I have one kid who found a room as a paying guest with an older couple who rent out their guest suit for cheap as long as you mow their lawn, clean snow, put trash outside and just help around the house with things difficult for them to do.
They even cook for him and lady is very motherly so she just makes up little chores for him to do if he is short on money. It’s like moving in with your grandparents. I wish more older folks consider this sort of set up. It’s a win win for empty nesters and for the student.
Don’t just assume the OP can get the health insurance requirement waived just because he is on his dad’s insurance. If he goes to a location where the insurance has little/limited coverage, the college may not grant the waiver.
OP, I know it is a stressful topic to bring up, but could he at least provide the same level of support he has given you for CC attendance?
Does your dad know that you can only borrow $7,500 a year and that even schools in your own state cost about $10k just for tuition? Add to that housing and food costs. Do you think he realizes it’s not easy to work your way through college anymore?
I would get a job with UPS or Walmart or some other company that provides tuition assistance (find out the requirements to qualify) and work as much as possible this summer.
Apply to JMU, VCU, U Maine and any other affordable schools. See if you can afford tuition and a roomshare with your savings and loans.
Their respective websites indicate that tuition at Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University are >9K and >10K per semester. NSU doesn’t offer a BS in Economics but the Business School does provide B.S. degrees in Business with concentrations in Finance or in Business Information (there are other options). ODU has the traditional B.S. Economics degree. The cost of living is much cheaper in the Hampton Roads region, so your housing cost could be more manageable than in NoVA. I would guess that there would significant internship possibilities for Business/Economics students Hampton Roads as well as NoVa, therefore, you should be able to get your foot in the door with an NSU or ODU pedigree if you distinguish yourself academically. Socially, there are attractive benefits to being an undergrad in the Hampton Roads area. Good luck.
At 56 and with possibility of making $190K per year and helping you out, he really should consider postponing retirement for a few years and doing that. If he has no savings, that seems to indicate his spending is out of control, and I am not sure how mom could have gotten control of his retirement or retirement savings. He should not be punishing you for your mom’s behavior, especially since he had custody and can’t sing the song of how much child support hurt him.
But, it is his money … you can only be nice and plead for him to help you as much as he is willing, including even helping pay back loans.
Grandparents in MA, can you commute from their house ?
I also think maxing out on loans (10K), working part time should be on your radar … If your dad has a nice room for you, why would you consider a homeless shelter, you are not homeless.
With an associates degree, you may be able to get a decent salary and even tuition benefits.
I also would consider spending 40-50K to get a good degree … it won’t be fun to pay back those loans but if you work hard once you graduate and live frugally, it could be a good investment. 40 years of higher pay and better work is worth far more than 40K.
The student says that his dad has announced that after CC, he won’t provide any more money towards college.
Reading between the lines, it sounds like mom got a chunk/all of savings in lieu of something else (shared equity of the home or shared retirement plan) Dad may have “bought her out,” of her share of the house.
Dad may have done the math for putting his 4 kids thru college and has concluded that 2 years at a CC for each kid is all he can do. The next child may be starting at a CC soon.
The divorce may have been very costly, so maybe dad has some “catching up” to do with savings, etc.
We are hearing a young person’s version of events and he may not fully understand. Words like “retiring soon,” may not truly mean retiring in the next 5 years. Gave mom “life savings” years ago, may just mean dad bought mom out.
I wouldn’t be surprised if dad is also having to pay spousal support to his exwife. Again, reading between the lines, but a mom of 4 kids who never sees them likely has some serious issues - ones that may not allow her to support herself.
This student may need to resort to an online college route. I think Starbucks has a deal with Arizona State or some AZ school to pay for education. He needs to take advantage of having a decent home to live in…at least that is a parent contribution. And if he’s on dad’s health plan, then staying instate would help.
I’m guessing that the divorce was contentious and headed to trial. The pension may have been a bargaining chip or th judge may have outright ordered the husband to relinquish the pension benefits. I’ve seen it happen. Although it is odd that the judge did not order $$ support from the mother to cover a share of the college expenses.
The road to affordability will not be easy, but the OP does have practical college options.
^I too was thinking: if you moved to MA for a year and worked, living at your grandparents, would they be willing to house you for free? This way you’d get instate residency and you’d save money, then you could enroll at a commutable university (is there one? MA is smaller than VA so that may be easier?)
Can he get residency that way? and either way, I don’t think that’s a big savings…UMass schools aren’t cheap.
@LakeWashington Did the student say that the mom was given the pension? I thought she was given the savings acct. The dad works for the FAA…that may include an employer-paid pension that was not given to “mom”. I suspect that mom wasn’t given the pension because dad would likely have to delay retirement then. I think mom was just given their non-retirement assets so the dad could buy her out of the home and maybe out of a share of the retirement.
Sorry for being AFK for the last day. My mom was given the savings and house, no child support, no spousal support, and none of his his pension. I`m starting to really look into VCU and their transfer programs as well as online options. Again thanks for all the help.
What about working full time for a year, living at home and using that associate degree, enough to pay for rent near a 4-year public VA university (or Maine) and live frugally to the next year or two? Then OP could move and devote two full years to college.
Have you applied for the slew of military dependent and retiree scholarships? There are a TON. Deadlines quickly approaching and some have passed. Both need based AND merit. My DS was able to get a good chunk of those and you can apply every year. Pm me I’ve got a list somewhere. All you need as proof is typically your dads DD214 he received when he got out. These scholarships are much easier to pursue than others.
VCU has a good business school. Like JMU and GMU they emphasize and can get you internships. We live in the Richmond area and there are plentiful part time jobs while you are in school. As I mentioned earlier rents in Richmond are second only to the D.C. area, but places are available. They have a variety of dorms and dorm prices but students tend to move off campus by junior year.
I’m not a fan of on line schools. Especially in business a student would benefit from networking face to face. If OP can provide about $5k per year from his job for tuition he can live month to month off campus with his earnings.
Also you might qualify for the Buckingham Scholarship for children of air traffic controllers. Deadline is May 1. It’s the fourth scholarship on this application and doesn’t say YOU have to have ambitions in aviation:
@Rdtsmith Does the dad have to be a military retiree? It doesn’t sound like the dad is. It sounds like the dad served for about 10 years, got out, and then worked for the FAA
He said his dad has worked for the military and the FAA for 30 years, but he got out of the AF over 20 years ago. So, dad was only in the AF for about 10 years.
Moving and waiting 12 months to matriculate will qualify the OP for resident tuition in most (maybe all) states. Therefore the grandparents option is viable, though as M2CK said, public colleges in Massachusetts aren’t particularly cheap. There are exceptions, like the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), but that school may not have the programs that the OP seeks. And the grandparents may live nowhere near MCLA. Another decent Massachusetts school is Worcester State College, which has a great cross-registration agreement with other schools in town, including Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which does have an Economics Department.
All that said, I still believe that Norfolk State University and Old Dominion University are better (cheaper) options.