Options for college bound daughter?

Question

My daugher is going to be a senior and wants to attend college. She wants to go to the university and says community college is out of the question. We don't have much and putting money away has been difficult. I know I have to help her with applying for grants/loans etc. What options are there for ways to help with school costs and how do I start? She is almost 17 and she doesn't even have a job yet!

Answer 1

please, file the fafsa online at: www.fafsa.ed.gov this will start you on the process to getting financial aid for your daughter. you need to do this after january first, 2007 and before your states deadline date (in california it's march 2nd, cuz that is the deadline for the cal grant). by filling out the application, your family is given an expected family contribution (EFC) this is how much your family is expected to spend in order to send your child to college. this number is fixed and doesn't change just because the cost of the college changes. so, your daughter is really smart. let's say you get an efc of $2,000. you will have to pay that same amount if she went to a jc, state school or private school. i tell my kids they can have a pinto, civic, or jaguar for the same price, which do you get?

after you file the fafsa, the gov't sends your efc to the schools listed on the application (the ones your child is thinking about attending). it is then the schools job to put together a financial aid package. if the school costs $18,000 for tuition, room and board, books, transportation, etc. and you have an efc of $2000, then the school has to find $16,000 in financial aid to give you. this could be a combination of loans, grants, college specific scholarships, work study, etc.

if you want to get started on also applying for scholarships (cuz you will have to bug your daughter to do it every week!) please check out fastweb.com. it's a great site for scholarships. also, have your daughter talk to the career center and they can give you the info on any local scholarships.

as far as the job, have her get one as long as it doesn't interfer with her studies. just make sure she doesn't make too much over $1750. this will effect your family's efc and backfire on you later. good luck!

Answer 2

Hey--I'm seventeen as well and I'm sure my parents are losing sleep over the same dilemma. Let me pass on some "College common sense" as far as paying for things.

Community colleges normally aren't the best way to go. The best experiences are at the four-year universities. However, many of these universities know that most parents don't have enough to pay for their child's schooling. Thus, a system has been put in place to help students.

During your child's senior year, if her high school is at all like mine, she will fill out a form called FAFSA--The free application for federal studnt aid. When she fills out this form and sends it to her schools, it gives them an idea of how much they need to put forth for her to come. The FAFSA also gives an estimated parent contribution and student contribution.

Bah. I have to go take the ACT, but I'll be back. In case I forget there are two key things you need to remember: 1) fastweb.com is a great site for scholarships 2)avoid loans if at all possible.

I must go now. I'll try to be be back later.

--VG

Answer 3

If I had it to do over again, I would have done a CC for 2 years and gotten all my pre-requisites out of the way and then transferred to a 4 year school. There is nothing wrong with a community college! How many 17 year olds know what they want to study? The first 2 years are all basics anyway, why not take them as cheaply as possible? Many CC's have agreements with 4 year universities and work in tandem to make sure the student is taking the correct classes to have a smooth transition.

You can also try this: There are tons of scholarships that go unclaimed each year. Many $400, $500 or $1000 scholarships never even get applied for because people think it's chump change and not worth applying for. Well, get a few of those $500 scholarships and it'll really make a dent in your tuition bill.

Do a search on scholarships, search your major, your ethnic heritage, your town, your parents employers, your employer, hobbies, high school, local chamber of commerce/rotary/ lion's club etc. Left-handed? There is a scholarship out there for you! Older woman returning to school? There are scholarships out there for you. Do combined searches on more than one criteria "hispanic women aviation scholarships" etc.

Go to the library and ask the reference librarian for a reference book on scholarships. They usually have more than one. There are all kinds of scholarships out there, you just have to start applying yourself and make it your summer career to send out letters everyday for scholarships. Good luck!

Answer 4

www.fafsa.ed.gov
You have to apply for federal aid no matter what your financial situation is. In my case, my dad made too much money (even though he still made me pay) for me to get federal aid, but your daughter might be able to get some. Also, I would try to get her enrolled in college credit classes while still in highschool so she can get some basics out of the way.