FASFA says no government help for the working middle class – so my kids get to graduate college $50-60k in debt.
Is there anyway to catch a break on college tuition costs for working class families? UIC is up to $20k per year – how do people pay that without taking out a second morgage?
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Your kids need to take out the loans themselves, unfortunately. My parents and I ran into the same issues. There are many scholarships out there that will give you a few breaks but unless you are getting a big one from the school you and your kids will be debt from college bills. Here are a couple other things to try…call the school and set up a time to meet with a financial aid conselour, they will help you and your child find the avenues to pay for schooling. Something else to keep in mind is that even though your child will incure debt, student loans are not counted against them in credit ratings and scores, so when they want to buy a car or house later, they will still be able to without much trouble even if there loans are substantial.
There is always the military but I would seriously think about that before jumping in.
From personal experience I could have bought a house by the time I finished undergrad and graduate school. I now have a good job, a low student loan payment, a new car, new home and am getting married. I have one credit card in my wallet. My creidit score is still good despite the large student loan. Once you leave school your child can consolidate the loans into one and the intrest rate is very low for student…I think mine is 2.5 % or something like that….I know it seems scary but you can get through it. Just keep asking questions, and talk to the school.
Usually, parents push their kids to be active in the college career. Parents normally instruct their kids to be active in the community and sports on campus in order to get money to go to college.
All I can say is apply for scholarship through the department of education and fill out the fafsa anyway. Fafsa has done some changes to their procedures. Good luck!
1. the kids get smart enough for scholarships 2. the military, ROTC etc.
The suggestion about getting declared financially independent is a good one. Also, there are many scholarships that are merit-based only, not just need-based. Your kids can work summers and participate in work-study programs during the school year to help pay for their college education. I am surprised that you didn’t start saving for their college years ago, but at least you can teach them to do that in future for their own kids.
In California you can get a very good education at a Cal State University. The fees are not prohibitive, and if the students maintain a good GPA they have a good chance for later transfer to a UC or to go to a good graduate school, with scholarship.
You should do one of those exhaustive scholarship searches for specialized qualifications based on last names and other attributes that are neither merit-based nor need-based. There are many scholarship dollars available that go unused every year because no one bothered to apply for them. Good luck!
Have the college students file for emancipation at age 18 and then they qualify for aid because of their low income. OR, have them sign up for ROTC. They will pay for most if not all of the college.
Scholarships or Financial Aid.
Just keep in mind that student loans are a good kind of debt, just like a house morgage. Students have plenty of time to pay off their student loans and if they consolidate them the monthly payments are very low.
That’s how I did it cause my parents were in the same situation as you. I did fine.
good question, unfortunately the middle class is (again) screwed on this situation, they can try there best to find a grant but without a disability or tons of community service they’ll never even get considered. hopefully your children will get a degree in something highly profitable and wont have to worry about it so much. if you do get an answer i would love to hear from you, ianpmajor@sbcglobal.net