How am I suppose to pay for college with no grants or scholarships?

Question

I just graduated. I live with a friend after being kicked out of my home before graduation(it's not what you think. I am nowhere near a bad child). I filed my FAFSA while staying with my mom, even though at that time I was paying for all my own living expenses.My mom is in the military and was diagnosed with cancer. I have no money. No transportation. I had a decent job and car, but my car was totaled, not at my expense, and I lost my job because I couldnt get to work. I am homeless and jobless. I do not have parental support or any form of support at all. I really want to go to school. I was accepted into Spelman College but cannot pay for it. I also was accepted into Georgia State...yet again cannot pay for it. School starts in August...I dont know what to do....

Answer 1

Be proud of yourself for getting into college… it ain’t an easy thing to do. Lots of folks have trouble paying for college and many have to do it without parental help. It’s good that you’ve already filed your FAFSA, because that way you can be eligible for government money. But that usually doesn’t cover it all. A lot of times there are tons of scholarships out there, but you just have to look- I know some people that searched all over the net, but it does work. Another resource- your school. Call up the Financial Aid Dept. and see what they suggest.

You may want to consider getting a student loan to pay for college costs. I represent http://www.TuitionBids.com – from that site you can apply for a student loan and get up to six offers from different lenders. And since you’re going at the college finance thing alone, you may need some help looking over the terms and such. Check out this glossary of standard Student Loan vocabulary: http://www.tuitionbids.com/student-loan-... . Once again, congrats for getting accepted. I hope this helps you make it all the way.

Best Wishes,

-Lauren

Answer 2

I think there might be situations with the military where your mom might be able to pass her gi bill benefits to you as well, but as said already go to the financial aid office and have them help you fill everything out. At the very least take some community college classes so you stay busy if you can't afford the other schools.

Answer 3

Time for some serious planning and budgeting.  Look for a public in-state community college with a dorm.  Go on line and add this school's "federal school code" to your FAFSA application so your fin aid can be transferred to them.  

You will at the very least be eligible for 3,500 in federal loans (without your mothers signature or permission) and hopefully more if you contact this school ASAP and make arrangements NOW.  Talk to their fin aid dept as soon as humanly possible and see if they can help you.  

You might also let the fin aid office know your mother has been diagnosed with cancer and perhaps has very high medical bills if this is the case or if her salary information has changed drastically.

Also you need to work on getting in better with your mother as you will need her tax information if you are to receive fin aid for the 2009-2010 school year and beyond.

Not having parental (financial) support is not always a necessity.... but having access to the information on her tax forms is.

Answer 4

why dont you try and get a nearby job that you can get to easily where you are happy... and do the lottery =]

Answer 5

FAFSA will count parent's income until you are 23, even if you are living on your own.

You may just have to wait a year, and spend it working and applying for scholarships. Avoid loans as much as you can, especially with the tough time you're having.

There's always a job available somewhere, even if it's at a gas station or mcdonald's.

Good luck!!

Answer 6

Talk to the financial aid office. They might be able to give you additional financial aid.

Answer 7

You should be eligible for government loans to help, but often they aren't quite enough. If this is your first time applying for government loans, your school can give you a Parentplus loan application. It would be in your mother's name, and she would be responsible for making the loan payments when you are done with college. Even if you are low income and have bad credit, as long as your mother has never defaulted on a loan before, she should be eligible to take that money out. Perhaps you could work it out with her to pay it back when you graduate, even though it is in her name if she doesn't want to help you.

If none of that works, often you are elgible for additional loans that are unsubsidized, which means it compounds interest while you are in school. This is usually in place of the Parent Plus loan. Unsubsidized loans are still payable upon graduation, not while in school (unless you prefer it that way). In order to receive government loans, however, you will need to fill out a survey and a master promissary note, which your financial aid office can assist you with.

If that is still not enough, you can try to get private loans. If you have no credit or bad credit, it will be hard to get any without a cosigner.

You should have enough with the governament loans to get you through a community college or a branch college to a large university for the first year or two, which is MUCH cheaper anyhow and you get as good of an eduacation as if you went to the main campus. Often after a year or two in college, you have "proved" yourself to private education loan companies that you won't drop out and not be able to pay back the loan. They are much, much more willing to give you a loan without a cosigner after the first year or two. With that extra help, you could move on to a larger university, or to the main campus of a university system ( One with a main campus and several branch campuses).

Call your financial aid office for more help with all of this, and in the mean time, it never hurts to keep searching for scholarships! They are out there, and you just need to take time to find them!

Also, one more thing, look into the military benefits. They are usually there for children of vets and active military workers.

Don't give up, there is ALWAYS a way!! I had trouble too, and I am now a graduating senior!

Good Luck, and I hope this helps!

Answer 8

You should be able to get loans through FAFSA. If not talk with the college about assisting you with the form as you might have made a mistake on the form and they can help you look for scholarships, grants and loans