Got The Call Yesterday

[MarkV]

Don’t forget to look into private grants and loans. A friend’s daughter was very aggressive and found grants from service organizations, private trusts and varies other sources I would never have thought of. Many of these were small, like $500 from the Shriners and $300 from the local Jr. Woman’s Club, but they all added up. She found most all of her college money on the internet and put in many applications.

MarkV

 

[scott_vt]

Learn the FAFSA well. The whole financial aid system has become a sick joke over the past few decades as federal aid has increased and they now do the determination of eligibility. Seriously....learn it well and play their game.

Mornin Wayne,
I agree, the FAFSA is a total PITA ! Both our boys have gone through college allready but the lingering effects of FAFSA are still fresh in my memory banks, unfortunately your forced to cooperate with this sysyem !

 

[MikePA]

...unfortunately your forced to cooperate with this sysyem !

Forced?

 

[scott_vt]

Forced?

Mornin Mike,
Did I spell it wrong ?

OK maybe too strong a word ! Still you have to jump through some hoops and fill out a bunch of paperwork to get any help ! Is that better ?

 

[Turbys_1700]

Lots of great info here. I'm going through the same thing with my son. Not really a big deal for me with FAFSA. I've taught at a community college for 14 years now and know the system pretty well.

The deadline is March 1st for FAFSA and they will mail out to the colleges your son is interested in based on your profile.

The most economical path to higher education today is to attend a community college for two years and then attend a university if that is what you want to do. The biggest pitfall is in losing credits when transferring to the university. The main thing for young folk to do is decide what degree they wish to pursue, the university they wish to attend, and then find out what community college offers the easiest transfer of credits. The system is not perfect but it's what you have to deal with.

 

[MikePA]

Mornin Mike,
Did I spell it wrong ?

OK maybe too strong a word ! Still you have to jump through some hoops and fill out a bunch of paperwork to get any help ! Is that better ?

You don't have to go through the FAFSA process to borrow money is my point. If people do not like the red tape, find the selection criteria stupid, etc. then don't use FAFSA.

No one is 'forced' to use FAFSA.

 

[scott_vt]

You don't have to go through the FAFSA process to borrow money is my point. If people do not like the red tape, find the selection criteria stupid, etc. then don't use FAFSA.

No one is 'forced' to use FAFSA.

Mike,
Please correct me if Im wrong on this but to the best of my memory we had to fill out the paper work whether we got any funding or not ! Actually my wife did most of the paperwork, but if I recall this paperwork was mandatory.

Possibly this was the criteria spelled out by the college that the boys were attending ? I may be wrong on this point and I will check with my wife this evening.

 

[MikePA]

Perhaps this is a semantics debate?

FAFSA is required IF someone wants a subsidized loan, grants, etc. offered through the federal or state government or via the school. That's probably why it's so complicated. They pulled together all the requirements from each of these sources of money, e.g., Pell Grant, Stafford loan, etc. and combined them into FAFSA.

In other words, if someone wants the benefits of lower interest loans, nothing due until after graduation, one stop application for a bunch of different sources then the 'price' to be paid is the FAFSA process.

If people do not want to use these sources and want to borrow from their local credit union or bank, they do not have to use FAFSA.

 

[EddieWalker]

There was a guy on the local AM radio show about a year ago who wrote a book on getting grants. He said that he applied for ever grant there was, without regard to his qualifications to receive the grant. some or based on sex, race and other factors that he was not a member of, but he was awarded them becasue nobody else applied.

My parents could not afford to pay for my college education, so I went to junior college and paid for it myself. They never charged me rent and fed me, so all I had to do was come up with enough to pay for tuition and books. I droped out and went into the Marine Corps. After the Marines, I tried again, but was able to make more money working then most of the people I knew who had degrees. It was the wrong decision in the long term, but I droped out again. In my view, it's my biggest failure, and one day I want to go back and get my degree. My Dad received his BS when he was 62.

I think that having to work and go to school at the same time was more then I was able to do at that time in my life. More mature and responsible people do it all the time, but that wasn't me. I don't know if I would have stuck it out if I didn't have to work at the same time, but I think it would have been more likely that I would have. It's easy to look back and say "what if?"

Eddie

 

[Jagmandave]

My two kids are only 2 years apart in school, so when it came time for college, we informed them that they would be contributing and they needed to get jobs and start saving up. The forumla we came up with was I paid 1/3, my ex paid 1/3 and the kids paid 1/3. My daughter's school was more expensive but she got a progressive grant, where each year they gave her a larger amount (encourages one to stay in school!); the first year was only $1k, the second $2k etc..........she also got Pell grants and a few other small ones. When my son decided to go to Law school, I told him those costs would be up to him, and he got student loans to cover it, but he lived at home with me and I took care of his car expenses etc.

I think having the kids pay at least for part of their education gives it more value to them, instead of just going to school to party and hook up - they had to earn their way and keep their grades up.

My take, FWIW......