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College Help

MuragoMurago Registered User regular
edited June 2009 in Help / Advice Forum
I graduated in 03 from high school.

It took me til may of 08 to finish my AA at a local community college.

Don't judge me on my latency...

A big reason I've been taking it slow is that college is expensive. I don't really know how the fuck Scholarships, Grants, Loans, financial aid, government aid works, and i never really asked anyone.

I'm in Florida, and I've just reapplied at USF to transfer my AA credits and finish my BA. I'm 24 now, working full time, living with a roomate.

Am I too old that i won't qualify for some kind of aid? The good news is that the company i work for has 100pct tuition reimbursement (which I failed to recognize until recently)...but they didn't really start that until recently..so no big loss. I"m thinking I should just stick with the company until i'm done...but if something happens (you know how people are losing jobs left and right), can i still pursue that route?

Any info would be awesome....i'm really out of touch with how this all works anymore. Don't think i ever even did.

Check out www.myspace.com/scarborough -- tell me what you think!
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Posts

  • clsCorwinclsCorwin Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    You're not too old to get financial aid. Theres no age cap on it, its just based solely on need. I'm 26 and get a decent amount of aid.

    clsCorwin on
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  • ImprovoloneImprovolone Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Look into Bright Futures.

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  • SentrySentry Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    In fact, being older typically gets you MORE aid because you don't have to deal with your parents income.

    Just fill out a FAFSA.

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  • Monolithic_DomeMonolithic_Dome Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Don't worry/sweat/dwell on how long your AA took you. You got it done. Today is the first day of the rest of your life and all that stuff.

    Actually, being older can help you when it comes to aid. I think that you are old enough to be treated as an "independent student" on the FAFSA, which means that your parents' income doesn't count against you.

    Speaking of which, that FAFSA form is the first step to 90% of the financial aid options out there. It's a basic inventory of your ability to pay for college, which colleges, the government, and private institutions use when determining aid questions.

    The website http://fafsa.ed.gov is a good place to start reading about financial aid.

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  • FiggyFiggy Fighter of the night man Champion of the sunRegistered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Also look into "mature student" status. I don't know what they call it in the states, but in Canada you are considered differently for financial aid--more favourably.

    Here, if you've been out of school for a year or more, you're a mature student. Most people who qualify are typically older, going back to school to upgrade/finish up/whatever.

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  • MuragoMurago Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    as always, you guys are the shit.

    Murago on
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  • JaysonFourJaysonFour Classy Monster Kitteh Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Being 24 means you can now file a FAFSA and not have to put anything from your parents on it. In short, you'll be able to qualify for a lot more aid since your Estimated Family Contribution (very important number that modifies how much aid you can get) will be zero. Not to mention I heard Obama wants to clean lots of the financial nit-picking questions out of the FAFSA- reduce it from 150 or so questions to about 50. Mostly to help low or middle income people go to college.

    But yeah, you can apply as a nontraditional student- the college I'm heading to even has a dorm limited to people above junior status or 21 years of age being able to live there.

    You know, college SHOULD start at 24. Once you have a better appreciation for what it really takes and are (hopefully) mature enough to know that you (read: your parents) aren't spending all that money to go to every party you can find.

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  • clsCorwinclsCorwin Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    Umm, your EFC doesn't magically become 0 after you turn 24. Maybe if you make minimum wage.

    clsCorwin on
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  • SacriliciousSacrilicious Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    My sister is 26 and she just got a Pell Grant, I think based solely on her age.

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  • ASimPersonASimPerson Cold... ... and hard.Registered User regular
    edited June 2009
    clsCorwin wrote: »
    Umm, your EFC doesn't magically become 0 after you turn 24. Maybe if you make minimum wage.

    Your EFC is your income+parents. Presumably for most students the "parents" portion is significantly higher than the self-income portion.

    The FAFSA alone will likely net you a grant and some subsidized loans, which is a start. The FAFSA is also the first step for applying to other forms of financial aid that you can get through your college. This site:
    http://usfweb2.usf.edu/finaid/
    And talking to a counselor at the school would be the next step.

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