I recently transferred schools in order to cut my tuition by about a third. I've gone through the long and grueling process of having everything including my FAFSA (Financial Aid) transferred. My student loans were the easiest part! I simply went into a page on the school website that showed how much I was eligible for and clicked accept. A few days later, I got an email saying if I hadn't payed the $4500 tuition in full within four days, I would be charged an overdue fee.
I called and I was told I was fine and that my pending loans covered all of it! I couldn't believe how easy it was! All over the news and internet, they're saying this year there are a record number of students not being able to afford college. Guess I got lucky!
Think Again. Today, I looked at all of my accounts and realized I only received $985 of my loans. Now I have to come up with $3500 for just 4 classes! I'm already at the cheapest school I could find. What else is there to do? I didn't even think federal loans could be turned down.
What should I do? Has anyone been in this situation before?
Comments (15)
That's expensive 0.0 My friend had a problem with his loan money coming in so the advisor he worked with made it so he wouldn't be dropped from them because everything was still pending. I had a problem where I couldn't be approved for a loan. I wanted to go to this tech school and couldn't get the loan out in time for the semester.. I was pretty upset but I had no choice but to go to community college.
I hear ya! I am attending a university that is $25,000 in tuition and room and board. I have over $15,000 in LOANS so far.. it's ridiculous, what i do for scholarships and grants is i go talk to the Financial aid office in my school and tell them the rough situation i am in and i ended up receiving around almost $4,000! i have more grants and scholarships this year than i did last year, but that's mostly because of my grades. I would go talk to financial aid, the school sits on a of money that a lot of people are not aware of.
For my school, they are extending the tuition deadline because the school is aware that I am waiting for financial assistance.
Try calling your school again.
I had that problem my first year of college. I took out a private loan (which I am seriously going to regret once I graduate.) and it covered everything. My best friend just had the same thing that happened to you happen to her this semester. She had her mother take out a few extra thousand in her PLUS loan. Have you tried that? If your parents won't do the PLUS loan thing, maybe there's a way for you to register as an independent on your FAFSA. I'm 24 this year, so I get to be independent and base everything on my income (I made less than a thousand dollars last year. lol.) so I get a lot of federal grants and things.
Good luck. :(
Ok generally you need money fast. I'd say you'll either need to be overtly qualified with great grades and score a lot of cash, or just dont' go to this damn school. I've been there, I was fortunate that I could pay for all of my tuition provided it wasn't nearly as expensive as yours was.
I can't stress this enough, but if community college is an option, do it. I'm now an operations manager at a small but very successful fortune 500 company and I went to community college. It was a helluva lot cheaper than forking over hundreds of thousands of dollars for the first three years of school (including summer school).
Remember it's the last two or three years of college that's important. Any one can take a general education course anywhere, but who wants to spend $2000 on it, right? Use your head, if it's too expensive, probably not worth it and probably going to cost you too much to do something that you don't need. If you can pay like $500 and get all of your stuff done because you went to *Gasp* community college, then do it.
In the end it's about getting a job, college just lays the groundwork and critical thinking skills you need to go further, but if you are struggling with scoring cash at the moment, perhaps a major university is not the way for you to go.
Other cash options, learn to program and maintain a website with lots of advertising. The ad space and advertising is enough money to get your tuition paid, but that you should be able to back that fund in case your domain tanks. Give blood, donate sperm, get some part time jobs, work at school, do work-study program. Those are ways to get cash, not fast but at least you can make structured payment plan.
To the girl above me who pays $25,000 a quarter/semester in tuition, I hope you go all the way and not end up majoring in something worthless. That always pisses me off because in the end you spent all of this money only to end up realizing that you could get the same job if you went to a state school. Eh..some colleges are over rated, but alas you aren't there yet, you'll sympathize in a few years though.
u gotta go to outside lenders... they're called alternative loans.. altho higher % interests... There should be a list of lenders on your schools website.. if not it doesn't hurt to ask a financial aid advisor about this. However don't be shocked if they cant "advise" you on which lender to go with, bc they're not "supposed" to.
Go through Sallie-mae and/or Nellie-mae (nellie mae is under sallie mae) or citibank.. actually any bank has this option.
This would be the LAST option you would go to, treat it as a higher % of unsubsidized loans. I got screwed before with financial aid, i've tried everything and this was my last shot.
Btw I hope you have good credit, if not i'd get a cosigner! --- btw u should check out perkins loans too!
watch the movie 21 for ideas
I'm kidding, but yea really sorry to hear about this. I hope things look up
My advise: first and foremost, don't give up.
Second, if you have good grades and a healthy academic background with a little work I don't see a problem. WRITE A GOOD LETTER to your state representative, explain briefly and in clear detail your situation. You may also want to consider writing to the state congress, the senate, the newspapers, the TV stations....yes...with the ongoing concerns and debates from the american people with education, economics, politics, this will work to your advantage.
You need to speak up, get informed, and do your homework, look for scholoships grants and apply to all that your qualified for (not some, ALL)..... in the longrun it will pay-off.
Good Luck!!
I can't say that I find that to be so expensive for school - I attended a state university, and tuition is up to more than $300 a credit hour (the average class is 3 credits, so it's close to $1000 a class). Add in matriculation fees and it would be about what you're paying.
My university allowed us to set up a payment plan where we only had to pay a certain amount up front and then could pay monthly during the semester (there are extra fees, though). This works well if you have a job or qualify for work-study. As people above have mentioned, you could also try private loans or see what courses will transfer from a community college (but be careful - some universities have special rules about transferring community college credit after you reach a certain class status, such as your junior year). And definitely look into scholarships and grants - your university likely offers them, especially once you've declared a major (you don't mention what you're studying).
my university allows payment plans. but i got lucky and i'm getting whats left over from my federal loans in my bank account. I'd look into private student loans from wells fargo or sallie mae, maybe even chase.
I used to work in financial aid federal loans (sub & unsub) are based on need not on credit score. So you can't be turned down for that, but they are based on your EFC (expected family contribution). So if your EFC is too high even at a cheap school you would still have to pay a good amount, cuz they reduce you loans to be comparable to the schools tuition. It sucks. I would def call or stop in financial aid though, cuz it also could just be a mistake and even if it isn't, its their job to help you and most really want to help.
get a private loan, if you have a decent credit score the interest rate shouldn't be too horrible, maybe next time discuss financial aid before you switch schools.
@itscatwithak@xanga - I hated that EFC, the government doesn't understand when your parents can't afford to give you a dime. I remember working my butt off to earn the funds, but in the end I appreciate the lower loan balance.
so expensive.
Get a job.
My EFC is high and my parents hate me/ it's their money, and we are to take care of ourselves, even though I worked to give them money all through HS and beyond, which was my stupidity. They got help from everyone to finish school. My grandparents are comfortable. It's impossible for me to become independent of my parents, even though I'm 22 and have been on my own since I was 17. The government doesn't recognize it. Fortunately, I decided to join the military, so I have cash for school. The problem is that I'm behind in it in things like math, and I have to go to a College or University. I can't go to regular community college to finish catching up. My grandparents helped me out this semester (I don't qualify for ANY aid), but I'm kind'of ill now, so I'm struggling with everything. I'm making Bs, which is bad. Since I've been on my own, I've averaged As, but my brain hasn't fully recovered yet. I'm waiting for it. I need a job, but nobody is hiring, and I'm becoming psychotic again... Most people get mad and say I don't deserve school, and I just laugh and say, well, life's not fair and smile with my three front teeth and bloodshot eyes.
Join the military.