Paying for community college / financial aid

[krystee]

That is very generous of you! She is very lucky to have you in her life. I think this is what you're saying: she'd take out all the tuition in loans and then you'd pay $4k toward the loans once she graduates? That is what I would do. I'd want to make absolutely sure she graduated before I gave that much money. In the meantime, I might assist with books.

[overture]

If the school is accredited, i'm 95% sure she is eligible for the Pell Grant and for federal subsidized student loans.

ETA: She will have to use her parents' income to determine her amount of aid until she is considered independent (barring other changes in circumstance like marriage or parenthood, this means at 24). If they are very poor, most likely her parents will not be expected to contribute any money, and her "need" will be the entire cost of tuition.

[overture]

Also, I'm not sure what kind of school she's applying to, but many public community colleges offer AA degrees in dental hygiene and are much cheaper than private vocational schools. Also, she would be able to use those GE units toward a BA at a university should she decide on a different career path.

[Roc A Bee]

I work for a community college that offers a dental hygiene degree, and it's much less than 6k a year. I would look around. I imagine she will qualify for pell grant and possible programs like EOPS.

[krystee]

Agree with the community college suggestions--it would probably be about half the cost.

[Roc A Bee]

Our cc costs $46/ unit. This is set by the state. So 60 units at $46 is less than 3k. She will need her parents tax info to fill out the fasfa.

[kershnic]

She should qualify for a Pell grant, which will cover a substantial part of her tuition costs. Your help in applying for aid and understanding what it means will be invaluable. She may also still qualify for cash assistance when working on a 2-year degree (I don't know if this is specific to my state).

[heygrey]

i'm not entirely sure what your question was about paying back loans, but mine were all federal (sallie mae and dept. of ed.) and i didn't have to pay them back until 6 months after graduating. honestly, i would commit to smaller help in the meantime - books, monthly bus pass - but i wouldn't tell her upfront that you'll pay for half if she graduates. i think you're putting yourself in a rough spot if, for whatever reason, you want to renege on the offer later. help her manage her money and save for repayment, and surprise her by paying off one or two of her loans when she graduates.

[overture]

Also look into state grants. If you happen to live in California, probably all of her tuition would be covered by a Pell Grant and a Cal Grant combined.

[Deleted]

The first step is to fill out the fafsa. I would imagine she will qualify for a lot of aid that she will not have to repay.

Make sure she is definitely wanting to do this and will finish whatever she starts. It would be awful for her if she gets loans and doesn't end up graduating.

[steph96]

Has she shadowed a dental hygienist? I would definitely make sure she does that multiple times (maybe even different offices) to make sure she actually wants to do that. Maybe she could also go to the college and talk to an adviser about what to expect while attending school. I don't mean to sound rude, but if she is struggling with her grades in high school, she might really struggle with the college program. She should look at the required courses and see if it fits her academic ability.

Based on what you said, she should get a lot of federal grants. The only upfront cost she may have to pay would be an application fee.

[backinpgh]

She should qualify for grants and federal loans, which are deferred until after graduation (sometimes even longer depending on what her income is after graduation). Just tell her not to take any private loans. If the school she is attending is not eligible for federal grants or loans she should find another school.

She should also approach the school directly to see if there are any scholarships she may be eligible for, as well as researching local and national scholarships on her own.

[80sjunkie]

This is awesome Starry and something I have definitely thought of doing with my little. She isn't as close to graduation though so I'd be interested in hearing about your experiences. She's very lucky to have you as a big.

[shortstax]

So wonderful for you to help!

First, she'll need to complete the FAFSA with her (and her parental) financial info. You'll want to make sure she does it very early in 2013. Most schools have "priority" deadlines that a student needs to file by to be considered for the most aid (usually 2/15.)

Based on the limited info, I assume she'll have a $0 EFC. This will qualify her for at least a pell grant and fed loan options.

For example, if this was for this year, she'd get $5550 Pell for the year. The federal stafford loan eligibility for a first year college student is $5500 for the year ($3500 would be subsidized, $2000 unsubsidized.) Realistically speaking, she should be able to cover the tuition costs with her Pell and Sub loan.

I highly recommend taking her in next fall to the school's financial aid office. Request to sit with a counselor. It helps students a lot to see that college can be attainable before even applying for the fafsa. It might help to relieve some anxiety for her.

*keep in mind that a lot of policies are school-specific. However, with a $0 EFC the maximum pell and stafford eligibility is fixed as long as the school is approved to accept Title IV funds.

Hope this helps!

[sept508]

Sorry, I didn't read through all the replies, but I hope I can help. I work for (ok, ok, I'm still in training!) a servicer for federal/direct loans. I hope I get this all right; if you question anything, I can double-check.

Here is a student loan game plan: www.studentloan.org/Responsible-Borrowing/Student-Loan-Game-Plan-HP.aspx?WT.ac=GamePlanBanner&rd=hp I haven't gone all the way through it, but it may help.

She must fill out a FASFA to qualify for student loans.

I don't think she'll need a co-signer at all -- that's part of the reason there is sooo much student loan debt.

She may qualify for the Pell grant as others have said. As it is a grant, it will not have to be re-paid at anytime. (Do note that if she qualifies for other grants, some do have stipulations that must be met for the grant to not turn into a loan.

Some colleges have the ability to give out Perkins loans. They are more limited and are given to those who show the most financial need. As they are given out and serviced by the colleges directly (not the Dept of Ed), they have a longer grace period.

She will almost without a doubt qualify for both subsidized and unsubsidized loans. There is a limit to the amount of money one can receive through subsidized loans; this is because the DE pays for the interest accrual while the borrower is in school (at least half time), in grace period, or in deferment. Interest always accrues and is payable by the borrower for unsubsidized loans, as well as subsidized loans in forbearance.

Grace period for sub and unsub loans is 6 months from the date that the borrower is no longer attending school at least half time. (The half time is not the same as part-time and is determined by the school.) Borrowers with unsub loans can choose to pay their interest that accrues during this grace period; if they do not pay it before the end of grace, it will cap and be added to the principle balance. Borrowers with either sub or unsub loans can pay towards principle balance during grace. Those with unsub loans would have to pay more than the interest accrued to pay towards principle balance.

Payments do not have to be made while the borrower is in school. However, any that is paid during that time goes just towards principle (not interest).

Now, this may be a bit different depending on the servicer of her loans, but we (not the servicer in the link above) accept payments from anyone, whether they are authorized on the account or not. However, if you are going to be helping her with her loans/budget, you should request that she puts you as an authorized third party so the servicer can tell you the amounts of the loan. (For example, we will take $50 if that's what you want to pay, but if she is delinquent by $55, we wouldn't be able to tell you that.)

I'd suggest, again, that she request you as an authorized third party so that you are able to assist her. Pay the portion that you want to pay before her grace period ends.

Make sure she understands how simple interest loans work. Any that she is able to pay during school and grace period and any over the minimum monthly payment is a big advantage to her.

Ok, that's a long enough book. Sorry if it's confusing.

[sept508]

Oh, and I do want to add that I'd suggest you talk to her about the importance of not taking out more than she needs for school related purposes. Paying for a spring break trip 10 years later does not sound like a fun idea to me, but I know several people do it.

[CallingAllAngels]

Another thing to about is how long the program will actually take her. When I worked at a community college dental assisting was a "one year" program and hygiene was a "two year", but they were almost impossible to complete in that time due to prerequisites and waiting lists. Hygiene took most students 4 years typically.

[spunkypenguin]

From what short stax said, it sounds like most of her costs will be covered by the Pell Grant. I went to Community College and there was a uniform scholarship application that I filled out that qualified me to be chosen for various scholarships - I ended up getting a couple thousand from that. I did horrible in High School, but maintained pretty decent grades in college - I was low-income, but not low enough for a full pell grant...

Being that she's low-income and probably(?) the first in her family to attend college, I'd bet there are other sources of scholarships/grants out there that may not even be dependent on her grades. It might be worthwhile to meet with the financial adviser at the school she plans to attend.

[chessie]

She will be able to. Another factor she needs to factor in, is to make sure she is no longer a dependent on her parents taxes. I was able to get loans and grants when I started off a Community college- and more grants since I was not considered a dependent. This helped greatly. I recall only having to shell out 600 first two years, since rest were grants. Loans for rest of college since I had a steady part time job- proved I had income so I did not need a consigner.

[UMaineTeach]

I think the cost is reasonable. I investigated in my state and found that none of the community colleges do dental hygiene.
I could only find 2 places that has the degree:
There was program through a branch of the state univ. system that offered an AS or BS that was $217/cr in-state

or there was a private university that is known for its D.O. med school and other health related fields offering a BS (or BS completion with existing AA) for 32,000/year.

In addition to what others said, look into programs that might forgive loans for service in dental access deficient areas (I know ME has some for actual dentists, don't know about hygienist).

[smiley]

She may be eligible for some government funding. She would find that out when she fills out her FAFSA, there may be grants etc that she is eligible for.

There are also scholarships that are not based on academics that she may be eligible for. We had a College Resource Room at my high school where we could learn about different types of aid and fill out scholarships, maybe your school district has something similar.

My student loans were deferred until I graduated so if you wanted to pay off a portion of them when she graduates that would be very helpful. I never had a co-signer on my student loans but that was a while ago so I am not sure what the rules are now. My loans are around ~6%.

With her certificate can she find a job in a dental office? There may be a dentist willing to help with the costs of the AA program if she is willing to work with them for so many years. My employer does this if you want a business degree, you are reimbursed each semester for your tuition cost as long as you work so many hours and plan to work with the company for x years. That may be something else to look into if all else fails.

[steph96]

May 20, 2012 9:51:49 GMT -5 chessie said:

She will be able to. Another factor she needs to factor in, is to make sure she is no longer a dependent on her parents taxes. I was able to get loans and grants when I started off a Community college- and more grants since I was not considered a dependent. This helped greatly. I recall only having to shell out 600 first two years, since rest were grants. Loans for rest of college since I had a steady part time job- proved I had income so I did not need a consigner.

I think this might depend on the state? I know FI had to submit his mother's income taxes in addition to his own even though he had been out on his own, with zero financial assistance from her, for 5 years. If you are under 24, a lot of times they still make you include your parents unless you can prove that you have some special circumstance (married, etc) and fill out a TON of paperwork.