COLLEGE STUDENTS: How do you pay for school?
Question:
Answer:
Who told you that you're not allowed to file your FAFSA? You should, even if you're sure you won't qualify, because in many cases in the past, people have qualified for aid. For the 2006-2007 FAFSA (covering the academic year beginning July 1, 2006) your birthday must be earlier than January 1, 1983 to be considered independent. For 2007-2007, it's January 1, 1984.
How else to pay for school? Scholarships, mainly. Try:
http://www.studentscholarshipsearch.com...
http://www.scholarshippoints.com...
http://www.Fastweb.com
http://www.CollegeBoard.com
There are a LOT of scholarships and grants in the private sector that have nothing to do with the government.
You py for school either by getting loans, paying it on your own or scholarships from the colleges you wish to attend.
getting loans and pay them back after you get dont with college or you can get money from high school for good grades
I'm in nearly the same situation in that I'm 20, live on my own and receive no help from my parents (got kicked out). The difference is that I have a couple thousand and no debts or loans.
A common misnomer is that you have to go to take out a loan and go to college right after high school. Instead, I continued to work at my job in a grocery store where I had been making minimum wage for a year and a half. I continued to work hard and get raises, but the point is that I saved up money. Enough money to go to college. Currently I work full time and go to school full time, and even after tuition, rent, cell phone, car, dates, etc, I end up balancing out with around 5 thousand in the bank at the end of each semester to start the next one.
The trick was that I didn't take out a loan to pay back, but worked for the money first. Rather than put yourself in a hole and try to dig out, get a pile first, so you don't go in the negative.
If you already owe money, and don't have a job, get one (preferably in the area you're studying) and work to have the money to pay for college before you go. You don't need to get in and out of college as soon as possible. Just make sure you don't end up in the rat race.
you should be old enough to fill out the FAFSA. I know someone who was 23 and he filled it out and got a full pell grant.
Plus, the official FAFSA website says you are old enough if you were born before 1-1-1984. You do not have to be 25, I don't know why they said that. A lot of times the financial aid staff is really lazy. Don't let them give you stupid answers and get away with it. You have to keep asking questions of everyone you can and then do your own research to show them their mistakes. Sadly, their mistakes will end up making you lose out on thousands of dollars in aid.
Also, if you were born after 1-1-1984, you still have options for the upcoming school year. If you do not have a relationship with your parents due to abuse, alcoholic parents, etc, you can do a petition with your school and they can do a "dependency override." This means that if your petition is approved, you will be considered independent for financial aid purposes.
Note: it is 1-1-1984 for the upcoming year (06-07), but 1-1-1983 for the current year (05-06). I would call the contact numbers on the fafsa site directly ifyour school continues to be unhelpful.
Go for a http://college-scholarships1.blogspot.co...
scholarship is a better way to get money for your education. Here are many programms offering scholarships and govt grants,
http://college-scholarships1.blogspot.co...
First of all, whoever told you to not fill out the FAFSA is WRONG! Anyone can fill it out even if you don't recieve financial aid. Most colleges require you to fill it out even if you want to pay for college by yourself. Fill it out anyway in January after you get your tax returns, you never know, you might be eligible for some financial aid. Also, if you fill out the FAFSA you will be eligible for Federal Student Loans. Those are the loans that you don't pay back until after you graduate and they have a very low interest rate. Also, you can file as 'Independent' as long as your parents do not claim you on their tax returns.
I am 19 years old and married. I recieve full financial aid. I also have a few scholarships that I got from my high school. Also, I live in Kentucky and they have a program called KEES, where you get college money for your highschool GPA and ACT/SAT scores. I also take out federal student loans, even though I don't need them to pay for college. My husband and I are both full time students so we take out the extra loan money so we don't have to work while taking classes.
I hope the information about the FAFSA helps you. You should go to the FAFSA website and read all the information yourself, it might help you. Good Luck!
i work full time buy still struggle to pull it all together, try to find ways to save here and there
1) ramen noodles
2) pabst blue ribbon beer
3) buy books online instead of getting ripped off at campus bookstore
good luck!
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