Student Loans

Raneados

As it turns out, money's going to quite tight for the remainder of my college career.

I'm looking at about:

8 thousand a year for tuition
4 thousand a year for housing
2 thousand a year for food
and living expenses


I'm looking at a loan for help, as scholarships are very shitty and my FAFSA experience has been unhelpful


My father has said he would help about 4K a year, but that's not going to help by itself


Does anyone have any information about loans or grants I can look for? Bank Of America (my bank) said they don't do student loans per-say and that a person needs a co-signer with 2+ years of solid employment. This is a problem, as my mom's been in community college for her Medical Practitioner thing.

I'm in serious need of help, and anything I can get would be great

kaliyama

FAFSA is how you qualify for some federal loans. You won't get better rates than a federal perkins or stafford loan.

Raneados

problem with those is they give like 4000 annually

I'm needing closer to 20



Can I even apply for Fafsa this late in the term? the year's half over. I've applied for a PIN (after my last one was dropped for some reason)


I applied for FAFSA freshman year, but not sophomore, due to the fact I thought I was getting the money already, as it turns out, people lie.

anyway, I applied for a new pin, but can I even apply for FAFSA this late (some money for this year would be nice, too)

Thanatos

You won't get anything this late.

Definitely fill one out next year, though.

Private student loans are generally pretty expensive, but doable. Sallie Mae does some, I think, as do a lot of banks.

And they give $4,000 annually with a grace period, low interest rates, and deferred payments until you get out of college. It's not going to pay all of it, but it's a lot better terms for the portion it pays than you'll get out of any private loan.

Raneados

so what can I do right now?

I might be able to coerce my father into sending the other 4K soon, some buffer money, but what can I look into right now that can help me?

supabeast

If you're going to be a full-time student at an accredited school, go to SallieMae.com, create an account, and they'll take care of you. Right now Sallie Mae has some of the best rates around, but keep in mind that they're SLOW. Getting the money from Sallie Mae is a 30-90 day process.

Also, go talk to your school's financial aid department. There is NO ONE who will be able to give you more help. Explain to them that you don't have a clue how this stuff works (nobody does other than them anway) and that you really need their help to make it work.

PorkChopSandwiches

You can get much more than $4000 annually from federally subsidized student loans depending on your income and expected parental contribution.

Thanatos

PorkChopSandwiches wrote:

You can get much more than $4000 annually from federally subsidized student loans depending on your income and expected parental contribution.

Your expected parental contribution has to be ridiculously low to get much more than that out of the FAFSA.

TroubledTom

Thanatos wrote:

You won't get anything this late.

Definitely fill one out next year, though.

Private student loans are generally pretty expensive, but doable. Sallie Mae does some, I think, as do a lot of banks.

And they give $4,000 annually with a grace period, low interest rates, and deferred payments until you get out of college. It's not going to pay all of it, but it's a lot better terms for the portion it pays than you'll get out of any private loan.

The first year I started school (Winter 1999), I applied for FAFSA in December and started school in January. It came through, though a bit later than I would have hoped.

Fats

Thanatos wrote:

PorkChopSandwiches wrote:

You can get much more than $4000 annually from federally subsidized student loans depending on your income and expected parental contribution.

Your expected parental contribution has to be ridiculously low to get much more than that out of the FAFSA.

Pretty much.

Start looking for a job, man. 40 hours a week is doable if you've got a little discipline (I work nights), but anything will help. Say goodbye to your free time.

ViolentChemistry

Transferring to a cheaper school isn't illegal.

kaliyama

What kind of school worth going to is going to charge less than 8 thousand in tuition? At VERY best at an actual institute of higher education (i.e. not a community college) he might get it down to 4k. You'd be hard pressed to prove the marginal value of saving that 4k is greater than the loss in human capital, reputation, employability from going to the more expensive school. It's possible, but unlikely.

One option is to go somewhere like Berea in kentucky which is free.

Virum

UCs are like 6k and they aren't bad.

kaliyama

Berkeley is like 8k.
http://registrar.berkeley.edu/Registration/feesched.html

Raneados

I go to USF

no chance of moving to a different school, don't have the funds nor the means

EggyToast

I don't have any advice on securing more loans, other than talking to a financial aid advisor at your college. However, so that others stop complaining about high tuition: Tuition is up dramatically across the country. When I started going to school at the U of Mn (98), tuition for a year was $4k for a resident. That's a Big 10 school, not Podunk U, and $4k was moderately affordable at the time.

Tuition is now $9.5k a year, more than twice as much as when I started. So the OP's tuition problems won't go away by going to another school (unless he goes to a community college), and this is actually a larger problem beyond just the OP -- college is more expensive almost everywhere, and no one in the gov't is really addressing it.

Seriously, though, to the OP I'd advise going to your financial advisors first thing tomorrow morning, and say "Look, I want to keep going to school, I'm perfectly happy applying for loans and other gov't grants, but I need help looking and understanding them." Hopefully you haven't already done that, and they can provide some more specific help and get the paperwork underway.

I'd suggest looking for a job to at least cover room & board. A part time college job can easily provide about $5000-6000 a year, and many are low-key and allow you to do some homework/reading on the job

ViolentChemistry

kaliyama wrote:

What kind of school worth going to is going to charge less than 8 thousand in tuition? At VERY best at an actual institute of higher education (i.e. not a community college) he might get it down to 4k. You'd be hard pressed to prove the marginal value of saving that 4k is greater than the loss in human capital, reputation, employability from going to the more expensive school. It's possible, but unlikely.

You're right, it's better to not go to school at all than to go to one that costs less than $8,000 a year.
:roll:

Slungsolow

I assume that USF is Southern Florida.

Go here, http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/osfahomepg.htm

fill out the paperwork. State grants and Sallie Mae are your friends.

Theungry

There are two types of cover-all student loans that i have first hand experience with (besides the Sallie Mae, Federal Direct or Stafford loans we all know and love). Both should give you how ever much money you need to get through undergrad.

Signature Loan - This is the Loan my brother took out after i took out the wrong loan for me the first time around. In your name, for the amount you request. You will have to have someone co-sign. Not federally subsidized, but it'll get you through college and defer as long as you are in school. It will be consolidate-able (not a word) later. Interest rates will not be as good as a subsidized loan, obviously.

Parents' Plus Loan - This is the loan i took out which made me wish i had taken out a Signature Loan. It has to be in one of your parents' names. Probably a little better rate, but the trade off is that you will never be able to consolidate it or defer it if you go back to school. Its probably a great loan if your parents always intended to pay for your education, but couldn't do it lump sum, but if you have any expectation of working your loans off yourself, do not combine this with any other loans to finance your education.

Raneados

A co-signer is probably out of the question. My mom's not had 2+ years of solid employment, my father will never go for it and neither will any relatives

Merovingi

I recommend you stay the hell away from Sallie Mae.. I mean.. far away. But, that's me.

Demitri

I have to second that Sallie Mae is a bad idea. Do NOT take a loan from them. They have a history of randomly throwing on various fees, over-billing, incorrectly calculating interest, refusing to defer payment during valid, law-backed claims (involuntary military duty, full-time student status...) -- eventually they got around to it but the amount of hassle and bullshit on my side was not worth it.

I took out max federal loans a few terms ago and paid sallie mae off completely. Life has been golden in that department since then.