Where can I get money to fund the rest of my schooling?

Question

I am going to start college in about a month, and have to pay for it all on my own. After scholarships, grants, and federal loans I still owe 3500 dollars. I have applied for loans at 5 different lenders and have been denied by them all. My parents have horrible credit, and nobody in the family is willing to help me cosign for anything. I am at my wits end. My school says that we have qualified for the Federal Parent Plus Loan which would pay the rest, but I don't want to put my paren't in the way of a financial burden. I was thinking about having my mom take it out and then repaying it myself. I know that I don't have a grace period, but I think that I could work enough in school to pay a monthly payment. Does anyone know how much the monthly payments would be, and if this is the right route to take? Are there any lenders that may give me a loan? I am just more frustrated than I have ever been, and a little bitter at my parents for not planning ahead a little better... Thanks.

Answer 1

If you were able to get financial aid such as pell grants and college based funds I would suggest you look into federal work study.  At my school they do not automatically give it to everyone so I have to go to the financial aid counselor who gives them out and tell him that I'm interested.  If you are eligible they will post the maximum amount that you can earn to your account and it will be counted towards your financial aid. As for the Parent Plus Loan I have taken out 2 before and it is not that difficult to maintain and I wouldn't worry about the monthly payments as much. The Parent Plus Loan is accomodating and you can consolidate it with all of your other loans or you can get on the extended repayment plan which is about a minimum of $50 a month if you want to take 25 years to pay it back. Also if you don't get the Parent Plus Loan because of your parent's credit the school should automatically give you an unsubsidized loan, that's what they did for me, which is a loan similar to the PPlus loan except you have to pay the interest . So I highly suggest that you apply for the Parent Plus Loan and Work Study and you can use the work study money to make the minimum payments on the Parent Plus Loan. If you have any more questions about the unsubsidized and Parent Plus loans check out these websites below:

Answer 2

my guess would be around 350, but to earn that in a month would require working around 13 hours a week for whole school year, that will give you roughly the amount you need.  Thats if your workin for minimum wage which is 7.15 an hour.  I'm pretty sure the school year in college is like around 10 months.  You should be fine if you think you can handle work+ school.  I'm about to start first year at college too, but i'm getting NJCLASS loan.