Hi there!
First off I just wanted to thank you all for the help I received here over the past year or so. I committed to San Francisco State which I’m excited about.
As far as financial aid goes, I didn’t get very lucky. I didn’t receive any grants, just loans, so I’m trying to come up with backup plans as of right now I’m going to need to take out $10,000 in loans this year, and hopefully only about $6,000 or less each year after, once I leave on campus housing.
I’ve applied to about 30 scholarships with no luck, and have a part time job that I’m hoping will help. I know the military is great for paying for school, and I’ve also been looking at programs like Americorps as well. Does anyone know of any similar programs that will aid in financing college? Or any other tips/advice for reducing the amount I use in loans?
It’s divided between the loans I’m taking out on my own and the ParentPlus loan, which I’m pretty sure I can do. If not please let me know as this changes everything. My parents are planning on going back to the financial aid office at my school to try to account for circumstances that weren’t on the FAFSA. And no, this was the most “affordable” school I got into.
What’s the total cost and how much of it can your parents pay without borrowing? If they have to take PLUS loans to pay, you may want to consider taking a gap year and applying to a different set of schools or start at a cc then transfer.
It looks like you are a CA resident. Living at home and commuting to one of the CA CCs should be much more affordable, and could mean you don’t need any loans for the first two years ar all. Look into that.
I’m a senior and going to a CC isn’t really possible for a lot of complicated reasons. My parents have known/expected I’d need to take out loans and are adamant about splitting the costs with me, so I’m not trying to avoid loans completely. I’m trying to appeal my aid award, but if that doesn’t work out, the cost of attendance for me is around $20,000.
I’ll have around $5,000 saved by the start of classes, I plan on taking out the $5,500 in loans I was offered, and my parents (mom) offered to take out $5,000 in ParentPlus loans that she isn’t expecting me to pay back. She says it won’t be a problem due to her retirement savings/the fact that she will be moving into our already paid-off family home after graduation which puts a lot of extra money in her pocket. (I will, of course, pay her back eventually as an adult). This leaves about $5,000/year in out of pocket costs for my parents and I to split evenly which is affordable for us.
All of this means I’ll personally have around $12-$15,000 in student loan debt when I graduate. This isn’t impossible to pay off in a decent time frame, is it? I hear of people graduating with up to $20-$50,000 in student loan debt so I’m assuming it should be doable, but I could just be naive about the whole thing.
Join the Army/Air Force Reserve and take advantage of the education benefits
Take a gap year and apply for the ROTC scholarship (it’s called a scholarship, but it isn’t really the typical one in that you do pay it back serving for at least 5 years)
You could rob a bank or swindle the money (I don’t recommend this)
Purdue has a great program that isn’t technically a student loan. It is a promise to donate the amount they float you in tuition. I’ve only read a little about this.
@BuckeyeMWDSG This was so helpful-- thank you! Apparently I’ll be able to pay off $20,000 in 10 years with $230/month payments. It even told me I’d need a salary of $27,000 to afford to pay them off in that time frame which was good to know!
I’m not sure how your math adds up. You have 5k in cash. 5500 in federal loan. 5k parent plus loan. Then you and your parents are splitting the final 5k which is what you are posting with help from. Right? Someway to come up with that 5k outside current income or loans?
Living off campus next year could save “some” money but 4K is a stretch in such an expensive area. Have you added in the cost of travel, books and incidentals? Keep in mind won’t have that 5k cash you are starting with this year. You will likely have to take out the full fed loan each year which leaves you with 27k in debt, not 12-15k.
I really wish I had some ideas for you outside more work, more loan but I’m afraid that’s all I have if community college and transfer is truly not an option. We know several kids there and it’s just hard to knock the costs down. Hard to get around the expensive real-estate.
@HRSMom I didn’t even think about this- thank you! This would actually be really neat as I worked with a special needs sports program & was an assistant in a special needs class. I’ll look into something similar at my school too!
@labegg Lol! I watched a documentary on that and although it’s not for me, it seems pretty efficient. Lol. But yes I’ve been looking into Americorps pretty intently so thank you!
Although it wouldn’t work this year you could be an RA in later years. I don’t at all think you should make this choice based off something that you /may/ do in the future, but it is definitely something to keep in mind and consider. Some RAs get a stipend, some get free housing, some get nothing. Look into your college’s policy.
Keep in contact with the financial aid office for additional scholarships and grants. Some departments have them, sometimes there is an alum scholarship, extra work, etc. It does cost more to live in SF area, but the minimum wage is $15/hr so you may be making more than the average student. If you have work study money, you may need a boost in that or a second non-workstudy job as you’ll get to the max faster.
@twoinanddone Thank you! I just saw that my department has a scholarship so I’ll have to see if I’m eligible since I’m an incoming freshman. My current job has a location close to SF State and the owner of my franchise location (who’s also my manager) is writing me a letter of recommendation for the location in SF, so I’ll most likely have an off campus job part time. Would work study be better though in terms of getting paid? I just thought working off campus would be a little simpler since I can bypass all the paperwork/rules.