Need some help clearing things up on how to pay for college.

Private student loans from your bank. Many people have loans from multiple lenders for student loans.

Once in the college of your/her choice you can also have her goto the financial aid office and ask them to re-evaluate your condition. This may be tough due to the economy. You can ask them to change some of the unsubsidized loans to work study funds (jobs reserved on campus for students who have a work study fund. They generally pay very well. back in 2000, I was being paid 10$/hr to sit in the dorm hall and swipe ID cards. In 2002, I was working low level IT/IM department getting paid 22$/hr).

If you guys happen to live near campus or college you may try saying that she is living off campus as opposed to living at home and commuting. (use a friends address).

In the end, her ideal situation (other than paying cash all the way through) would be only having federal student loans (no private loans - they're poison for her wallet). If she can't afford the school on federal student loans, then she should consider working part time to make up the difference and/or going to a cheaper school. Going to a community college for the first two years can save her thousands of dollars per semester.

Also, never cosign for student loans in her name. It's not wise to take on that kind of risk.

College is her responsibility, not yours. Don't feel pressured to pay for it or bad if you can't pay for it.

FYI, those unsubsidized student loans aren't exactly the lowest in interest rates (even with excellent credit, I believe mine was over 8%).

You can get some personal student loans, either by co-signing the loans or she may be able to get them herself. Those offering student loans know the student doesn't have very much credit, so they still offer them, but you could get a lower interest rate by co-signing.

Knowing the budget is going to help greatly. If she's going away for school, you need to include housing and food as well.

SallieMae.com offers student loans, my wife had one through them. You can do deferred loans, where repayment isn't required until school has been completed, but interest accrues. If you co-sign, and pay while she is in school, the interest is tax deductible and there are some other student tax credits I believe. But of course, you're on the hook if she can't repay the loan.

Also, not sure if it's been considered, but you may find that attending a local community college for the general education requirements are substantially less than most 4-yeah colleges. It's the route I went, and I saved thousands. If she's staying local, it may be a good option if you're strapped for cash and can save up to pay for the transfer to the 4 year college.

1 option to consider is to take community college classes over the summer, making sure whatever classes she takes are credits that will transfer to the college she chooses to go to. If she can take 2 classes a time over a couple summer sessions, she could already have 1 semester completed. I guess you would pay more this year when including her other college expenses but you'll be saving the expense of a semester at a non-community college.

Another Note: Make your child work for it. I know not every parent wants that for their child, but hey it teaches them the value of money. Teaches them to be smart with it.

College (freedom) + Money (Free money from parents or gov) = lots of debt.
College + Money (they earned through X hours of work) = a future member of society who realizes what they are worth.

What state are you in? When you complete the fafsa for next year, make sure you have her opt for work-study.
You can make an appointment with a FinAid Advisor at the school to go over the information you submitted. You could have possibly make a mistake.

Since I did some work study in my university's finaid dept, if you make over 50k a year, it's hard to get any kind of aid at all.

Make sure to check with her financial aid dept to see if there are any kind of grants she could possibly qualify for. Any kind of academic scholarship from the university (SAT Scores, Average(85-100, GPA). You can have her apply to some national scholarships as well. If you live in New York State, you can also apply for TAP.

To lessen the tuition, there are jobs like becoming an RA for dorms which makes room and board practically free...

If those are not an option then you'll probably need to take that Federal unsub loan and private loan the rest. Either that or chose a state school or community college.

Usually there is some kind of program the school offers where you can pay your tuition monthly so it's not that much of a burden.

Best of luck to you guys and congrats on her acceptances!

Quote from jaqnabox : Another Note: Make your child work for it. I know not every parent wants that for their child, but hey it teaches them the value of money. Teaches them to be smart with it. College (freedom) + Money (Free money from parents or gov) = lots of debt. College + Money (they earned through X hours of work) = a future member of society who realizes what they are worth.

That is bullshit. So because I decided to take on debt I don't know my worth...GTFO.

Never co-sign for debt (auto loans, mortgage, college loans). In the rare instance that your daughter starts to default or not make payments, you will be held liable and your credit score will inevitably suffer as well (assuming you do not make payments either).

Either tough it up and cut some spending else where or tell your daughter to start working 40hrs per week + attending full time at college.

Never cosign. I know many parents still paying loans because their kids maxed out loans then dropped out.

If you are paying for school, you have the right to help in the decision of the school. Odds are she won't graduate or if she does it may with a worthless degree and a ton of debt.

Community college for 2 years, work part time and study hard. Nothing wrong with her learning life's tough lessons now.

Quote from saladdin : Never cosign. I know many parents still paying loans because their kids maxed out loans then dropped out. If you are paying for school, you have the right to help in the decision of the school. Odds are she won't graduate or if she does it may with a worthless degree and a ton of debt. Community college for 2 years, work part time and study hard. Nothing wrong with her learning life's tough lessons now.

Source please?

The FAFSA form collects information from your household regarding fiancial info. The FAFSA does not award funds, it is an information gathering tool only.

FAFSA allows schools to determine your daughter's eligibility for federal aid ONLY. Federal aid comes in the form of Pell Grants ($5500 per academic year), SEOG ($500-$4000 per year determined by each school respectively), federal work study, and federal loans, subsidized and unsubsidized. There is a yearly maximum in loans she may be eligible for, each year it increases but not by much. First year is approximately $5500.

Any loans more than that will have to be Parent Plus loans that would require you to pay back. Any private loans she gets will also have to be co-signed by you and if she cannot/will not pay, you will.

If your FAFSA EFC came back with a number higher than the COA at any of her accepted schools the schools will then determine she has no need. No need=no aid.

However, depending on her stats, SAT/ACT, GPA, and other ECs she might be eligible for merit aid. If that is the case a wide net for schools would need to be cast. Not only does she need to have several academic safeties but financial ones as well. And a safety would also be a school she likes, is willing to attend and she can afford. That might be a school awarding her great merit aid or a community college.

If her stats are high maybe she should consider a gap year and re-apply. If she attends school before re-applying she will lose her freshman standing which is where most of the merit money lies. There is little academic merit scholarships for transfer students. There are a few schools but again the dollar amount is not high nor plentiful. She would need to maintain her freshman status by not taking any classes or enrolling in any other school.

As for her gap year if she makes it worthwhile it could increase her chances for better merit scholarships. If she where to target her schools where her stats put her in the top 25% of applicants she might garner more money.

Univ of Alabama offers some oustanding merit scholarships for OOS, as does University of New Mexico, South Carolina, Case Western and many of the smaller LACs. The merit game chase will only work if you precisely target and identify the schools where she is a top applicant. Depending on her stats she will have to aim for lower tiers than she might have initially. And would require more numerous applications.

The federal methodology and institutional methodolgy of financial aid is based on an algebraic formula where income is a heavily weighted variable. Family assets less so, and takes into consideration costs are to be paid 1/3 from savings, 1/3 from current earnings and 1/3 from future earnings (loans). Financial aid packages are built from loans up, and it is assumed the family carries the majority of the responsibility.

The institutional methodology is based on information gathered from the CSS Profile and the school's own financial aid forms. They may or may not take into account any equity in your home, farms, self-employment.....and come up with a different EFC than the FAFSA. Also in matters of divorced families the NCP's info is gethered via the Profile or school specific forms. The FAFSA does NOT ask for any of this info. So a FAFSA only school only asks info for the custodial parent.

The 25% figure is about correct as far as determining eligibility for federal aid. You might review your daughter's SAR again but it does sound correct if you are earning above $40K.

Do not, as others have posted, do not co-sign any large loans for her. Do not borrow against your house unless you have that amount sitting in a college fund for her. She needs to have some skin in the game so let her take out the loans allowed by herself but no more. If your EFC is coming in higher than COA of schools that means you do have the income to pay for some school.

But previous choices might be limiting your ability to pay and the financial aid departments will again say those are your choices. Make other choices to free up your ability to pay for her school.

Again, I would revisit her school options and seriously consider a gap year (Americorps) and re-apply to schools you both can afford without either of you going into large debt. There are thousands of schools, you just need to do some more research and find ones that might PAY HER to attend.

Good luck and I hope this helps.

Kat

Quote from PiratesSayARRR : Source please?

Nationally, four-year colleges graduated an average of just 53% of entering students within six years, and "rates below 50%, 40% and even 30% are distressingly easy to find," says the report by the American Enterprise Institute, a conservative think tank. It's based on data reported to the Education Department by nearly 1,400 schools about full-time first-time students who entered in fall 2001.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/educ...rate_N.htm