid.
My situations:
I am U.S citizen born in Virginia. My parents had worked in Virginia for about five years. However, they moved back to Taiwan (Asia) when I was 6 months old. I did my high school and freshman year in Taiwan. After that, I transferred to Penn State as an upcoming sophomore. Now, I am studying in Penn State alone, while all my families are still in Taiwan. The extremely high OOS tuitions really kills me. But my situations are very complicated since I don’t have residency in any state.
Is it possible for me to become resident after one year studying in Penn State. I am 20 years old so it seems that I cannot claim as independent. Or do I consider to transfer to the universities in Virginia? But I think I also don’t have chance to claim as resident for Virginia. I also consider to transfer to private universities because I heard that they generally offer good need-based financial aid. But they are also very difficult to get in.
By the way, my mom is also U.S citizen. She has $0 income so she don’t have to file any tax form. My father is not U.S citizen but he is the one who makes money for my family. Could anyone give me some advices since the OOS tuition really is a heavy burden for my family.
Thanks so much for helping!
You would be OOS for virginia schools too
Transfer students get less aid, even at most privates. What was your FAFSA EFC?
Who is paying for your PSU tuition?
You can’t get instate rates for PSU.
You could try to get instate status in one of the few states that make it easier…Missouri, Utah, Kentucky.
How much is affordable for your parents to pay each year?
What is your major?
Do you have any job skills now? In some states, if you live and work there for a year without being in college at all, you can establish your own residency for tuition and fees purposes. This varies by state (and sometimes by college/university in that state) so you will have to check around if you want to try it.
Your family doesn’t live innany of the states you have mentioned…you can’t get instate residency status in most cases unless your family resides in, and pays taxes to that state.
As noted above a few states will grant you instate status if you are completely self supporting. That doesn’t sound like it’s the case either.
You will have a tough time getting instate residency status in Pennsylvania, as you are already enrolled in college there. Usually one has to establish residency BEFORE enrolling.
Being born in a state does not give you instate status there. It is highly unlikely that Virginia will grant you this status…you haven’t lived there…and neither have your parents.
I think it’s worth it to email people whose names are on the NACAC list of colleges that miscalculated yield (look up NACAC) and ask if they still accept transfers and if they still have financial aid. Apply to all colleges that say 'yes’s to both questions and see if one turns out to be cheaper than Penn State.
There are some conditions that oversea citizen may be considered in state resident like missionaries. If that is not the situation for you, then you would be OOS for all. It was also a bad decision to start freshmen year somewhere else as the best aids goes to freshmen admit.
Make sure you can get housing at the schools on the NACAC list. Some have no on campus housing…so if you want that, check that item as well.
Thank you so much for all your help and information!!
MY EFC is around 12000, so I’m not qualified for the Pell grant.
My father is paying my tuition and I also applied for student loan.
The out of state tuition for Penn State is 32K so there is still a big gap.
I will move off campus for next term, and I already have a part time job in Penn State. However, it seems that part-time job does’t help.
My major is Plant Science, which is in Agriculture College.
Have you looked at the NACAC list?
Plant science is a very specific major, any chance you can broaden it a bit?
Plant Science is a not so common major, so it is pretty easy to research all the options. Do you have a specific interest within Plant Science? If you are focused on one crop, be sure to check the research programs of the various faculty members.
I like the College Navigator search engine for identifying places by major and OOS tuition & fees. Here is what it comes up with for Plant Science and OOS tuition/fees of 30k or less: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=all&p=01.1101+01.1199&l=93&ct=1+2&ic=1&tx=30000&ts=-2&pg=1 The institutions on the 20k or less list aren’t bad at all either: https://nces.ed.gov/collegenavigator/?s=all&p=01.1101+01.1199&l=93&ct=1+2&ic=1&tx=20000&ts=-2
What is your longer-term career goal? If you are looking toward grad school, any of these places can get you there provided you have top grades and good letters of recommendation.
When you work part time, it helps with your minor expenses, but it doesn’t pay a sufficient amount of taxes to the state. It won’t help you to gain in-state residency. You need to be self-supporting (no parent help) and paying full state taxes AND you usually establish residency before you attend your college.
As a citizen, you can take out student loans, but these are not big enough to pay your tuition. ($5500 per YEAR as a freshman, $6500 per YEAR as a sophomore. {$3250 per semester}).
Just because you were born in Virginia, that alone, does not make you a current resident. Your family needs to pay instate and local taxes and probably needs to have a property there/reside there.
Why did you pick such an expensive school? Transfers don’t receive good aid. You may want to look at the states that have reasonable tuition costs like those listed above. Check the NACAC list.