I’m sorry you’re in this situation, but the reality is that you will be unable to attend this college in the spring.
All the things you love about it re great, but you can’t pay the bills. You can take a gap year or semester, work to pay off what you owe, and figure out a new plan. You can start investigating what affordable colleges will take your credits. Come up with a new plan and make sure you can afford the school. It’s in unfair to expect your family to take on a lot of debt and unfair on you to pay exorbitant amounts of money when there are less expensive ways to earn your degree.
This is the unfortunate reality. Your time at the college ends now. You’ve had a great time, so enjoy what you got out of it. You can still have a great time in college and in life, but it’s going to have to be elsewhere.
Is transferring back to your original school an option? I understand this is a dream school for you, but at this point you have to come to terms with reality and that you cannot afford this school.
Edited: after I read more and seeing that your original college was also private. I think your best best is to regroup for the spring. That may mean a public university or community college. If your need is high, you will likely get aid at your local community college. If its inexpensive enough, you might have some funds left over to purchase a car for transportation.
You can qualify for $4K more in federal student loans when parents don’t qualify for Plus loans ($5K more in junior and senior years). I am not saying to do that, but that might allow you to clear your account more quickly.
I agree with the others that you will need to take off spring semester, even though it’s less than ideal for a number of reasons you have mentioned. Do you qualify for a Pell grant? If not, what is your FAFSA EFC?
Can you get a job for spring and summer? You won’t be able to transfer to another 4 year college until you clear your debt with the HBCU.
If you have to borrow $10k/semester over the federal student loan your debt
for this school will be ~$25k/year. That’s too much. Make sure to completely withdraw from this college so you’re not charged for spring. That means canceling the meal plan as well as contacting the registrar, housing, and financial aid. If you owe $10k to your current school you’ll have to pay that before you can transfer.
commuting would mean relying on my parents to take me to school everyday and honestly thats the LAST thing I wanna do. I have my license but not a car.
How much can your parents contribute per year without borrowing? Their contribution + the $7500/year federal student loan + ~$3k/year summer work earnings is your budget (plus Pell and/or any state grants if you’re eligible). If your parents can’t pay much then commuting could be your best option. You might have to take a gap year and save up for a car, but if the school is affordable you’d be able to graduate.
You are prioritizing independence from family in the short term, while sabotaging independence and the ability to support yourself, in the long term. Loans in your situation can be crippling.
And if your family doesn’t have the $10k to pay now, the school will tell you to leave. They will literally take away your keys.
One thing you can do is wait until you are 24 and schools just look at your finances. Your family finances sound complicated since they make enough to not qualify for a lot of aid, but at the same time don’t qualify for a loan.
The majority of college students are actually “non-traditional,” meaning they work and/or raise families and take classes part-time. There are many degree completion, continuing education and adult learner programs at well-respected universities, so maybe that is an option.
Community college will not be helpful past the associate’s degree level. It is too late for the strategy of doing community college for two years and then transferring to your state U. But look into any state colleges of universities that might be affordable.
I strongly agree with those who say loans are a problem. Do not accumulate any more! And prioritize paying them off. My view is that your best course is to leave school, work and take two classes (you have to take two to get the grant) and pay for them along the way without loans. You can also prioritize getting roommates so you can leave the family home and be able to pay rent.
Agree that the OP needs to take a break from college, work and repay the $10,000 currently in arrears at the current college, and look for an affordable way to continue his/her education.
It is unfortunate but many students do not end up at their top choice college due to finances. Affordability must be a top priority.
I didn’t say that it wasn’t an option now to take classes up to the two year point. But the option of doing that from the start, and avoiding cost of current school and loans, is past, obviously. Sorry if i was unclear.
I did qualify for a Pell grant, it didn’t help that much. With the pell grant and loans being taken out my bill is still over $10,000. I could get a job for the spring and summer, but I feel like whatever job it is won’t pay $10,000, but of course I’d have to look. I’ve never had a “real” job, just a work study job in my previous university.
You are also right that I can’t transfer until I clear this debt. I see a lot of comments saying I need to take off a spring semester, but I’m just afraid how much my credits will be even more screwed up. I already have to stay an extra year (my original grad year was 2023 now it’s probably 2024), and I’m already not graduating with my “class.”
Got it, sorry for my misunderstanding. I work at a community college and students transfer in and out all the time. Sticking to general education during this time might be prudent given that OP doesn’t know where they’ll end up.
A Pell grant may come close to paying for a semester of community college though.
Regardless, you may need to work longer than spring and summer before you can go back to school. The good news is there are many jobs available right now if you don’t have that many skills yet…you can wait tables, work in an Amazon/UPS warehouse, any number of things if those don’t appeal.
The reality is that you can’t pay the debt you do have, nor can you afford this upcoming semester. Please don’t take on more debt…you likely wouldn’t be able to get enough in loans for the next 5 semesters anyway (or however many more semesters you have until you would graduate).
It is not a race to the finish line, you may even lose more than one year, but that’s not relevant…setting yourself up for success is the end goal.
Yes you’re right, I’m already like $20k in debt right now technically, my family just wants me to take out more. If I go up to them and say “hey I’m not taking out loans anymore” they’re gonna look at me like I have six heads, since I think they both had to to get their degrees, even my sibling I believe.
But I truthfully don’t wanna pay off loans for the rest of my life. This whole situation is very discouraging because I feel so behind. Everyone I know is practically a junior and they either have full rides or a way to pay for college. I feel like the odd one out.
You are smart to want to limit your loans and even with the loans it doesn’t sound like you can afford spring semester. If you are a sophomore you could only take $6,500 plus the $4K because your parents don’t qualify for a Parent plus loan, divided by 2 (semesters), so $5,250. Then add 1/2 your Pell Grant. That won’t pay for second semester (nor any semesters going forward even though the max loan amounts would increase a bit).
Focus on playing the end game, and not where your classmates are. You can still get your degree, but it might take longer than you want it to.
I suggest you find a job somewhere that will pay your tuition. Target has a program right now. You will have to pick from their list of schools, but they have decent options, so at least look into it. (I think Starbucks and Amazon also have programs, but I thought Target’s sounded particularly good when I read about it.)
Anyway, maybe you could take a leave (not drop out yet), get a job at Target (or somewhere like that), work 6 months to pay back debt, then take advantage of their paid tuition program and transfer.
If you work full time for six months at $15/hour, you would make $10,000 after taxes, but would have virtually nothing left for living expenses in the meantime. You might need to get some family help or a second job short-term to bridge the gap.
Best wishes. I am sorry you are in this situation.
I just checked my school’s website, and it says there is no way to take a leave of absence, I can only withdrawal which will result in no institutional aid, not like I was getting any anyways.
So taking a leave is out of the question unfortunately, but I may look into the jobs for tuition assistance.