Finanial Aid help! Ahhhh!

In My Humble Opinion
1

Well, it’s official. I’m bored in my current position in life, so I’m looking at going back to college. The financials of the undertaking, however, are proving to be quite troublesome, so I’m seeking advice on how the heck to pay for it.

Here’s a quick rundown of my history/situation:
I graduated high school in 2002 with a 3.9GPA. I scored a 34 on the ACT. I went to university for four years and got a bachelor’s degree. All good, right?

Well, aparently the academic advising office wasn’t exactly truthful. I wanted a job in cyber security (or some variation), and since I’m self-taught in computers they recommended I get a Criminal Justice degree to round it out. Employers aparently don’t agree on this choice. Every business in that field wants a Computer Science degree regardless of what you already know, which sadly I didn’t find out until the post-graduation job hunt. I currently work for $8/hr part time, basically just enough to make the rent (yay economy). So, it’s time to get that Computer Science degree.

The only problem is paying for it. I’ve talked to financial aid people, but they are hung up on the idea that I’m somehow not independent from my parents. I’m only 22, never been in the military, not married, no children, and I’m not going for a grad degree. How the heck else can I be independent from my parents? I’ve already gone to college for four years, I live on my own, pay all my own bills, and only talk to them at Christmas (but only if I have to). I don’t like the looks of the career track I am on, and need to change course post-haste.

Does anyone know a way around the dependent/independent declaration? Are there other forms of financial aid other than FAFSA? Can I get a bank loan, and is that a good idea? (I have no real form of collateral) Even if I declare myself a dependent, will FAFSA still give me enough loan options that I can pay for classes?

Geez this stuff is confusing. I’m sure at least some of you have been in similiar situations. Help me teeming millions, you’re my only hope!

2

When you fill out the FAFSA, you have to specify if you’re a dependant. So, you’re either independant, or dependant. You can find and fill out the form online here .

3

Waitaminnit. You say you’re degreed, employed, living on your own, etc, and they’re not believing you? :rolleyes: Do they want copies of your apartment lease and utility bills and bank statements? (Would providing those make your case?)

I wonder whether this has to do with some limitation that “mature students” are by definition over 25? I seem to recall that from various university websites I’ve looked over recently.

4

I did FA administration, but it’s been many years ago. At that time, you could claim independent status by showing a separate address and a certain income level.

They’ve changed the rules since then, to force more people to file as dependent. Most people qualify for less aid if they count parental income, so it’s an easy way to reduce the amount of aid they give out. Theoretically, it’s to stop fraud, due to the gazillions of students that move out and completely support themselves just to get financial aid. :rolleyes: And yes, they don’t consider you independent just because you support yourself. How silly of you!

I’m assuming you didn’t use aid for your first degree, because then you wouldn’t qualify for anything but a post-grad. In fact, I’m not sure you can qualify for any federal aid for a second undergrad degree at all. Have you checked on that?

Can you not qualify with your parents’ income? If you don’t know, then fill out the FAFSA and take your Expected Family Contribution number in to the FA office and they can tell you what grants/loans you qualify for. (It’s all done with complicated formulas; there’s not any way to tell you what you can get without your EFC and school info.)

Check with the school’s continuing ed department; they may know of other programs for non-traditional students. In fact, here’s a whole website for returning students: http://www.back2college.com/.

How long have you been living on your own and completely supporting yourself? If it’s only a couple months, you’re probably SOL. If it’s been four years, you might have a shot.

According to this , you can ask the FA Admin at your school to change your status to independent, but it’s completely at their discretion. My uninformed guess (like I said, I haven’t been in the loop on financial aid for 15 years) is that they have some sort of penalty to keep admins from doing this very often.

Your best bet is to collect lots of documentation and talk to the administrator at your school. Income tax forms, pay stubs, cancelled checks for rent/utilities, bank statements, etc. Any paperwork you can think of to prove that you’ve been on your own for several years and received no support from your parents. (Example: paystubs that equal the deposit amounts in your account and checks that show you paid your own rent, utilities, food, tuition, etc.) If there’s a family situation that has caused the separation, include that. (Unfortunately, “my parents are assholes who won’t pay for my college” doesn’t usually count.)

Once you’ve got that, schedule a meeting with the administrator of the program. This will not be one of the flunkies in the little cubicles that you can walk in and see anytime. This will be the boss, who has the authority to make such determinations. You might take a copy of that Dependency Status guide, just to prove that you’ve done your homework and understand the situation. Be polite but persistent.

Like I said, if your parents supported you through college and you just graduated, you’re probably not going to qualify. You’re just a cheating, lazy fraud who wants a free handout from the government! (Sorry, was possessed by a rabid conservative for just a moment there.) If you’ve truly been supporting yourself, then it’s certainly worth a try.

Or you could get married. (Only kidding!). Things to think about: Could you go for a postgrad in CompSci instead of undergrad? Then you’d qualify as independent. Would your parents loan you the money, or co-sign a loan so that you can get a better rate? Don’t forget that a regular bank loan won’t defer till you graduate, you’ll have to start making payments immediately. Whatever you do, don’t put it on credit cards! I know several people that got in a deep, deep hole that way.

Good luck!

5

Did you take any computer science classes as an undergraduate? You probably don’t need a major of computer science to get into a master’s program if you have enough of a background in the subject. I’d talk to the computer science department at your university to see what they require.

Last month, there was someone offering to answer financial aid questions in this thread. It’s not too old to bump up and maybe he or she is still around.

http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=395594&highlight=financial

6

Definitely check the other thread that Arien linked. Looks like some of my info is more outdated than I thought. They’ve gotten even tougher than I’d heard about changing status.

7

Redtail, thank you for the very thorough reply. I intend to print it and check each item off as I can.

Just a few things:

No, I didn’t use any financial aid the first time. My late grandmother had a trust set up for my college, under the condition that I work to pay my own rent/etc while attending classes. So… point in my favor.

My parents and I filled out a fafsa when I originally started after graduation. Sadly, they make about $60k a year combined and have over $150k in assets, so the aid offered was about half what I’d need. Basically, if I did that now and got the same result (their status hasn’t changed) I wouldn’t be able to keep my head above water.

I have been living completely on my own for 1 year (I graduated December 2005). I lived off of personal savings up through August while looking for a “good” job, then settled for this $8 an hour job in desperation.

I definitely intend to try to talk to someone higher-up on the FA administraion once I become more knowledgeable about the situation.

I assure you, I don’t want a free handout from the government. Heck, I’m open to other options. I’d really prefer not to join the military, as I hate being away from home for a week, let alone years. I’d sell my soul to a company that pays tuition (in Michigan. Anyone heard of any, or know a good place to start?)
I’m not asking for “free” money, I’m asking for “don’t have to pay back until I can get a real job” money. I can’t seem to get that real job until I get the degree that so many employers seem to want.
Arien, during my undergrad I had the freshman level computer science courses. As best as I can guess, my personal knowledge would allow me to test into maybe Junior level classes, but definitely not a Masters or Doctorate level. I considered going for a Masters in Criminal Justice, but that still doesn’t get me in the direction I’d like to go (if I’m wrong in this, someone let me know).
And I am definitely moving some of my questions over to that other thread. Thanks a million for that link! Keep the ideas coming folks!

8

Hey–why don’t you ask Translucent Daydream? Check out his thread.

9

Oh, right. Never mind.

I didn’t read through the thread.

Sorry. Carry on.

10

Yeah, mods feel free to lock this as it can be continued in the other thread. Forgive me for the sorta duplicate thread, I know not your ways yet!

11

Captain_C, saw you’d posted in the other thread. From what Translucent Daydream has said over there, the feds have pretty much made it impossible for anyone under 24 to get FA without declaring as dependent, short of parental abuse/endangerment. Just thought I’d post that here for anyone that hasn’t crossed over, since my info is evidently badly out of date.

I’m not gonna get started on what I think of the changes.

P.S. I was only joking about the rabid conservative comment. It’s similar to what I’ve heard some numbnuts say. I think we’d be better off providing universal education than excluding people from higher ed because they’ve moved out and/or have asshole parents.

12

Have you checked whether the company you’re currently employed with as a tuition reimbursement program? My employer, for example, allows even part-time employees (at least 20 hrs/wk) up to $5250/yr in undergrad or post-grad tuition reimbursement. Undergrad you don’t even need any approval from HR or your supervisor - you just submit your grades (C or above) and bills for tuition, lab fees, books, etc. And it doesn’t have to be related to your job. Post-grad does have to be approved and job-related.

Anyway, a lot of employers have such programs, although there is usually a clause locking you into employment at that company for a certain length of time after the classes have been taken. So perhaps if your current employer doesn’t provide this, find someone you’d like to work for that does. It’ll pay off in the end, hopefully giving you an in for the kind of job you want once you’ve started taking classes.

StG