Does your daughter already HAVE the Direct Loan in her financial aid package from Agnes Scott? Start there.
If not, she can request this loan by contacting her financial aid office and asking… but that assumes the loan won’t take her aid over the cost of attendance…will it?
I would contact Agnes Scott…and work with them. It’s possible they can “adjust” the cost of attendance to include things that otherwise would not be…like a computer or whatever.
Yeah, sorry, I did mean subsidized. ? Not trying to muddy the waters.
You have received some great advice and points to consider. I am wondering how much time your daughter has spent in Atlanta? I think she will be pleasantly surprised in a good way. It is a totally different world than Mississippi (nothing wrong with either place, but they are different.) If she goes there for a year and decides it isn’t for her, then she can look into transferring someplace else. It might be easier for her to get accepted at some of those other schools she had applied to after she has built up a college transcript. Also, she could consider doing a semester at another college, just to check out life outside of the south. She definitely has options to “get away”.
As for the insurance, I wish you luck. You have had good suggestions on how to deal with it.
OP- can you reproduce the financial aid letter here? We can help you if we can see exactly what your D is getting (and potentially flag something which is missing).
Agree that the Direct Loan is a much safer bet then any of the other options being batted around.
And kick the can on the taxes down the road for a few days- let us help you get the financing piece in place, assure her health insurance, and then we can walk you through the tax implications.
Are you a member of any home schooling associations or groups? If so- you might want to post your U of A dilemma and see if any of them have a quick and easy workaround.
And I’m going to be the fourth (or so) poster to recommend that you and your D set up time to talk to a financial aid adviser at Agnes Scott. Tell them candidly that the health insurance is a bridge too far, but that it’s her first choice and if you guys can swing it financially, she’s ready to commit (if in fact, that’s the case). Lay it all out there- how tightly your D will need to budget for travel home, may need to wait to buy books until she gets a few paychecks from whatever job she can find on or near campus, etc. If there’s nothing more for them to give you- let them say so. But don’t start selling a kidney until you’ve been upfront in a kind and courteous way with AS.
I’m going to quote this, from healthcare.gov, the federal site for the ACA, the page entitled In school? Student health plans & other options. Previously I gave the link, but most people don’t click links, so I’m quoting it.
I have bolded the relevant part. Note that it says that a dependent under 26, like the OP’s daughter, who lives in a different state than her parents because she is attending college there, is nevertheless eligible for health insurance subsidies on her separate plan based on the whole family’s income. She can get on her parent’s insurance plan in their state, or she can buy insurance at her school, and either way, she is eligible for premium subsidies based on her family’s income.
Healthcare.gov is the federal ACA site. I’m assuming that if they explain a policy, they are correct.
For people who don’t qualify for premium subsidies, the college’s insurance policy will most likely be cheaper. But for people who do qualify for subsidies, ACA insurance might be cheaper.
https://www.healthcare.gov/young-adults/college-students/
Thumper, I know that you and I have talked about your daughter. I think I hadn’t seen this page when we talked. But it sure looks to me like out-of-state college students buying insurance in their college state are still eligible for subsidies.
PS Buying health insurance in the US is a byzantine process. Nobody should call herself “stupid” for having trouble navigating the maze.
I blame Agnes Scott for this mess. They know the OP’s family income. They know that families like the OP’s family cannot afford $3500 for insurance. They should have included money for health insurance in their aid offer.
Most colleges deserve blame on this. If they don’t include this cost on the NPC (okay to caveat and link to their policy), that is a problem.
This is a good reminder for looking at the school’s bursar’s page when determining true cost. Along with health insurance, some majors/programs at some schools have additional fees that you don’t see until the bill comes. Looking at details of fees is a deep dive when you are looking at applications and for some a couple of thousand dollars swing may not seem like a deal breaker - but obviously it is for a lot of families. Also, some state schools don’t know their funding levels until the summer, which means (at least in SC) that tuition costs are not finalized until July before classes begin and may be more than what the family is counting on.
OP is not stupid - it’s a lot.
I heard from my AO this morning, who has been so lovely and helpful, that she has made an appeal for the cost of the insurance. But that she’s never seen them accept an appeal for that much so she isn’t overly optimistic. 
.
But it is nice to know she has gone to bat for us. I haven’t felt that since this process started in December.
After the U of AL debacle this morning, where I basically ended up telling them to keep their damn $40 app fee, good grief, I’m just waiting for the next bad thing after months of bad things.
Sorry - told y’all I was E X H A U S T E D with all of it.
@4sugarplums I hope they come thru with some add’l help, but I I’m just going to put in my plug for Agnes Scott and making it work. I live in the Atlanta metro. For two years, Agnes Scott has allowed our girl scout troop to throw a large outdoor event using most of their campus. They were so supportive, made staff members available to be a part of the event, and have such a gorgeous campus and location. My D19 had just started looking at schools during the event planning last year, and the Agnes Scott friendliness, responsiveness, beauty, and layout set a very high bar.
Atlanta - Southern? I am from NY. Overall, I would not consider Atlanta “the south”. It is a city with so many transplants. Decatur, in particular, your daughter will LOVE!! There may still be times when you pass a car with the Conf flag. It is what it is.
Subsidized loan - If my D19 qualifies for it, she will take it, and we’ll decide if she needs to use it later. For the small loan origination fee, it can provide breathing room if costs are tight. If she gets a job or earns more than expected over the summer, she can bank that money for future repayment. It is such a small amount they are allowed to take each year relative to the cost of school, and you can’t predict the future. You seem to want to avoid loans that first year. It might make financial sense to max out on the subsidized amount portion all four years, and let work savings accumulate just in case.
@peachActuary73, thank you for highlighting what we have discovered and found to be true the past six weeks…Agnes Scott has been LOVELY. I had never even heard of them until we started this college stuff and they put on a very impressive and well run admitted students weekend and have been very “there” and helpful every step along the way since. It’s good to hear it’s not just for prospectives that they are nice to.
I hope, if nothing else, Agnes Scott has showed up on some folks’ radar where it might not have been before. Just a little paying it forward for the kindness they have shown us.
I agree with @peachActuary73! And I think your daughter will find Agnes Scott, and Decatur very liberal. In addition, there are several other colleges and universities in town and she might enjoy that aspect. Even if AS won’t cover the insurance, maybe they would be willing to bring the cost down a bit. If not, I would still take the loan, and with a part time job, plus working over breaks, I think it will be ok.
It’s great that the AO is trying to help you and your D. It sounds like it will be a great place for her. Good luck!
Check with other Agnes Scott parents that your daughter will not have any extra fees for additional activities like math team, robotics, or whatever. Some schools require students to pick up fees for travel or supplies. I sounds like you cannot find extra funds for unknown expenses.
In my state homeschoolers are entitled to the same support from a guidance counselor as a fully enrolled student. The thought is that they is no tax break for homeschoolers.
@MaterS , we asked in middle school if daughter could do band/swim team with the public school and were flat out told NO. There is nothing for homeschoolers here. We are the only secular homeschool family in town.
There’s not alot of extras for anything but we will make do 
. She’s working hard to put some back so as not to have to ask for any for things like that. She doesn’t have her own car and so won’t be taking one to GA so that’s one less expense there. We will figure it out! Thanks for thinking of us, though!
@4sugarplums, you are definitely not stupid! It wasn’t until we received our FA package from Columbia that I realized that there would be both health insurance and health center services fees. Kudos to Columbia and NY State for laying it all out. None if our other packages spelled everything out so clearly.
If you can manage, I strongly encourage your daughter to attend Agnes Scott. My daughter was accepted to 2 other Colleges That Change Lives, but she decided she wanted a bigger school on the East Coast. Sigh.
I grew up in a big, low-income family and had to put myself through college with no help from my parents. I understand how tough it is to have every cent count and working 2 jobs to manage.
Wishing you and your daughter the absolute best!
@4sugarplums , your writing style is funny, earnest, and winsome. Nothing stupid about it.
I have no brilliant words of wisdom to share, but I can commiserate with the college health insurance problem. For a couple of years our son was on our health insurance plan, but then we moved to a different state and our new, worse plan no longer covered him in the state where he went to school. So we had to throw ourselves on the mercy of the college and fork over a ton of money just in case. And of course we had to keep him on our insurance plan for when he came home for visits, so we were paying double for the same kid.
Health insurance in the US is an evil racket.
We have Blue Cross Blue Shield. They have a program called Away From Home Care. If you are going to be living elsewhere for more than 90 days – and, for students, up to the full school year – you can use the local BCBS. There’s a one-page application to fill out. I’ve done it every year, and it has saved me a lot of money. Perhaps other insurance companies have a similar program.
https://www.horizonblue.com/members/plans-services/away-from-home-care-program
Happily paying more expensive health insurance that my kid’s college offers because unlike lousy ACA family coverage, it actually is a very good coverage. To get that kind of coverage under ACA would cost a lot more.