<p>Actually at UNM, you can only qualify for one scholarship per student. The OP’s D would get either the Amigo OR the Colorado Reciprocal Scholarship, but not both.</p>
<p>Either one would get her instate tuition rates.</p>
<p>The number of CO Reciprocal Scholarships is very limited and they are awarded on a competitive basis. Amigo Scholarships are more plentiful, but are also awarded on a competitive basis. Both scholarship have “suggested” application deadlines of December 1 for consideration. </p>
<p>One other thing to be aware of before saddling your daughter with massive student loan debt is that if there is any possibility of a job after graduation requiring a security clearance, such debt can be reason for such security clearance to be denied. It is also not unheard of for other jobs with financial sensitivity to run credit checks on prospective employees.</p>
<p>The Amigo covers the entire OOS portion of tuition & fees. Plus it awards an additional $500 towards a student’s other costs. (Intended, I believe, to help offset OOS transportation costs.)</p>
<p>I don’t think the big loans are happening. The parents already have big debt and not likely going to cosign for a bunch more.</p>
<p>Right now, the D may not be aware of the need for cosigners. She saw her dad take on a bunch of debt without co-signers and likely thinks she can, too. But she won’t be able to. Her dad’s big debt was largely gotten as a grad student (chiro school). </p>
<p>I remember my older son declaring that he’d just take on big debt to go to the school of his choice, but once I told him he’d need me to cosign and I wouldn’t do that, then he realized that wasn’t happening.</p>
<p>Right now, the parents need to help her find another school or two that she likes and will be affordable. The parents were wrong (sorry for the harshness) to let so much time go on with this love of UT (and TAMU as back up) without any real consideration of cost and how to pay for it. </p>
<p>Now’s the time for the “heart to heart”…</p>
<p>compliment her on her accomplishments</p>
<p>Lament that the family’s current debt situation precludes them from paying or cosigning</p>
<p>help her find other schools. (it will help if you already have some computer print outs of some possible schools like UNM and Truman State. )</p>
I don’t really understand this statement. Obviously, if you can’t find a way to pay for the “dream school” then it’s not one of the choices she can make - and that choice is up to you. </p>
<p>OTOH, a lot of us don’t exactly relish our jobs but for $200K a year, I could endure a hell of a lot for a couple 3-4 years.</p>
<p>I have helped in my kids’ high school career center and have gone to the presentation on UC Boulder. It is a fantastic school but your daughter cannot see that because it is in her own backyard. They offer GREAT merit and I think you should require her to apply simply because at graduation they announce each student who has “honors” and what they are, usually in the program if not out loud. So it would say “Jill Smith, Honors at Entrance, UC Boulder.” She wants those, doesn’t she? If this “carrot” doesn’t work, then tell her that part of the process at our house is that everybody applies to one in-state school and which one is she choosing? As long as she lives in your home, house rules. (This will also help in 2 years with your sophomore.) Btw, an application is not a commitment. </p>
<p>Second: WUE is a great idea. But you need to get her on it and get an app or two in. Some of our students from Oregon took WUE options in Arizona and loved them. </p>
<p>I would also suggest that for international studies, it may not be prestigious like UT Austin, but Portland State University is on WUE and is particularly strong in international studies. My mom was getting her ESL certificate in the late 70s at PSU and she was tutoring foreign students from around the world. We met people from countries we’ve never heard of, and PSU was among the first universities in the USA to get students from China. Definitely ahead of the curve. Also, Portland is a fabulous city–if you haven’t seen Portlandia, where have you been?</p>
<p>Madison85 has asked a very important question that has not yet been answered: What is the $8000 difference between wages and AGI? If the OP’s H is paying student loans, there should be deductions for interest, which would decrease the AGI … meaning that the $8000 increase is especially important. Is this a taxable distribution from a 401k? Is it winnings of some type (gambling, contest, etc)? Is it taxable dividends or interest? </p>
<p>The EFC is too high for the AGI … meaning that there is untaxed income or high assets that the OP reported on FAFSA but has not shared here. Perhaps it was a mistake on the FAFSA, or perhaps it is something OP has chosen not to share with us. However, we can guess from now to next year but will come up empty if we don’t know the complete picture.</p>
<p>The mom gets disability, so where is that put? Does it get counted in AGI or somewhere else? </p>
<p>The mom says that the EFC is about the same as when her H filed FAFSA for his schooling. This suggests, to me, that the numbers have been put in the wrong place. A Student-Parent’s EFC would be high since much of his income would be expected to cover COA (tuition, room, board, etc) since it would be presumed that the family will live where the parent-student is living…unlike when a child is the student. </p>
<p>Kelsmom can explain this better, but when the parent is the student, there is an exemption (not sure if that’s the right word) for the adults and kids in the formula, but after that, (I think) a large chunk is supposed to go towards EFC to cover COA. It’s different when the child is the student. </p>
<p>“They (UC Boulder) offer GREAT merit”</p>
<p>I don’t know if an ACT 26 would get much merit (or honors at entrance) to UC Boulder…I doubt an ACT 26 is even upper quartile at that school. </p>
<p>I hate it when people post that “X school gives great merit” w/o considering what the student-in-question’s stats are and w/o giving award examples. Boulder may give “great merit,” but you may need an ACT 28+ to even get a smaller award. “Great merit” may mostly only be given to those with an ACT 30+.</p>
<p>Boulder doesn’t give great merit, to in-state or OOS. Colorado has very low property tax, and that’s reflected in the rather high in-state tuition rates. Boulder is an expensive place to go to school. About 45% of the students are OOS because they bring in the big bucks. It is an ongoing fight in the state legislature.</p>
<p>OP’s daughter would get a good merit scholarship at Wyoming (about $5k off the $14100 tuition) but she doesn’t want to go to a ‘cold’ school and Laramie is definitely cold. She just has to make some choices.</p>
<p>At CU-Boulder, automatic consideration merit scholarships for in-state students require the student apply no later than Jan 15th, and appear to require at least a 28 ACT. There are also several other merit scholarships, some of which require a separate application:</p>
<p>Apparently there is a difference between SSI and SSDI:</p>
<p>SSDI is an earned benefit that focuses on physical and mental impairments that are severe enough to prevent people from engaging in their normal occupations or any other work. Their impairment must be expected to last for at least 12 months or to end in death.</p>
<p>SSDI benefits can be paid to blind or disabled workers, and like Social Security retirement benefits, to their children, to their widows or widowers, and to adults who haven’t worked but have been disabled since childhood.</p>
<p>SSI, meanwhile, pays benefits to low-income people who are 65 or older; to adults who are disabled (based on the same definition used by SSDI) or blind; and to children who are disabled and blind. The program is only for people who have very limited income and assets.</p>
<p>Another key difference is how the two programs are financed. SSDI is funded by the Social Security taxes paid by workers, employers and self-employed people. SSI, on the other hand, is financed by general revenues that the Treasury Department collects to run the U.S. government.</p>
<p>Supplemental security income (SSI) payments. Social security benefits do not include SSI payments, which are not taxable. Do not include these payments in your income.</p>
<p>Therefore if OP receives SSI which is not taxable, then there is still the mystery of the (net) $8,000 difference between salary/wages and AGI.</p>
<p>Is there a rental property? A Schedule C? Partnership/S Corp income? A farm? There may be underlying assets that the OP has not revealed which drove up the EFC.</p>
<p>More and more, I’m thinking the OP should be looking at the gap year option. There’d be time for her D to bring up those test scores, putting her in better position for admission and merit money. And she wouldn’t need to scramble to put in applications at places that are only now under consideration at the 11th hour because they’re still accepting apps.</p>
<p>A gap year may be what’s needed, but I doubt the family will bite on that.</p>
<p>I’m hoping that after a good night’s sleep and fresh eyes, the mom can identify what’s driving up that EFC…a mistake or her SSI benefits or something else.</p>
<p>I’m also hoping that the mom truly looks at the costs of TAMU and Colorado publics. She somehow wrongly things that TAMU has an OOS cost that is lower than the instate Colorado publics…which make me think she’s looking at “per semester” costs at TAMU…a common mistake.</p>
<p>And, lastly, I hope that the mom realizes that although her D is a very good student, her ACT is “just good” and not outstanding and therefore she’s not likely going to get a dime from UT and probably not much/anything from TAMU. I’m wondering if her high school has grade inflation because usually “top students” have top test scores…unless they’re attending a lower quality school and the grades are less meaningful. </p>
<p>Her D’s efforts are admirable but those cannot and do not justify large debt…especially for her intended major.</p>
<p>I was reading a recent post on this forum about a student who has just finished her first semester at Baylor; she is asking for advice since she still owes $7,000 for the first semester, her single-parent mom is recently unemployed, and there are credit card debt concerns. She is asking about where she can get a private loan. I saw that when she was first accepted to Baylor, she said she didn’t care if she ended up $250k in debt, she was so happy. I doubt she is happy now, that she may not be able to return for the second semester.</p>
<p>Sadly, more than a couple students at my former school played the private-loan-catch-up game … paying off previous bills in order to return, only to rack up more debt. It was a big public U, not even a private. I didn’t like it, but I had no control over the situation. When I talked to students who were considering school, I tried to help them understand reality - and even though it was probably not cool from an admissions standpoint, I suggested doing pre-reqs at a CC as an option for keeping costs to a minimum.</p>
<p>“Sorry, let me also clarify that my husband works at the County Hospital vs a plastic surgeons office where he could make $200,000 per year, and HATE his job.”</p>
<p>OP, for FWIW, I did 4 years med school and six years residency and specialty training, did military time that helped pay some of it back, then got and left a job I hated that paid WAY less than 200k, but then needed to take a job with the county (still not 200K) to help pay full price for my kids college .</p>
<p>And working in a plastic surgeons office isn’t the only option for that profession. And, plastic surgeons don’t only do “make pretty people prettier” work…they do a lot of reconstruction work…and that’s super important and rewarding.</p>