Question

Kinda freaking out.  We just got the financial aid packet and scholarship information for my daughter for college.Kinda freaking out. We just got the financial aid packet and scholarship information for my daughter for college. Ummm where am I supposed to come up with $28k? She may have to make a different choice in schools!  

Answer 1

They want you to get student loans. It is ridiculous!  

Answer 2

Don’t panic. I am a single mom doing the same. There are many scholarship opportunities. Did you go online and register her with FASFA. gov ? Also talk to her school counselor.  

Answer 3

Does it have to be paid right in full ? I know here they pay by the terms

Answer 4

Is she starting at community college first? Much cheaper to start community then transfer after she’s gotten as many credits as she can

Answer 5

You can ask the financial aid office for more money but that might be a long shot. Have her apply to as many local scholarships as she can. Have her go to the counselors office and ask for applications. You might have to have a discussion is this is too expensive. My oldest is a freshman now so I understand your frustration

Answer 6

I would say go back and review the application. That happed to my son and he had put an amount that was not supposed to be put. To be honest it was the financial aid officer that did it but had he read the instruction it said it should not be included if it had a “dd” by it, which it did. Therefore, our out of pocket was less

Answer 7

Dose FinAid use your AGI? Because I’m chronically ill and have huge medical bills and always take a big deduction for them.  

Comments

Did you submit a FAFSA?  

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@karrikarrie yes FAFSA uses your AGI and lots of other information. Let me know if you have questions. I’m a financial aid counselor at a university in Michigan. Been doing this for 10+ years

Answer 8

My oldest daughter based her final decision on where we could afford. She applied for so many local scholarships her senior year and luckily our out of pocket cost is 8k/per year and her college savings pays for that. The school that she chose, she loves. She is a nursing major and her school has one of the most competitive programs in the state.  

Answer 9

I'm an Admission Counselor at a university, and do financial aid meetings with students. Please, DO NOT be afraid to talk with the school about options. I know not all colleges have the capability of talking with students, but if you're looking in the 28K range of a gap, I'm assuming your daughter is looking at a private school. Reach out and talk with someone either in Admissions (someone manages her application/account, find out who it is), or the Financial Aid office. And have a realistic talk with your daughter about money. Those are the worst conversations, when the kid has no concept of what $1000 even looks like, let alone $28K. That's literally buying a new car each year. You could own a $100, 000 house by the end of 4 years. Etc. Be firm on what it means to get into that type of debt, no matter the school. See if what she wants to study could be at a more affordable option. How can she cut costs, how can she contribute to her education? There are so many factors, but even being on this side of things in higher ed, 28K is too big of a gap if the family couldn't pay at least half of that or more out of pocket.  

Comments

@railing4751 thank you! She is looking at out of state schools. She is getting a 9k Merritt scholarship from this institution. I think this one will just have to be crossed off list

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@karrikarrie Ahhh. Out of state tuition makes sense with how high that is. Yeah, cross it out. I personally think out of state tuition is a scam  though I understand the reasoning behind it, it truly is a disservice to students.  

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@karrikarrie If she wants to go out of state see if there are schools with a reciprocity agreement that might give in state tuition. Or depending on where you live some schools give in state tuition if you have a certain ACT score

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@railing4751 not all schools charge out of state tuition. I’m a financial aid counselor and have worked at 2 private institutions neither charges out of state tuition.  

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@approach5787 I wasn’t referring to private universities with that! I work at a private university and know that private schools don’t charge out of state tuition. I was referring to the state school she was talking about.  

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@railing4751 great solid advice!  

Answer 10

File the FAFSA, she will likely get grants and other aid. I know that Pell Grants can be a large portion of that $28, 000 and some schools offer their own scholarships.  

Comments

@lilas25 pell is only about $6000 a year. sadly

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@lilas25 Pell is only for those eligible, lowest income families. Pell only would provide at most, $6195 for the year at full time enrollment. And more that likely if she got her financial aid package it’s already considered the FAFSA and the Pell grant.  

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That’s still a large portion

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Better to apply and get $6000 and have less to pay

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@lilas25 the $6195 is only available to families with 0EFCs, and they subtract from the Pell whatever the EFC is the family is. Always worth filing the FAFSA, but not all families are Pell Eligible, if the EFC is $6195 or above they won’t get the grant at all.  

Answer 11

Bonus Child (a name she and I agreed on because I don’t like using her name online) got scholarships & grants, were paying the rest each semester (about 5K each year) in monthly payments. Apply for *everything* grant and scholarship wise.  

Answer 12

Have her apply for lots of scholarships. Our son is looking at going to a small, private college with a coat of $50, 000/year. With scholarships so far we have it down to about $8, 000/year. A lot of the scholarships depends on grades & other things.  

Comments

@heaton Lyn Yonker did you just look up scholarships online?  

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@highlander we’ve talked to a lot of people. Most of what we found was local to us. His elementary gives out scholarships. There is one for soccer refs we just found out about, etc.  

Answer 13

My biggest advice, having started at a private university is go to the local community college and knock out all the prerequisites for her degree program. By the time this is finished she should get an Associate's degree so she has a fall back plan. And then transfer to a 4 year university. I would not go to a pri ey prestigious university unless I was certain I wanted to be a cutting edge medical expert or something highly specified. And once she starts hitting those prerequisites, she may change her mind. You'll be out around 6k per year and FAFSA and a subsidized loan should cover all of it if cash is the issue. And they also have work study so she can contribute to it.  

Comments

@lewak for more details for anyone who wants it, FAFSA allows first year students to take up to $5500 in unsub/sub loans. Most you could be eligible in subsidized loans is $3500, but that depends on your EFC. The rest would be unsub.  Work study is also eligibility based, but often schools have opportunities to work on campus without a work study grant.  

Answer 14

She is getting a lot of merit based scholarships due to getting a 32 on her ACT, she is eligible to borrow that $5500 and she has already taken a lot of the basic college courses in high school.  

Comments

@karrikarrie what’s her major? That’s a GREAT ACT score so keep looking if you decide this one is too expensive. Someone will give her an award package that is a good fit

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@rucksack I know of several local schools that will give her free tuition, but she isn’t interested in those schools ‍♀️

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@karrikarrie look at the FB group Paying for college 101. People can help with ideas for schools that will offer better merit aid with her scores

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@rucksack great! Thanks!  

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@karrikarrie I would politely explain to her that if she isn't willing to consider a school that you can afford, then she will need to have the expectation that she will have to work through school to help pay for it.  

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@karrikarrie I am a single mom of 4 and I work 3 jobs. My kids don’t qualify aid either. They have 3 choices with school. 1. Get a merit scholarship. 2. Get a sport scholarship 3. Go to local community college and then the state school that pairs with the college 3+1. I will not allow them to go into debt of more then $ 40, 000 total for all 4 years. I will help where i can but I am supporting everyone on my salary. Both girls got a sports scholarship. My son will do the community college. My advice. don’t go I to debt for their college and don’t allow them to go Into crazy debt. There are solutions but it may not be one that they want to hear.  

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@karrikarrie how in the world is that school only giving her 8K in merit scholarships? 32 on the ACT is sacred, especially to state schools. Did she miss additional scholarship deadlines? Is there not an out of state fee waiver for ACT scores? I’m assuming her GPA is good too, I’m shocked you’d have a $28, 000 gap with that academic profile.  

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@railing4751 yeah, IDK. I need to look into it more. No out of state wavier.  

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@karrikarrie Do they have that test score on file? Do you mind if I ask what university? Something just isn’t adding up!  

Answer 15

Another note to Scholarships. APPLY for any and everything. the Answer is always NO if you don't apply. Look into VFWs, local unions, credit unions, ask your employers if they offer scholarships, Taco Bell offers scholarships, I believe McDonald's does too, any and all civic organizations in your area. I know in Texas there is a Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo scholarship. Go to the school's Foundation page and see what they have to offer. Ask for a meeting with them, they can offer ideas that are for your area/region. Her high school counselor should have access to those as well.  

Comments

This my oldest applied for everything he could .  

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@explosive yes, this!  

Answer 16

I would tell her she should choose one of the free schools. With that act score she shouldn't be paying much. If she chooses to go into debt it will be on her. Maybe discuss how terrible student loan debt can be. We had a student loan for my husband for maybe 25k and been paying on ot for 10 years and owe more than the original. We pay 300 a month and 200 goes to interest. It also depends on her major and the likelihood of job opportunities etc. I have a bachelor's but its basically good for nothing. Luckily I never had any student loans for my education.  

Answer 17

Paying for college sucks. That’s all.  

Answer 18

I went to a community college first got my prerequisites done, then state school for the next two years. I only had to take out loans for the two years. I had scholarships and stuff but it wasn’t enough.  

Comments

I should mention that I no longer have student loans debt and it took less than three years to pay it off after college

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@goldfarb9852 same here

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@goldfarb9852 I did the same.  

Answer 19

Is she interested in joining the military or reserves? She can get a skill and free education!  

Answer 20

I have a son who wants to go to MIT. Very seriously wants to go to MIT. I’m scared shitless.  

Comments

@trochlear5420 if he can get into MIT then he could probably apply and get grants or apply to scholarships.  

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He wants to be a biomedical engineer. He’s very smart and hardworking. I’ve started sharing some info with him and he’s considering Texas A&M now too. He’s only a freshman but he’s had his goals planned out since he was in early grade school  

Answer 21

Start at community college its the same classes and likely will transfer. that way she has time to decide what she wants to do without spending so much money

Answer 22

Grants & Scholarships! Apply to everything. You’d be surprised what she gets!  

Answer 23

They can get by cheaper on the room and board than what it says. They don't need the meal plans us mommas think they do. they will not use them all. save the $$$

Answer 24

If she can go to a university in state with expenses paid. then why is she not doing that? There’s no point to rack up debt just because she “wants” to go to a school out of state that offers the same thing a local one does without a cost to your family. Also, if she plans to go on to graduate school she can do so without any debt to her name. Sorry but I feel that if she can’t see the benefit of that situation, then she’s too immature to be making a decision that can affect your financial stability and in turn hers once she graduates.  

Answer 25

I wish SO badly I would’ve known more about what taking out loans meant. My first bachelor landed 30k in loans- spent four years. My second one was at a private school and took 14 months- 30k just for that 14 months. And because I drained all my grants during my first bachelors- I received zero finaid the second go. I’m 5 years out and just see no end in sight.  

Answer 26

Me too