Student Loan too Small, Still Want to Go to College

So.

Months ago I applied to the Canadian College of Massage and Hydrotherapy, and my application has been accepted. It is a 2-year full time program after which you are certified as a registered massage therapist (RMT). Should I find a way to attend, my classes begin on August 31st at 8:30am.

I’ve met a number of the staff and teachers- all great. Took an introductory course at the school during which I met most of my future classmates- loved them. Toured the campus- it’s spacious, new and well equipped. Did well in the introductory course, and unlike other jobs I thought I’d be interested in, I’m actually passionate enough about the intellectual and technical side of things to look forward to going to work/school every day.

Every student graduating this year is graduating with a job. I hear it’s hard work and especially the first few years, but I know the pay is pretty good and I expect to have no trouble tackling any debt I may incur along the way. Being warned that the course involves enough after-hours clinical work and commitments to make keeping even a part-time job almost impossible, I was fully prepared to borrow both my tuition and living expenses.

My application for govn’t student loan was finally processed as of this past Thursday. They assessed me as needing $20K for my first year… And decided to loan me $15K. I called them and asked, “What gives?” Turns out there’s a yearly $15K cap on all student loans across the board, and no matter how much you need, you won’t get more than that.

This would be no issue if I could get approved for a bank student loan to make up the gap. But the bank refuses to approve me for a loan without a co-signer, and my father can’t co-sign because his credit’s in the shitter. I don’t have a mother in the picture nor any friends with good credit.

My tuition and books amount to ~$10K and my rent for a year in a small bachelor apartment would be just over $6K. I live very frugally now on $10K per year via temporary disability and would not be able to get by with less. Because I’m attending a private professional college rather than a community college, I am not eligible to continue collecting disability payments while attending school. I’d gladly switch to community college- except that they don’t offer a massage therapy program, and I’ve scoured their programs for any other job that interests me and found nothing.

I don’t want to just walk away from my dream and go to school for some other job that I’ll have to force myself to do. But I don’t know of any other way to come up with five thousand dollars before school starts. I’m hoping there might be some Dopers with more financial knowledge than I who can tell me of some way to still go to school this fall.

Isn’t this sorta what all those ‘fund me’ style websites are for? I’ve never used them but they seem all the rage from what I read. It seems like you’d be a very good candidate, to me!

Have you spoken to the school about your shortfall? If not, you definitely should. After all they WANT you to be able to attend! They may know of other sources of funding not available to every one. It’s worth exploring!

Good Luck!

I spoke to the college and they couldn’t help. But I did manage to find another way and am extremely relieved not to have to withdraw my application. Excited to start classes.