College tuition and classes at Hillsborough Commnity College?

Question

Ok, so i applied for Hillsborough Community College and FAFSA. I even took the CPT. And i have scheduled a date for student orientation. So, everything was going ok. Not great, but not bad either. And then they said that i had to make payments for fall classes at the end of registering. Which:

1. I don't even know how much that is, considering i haven't registared for classes yet and wouldn't know how much it was. They said i'd have to wait until orientation to register for classes.

2. They also said i can register for classes online at hawknet. And on this website it shows you how much you owe and it asks you if you want to make payments and what not. (you can do it online or in person)

3. Then the people go on to say, your going to have to pay for classes at registration unless you make other plans with TIPS. And in order for you to sign up with TIPS you need either a bank account(of which i don't have yet) or by credit card( i don't have it, and wouldn't think it was a reasonable way of paying for tuition).

I could go for a loan. I can't go for a grant because i'm ineligible. And i can't get any scholarships because i need to either be a college freshman or a high school senior who's 18 years old, of which i was only 17 when i graduated.

And the thing what really yanks my chain is, my parents have been asking me for a while now, 'So Tuesday, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?' And when i finally make a decision, and finally apply for college and need help. They don't help me. They won't help me make heads or tales of this financial crisis. And when i asked my mom, she said, 'I'm not paying for it.'

Then HOW AM I GOING TO PAY FOR IT?!?!?! I need help and advice. Please.

Answer 1

It sounds like you might have to apply for a loan which means more forms and rigamaroll, but it's worth it! As long as you have the fafsa completed, you can apply for a Federal Stafford loan online or you can apply at Wachovia, Bank of America, if you explore HCC's financial aid website they have some examples, take a few hours and read through a few pages!

When I finished my financial aid applications the other day, the counselor at the Ybor City campus had me immediately fill out a deferment, which means I have about two months to pay for classes, go to your home campuses financial aid office and fill out a deferment form. They'll tell you what to do!

Answer 2

Okay, let's see if I can help.

I'm looking through your question, and I don't think you ever indicated how you were hoping to pay for these courses. It looks like part of the problem is that you don't have any idea what it's going to cost you yet, so let's start out trying to guesstimate that.

I'm assuming that you're a Florida resident - I can't imagine anyone crossing state lines to register at HCC. Florida residents pay $78.24 a credit hour to attend HCC.

I'm also going to assume that you're planning on registering as a full-time student - that's a minimum of 12 hours, and it's probably the equivalent of 4 classes. Hauling out the old calculator, 12 credits at $78.24 each works out to $938.88. Some classes have extra charges - laboratory fees, for example, but for the sake of argument, I think we can assume that you're going to be looking at a tuition and fees bill of a little less than $1000 for the Fall semester.

I'm not surprised that they'll want you to give them a bank account or a credit card to sign up for extended payments - I suspect that the TIPS program requires that you agree to allow them to auto-debit your checking account or auto-charge your credit card. You can understand, I'm sure, why they're not just willing to take every student's word for it that they'll "pay this later". Bank accounts or credit cards = sure thing.

Assuming that you don't have $1000 in cash lying around - and that you're otherwise ineligible to sign up for TIPS (because you don't have a bank account or a credit card), the next most obvious choice is to turn to financial aid. You mentioned that you completed the FAFSA form, and I think you must have been offered a Stafford loan.

The government-created and government-backed Stafford loan program is the cheapest and best available form of educational loan. The interest rate on the loan is low and fixed, you'll pay it back over a maximum 10-year period (which won't even begin until 6-9 months AFTER you graduate from school (or drop out), you won't need a credit check or a cosigner to qualify, and you'll be able to request a temporary postponement of payments if you encounter financial difficulties when you get out of school. You're not going to find a deal that good from any other lender.

Let's assume you borrowed $1000 each semester for 2 years at HCC: It would take you 8 years and 9 months to repay that $4000 at a monthly payment of $50 a month. That sounds like a long time, but $50 a month isn't too bad. You can always pay more, and pay it off faster.

If you were offered a Stafford loan, and you decide to take that route, you'll need to notify the financial aid office that you are accepting the loan, and they will direct you to a list of lenders who make Stafford loans.

When you choose a lender, your next step is to go online and electronically "sign" the legal agreement (called the Master Promissory Note) between you and the lender. The Note says that they promise to mail the money to your school - and it says that you promise to repay it according to specific terms. Make sure you read that - they're all the same, but you need to know exactly what it is that you're agreeing to.

The nice thing about starting out a community college is that their tuition fees are reasonable. You can get into the college thing without running up a huge amount of debt, even if you have to pretty much fund your education with Stafford loans. Students who choose more expensive educations face semester bills that far exceed the maximum borrowing limits on Stafford loans, so they're left wondering where they can find another $10 or $15,000 to borrow. Your $1000 a semester bills are well within Stafford limits, so you'll be fine.

As for mom not paying for it - If you spend any time reading the questions that are posted here everyday, you'll soon discover that an awful large number of students find themselves in the same boat. Hopefully, if you go ahead and take the loan, your mom will at least float you the $1000 for the couple or three weeks it might take for your loan money to come in. At that point, your school will refund you your payment, and you can return it to mom.

I hope that helped you, even a little bit. Best of luck to you!!!