Got The Call Yesterday

[mjarrels]

My son, age 19 is ready to enroll in college... Blue Ridge Community College for the first two years and then on to James Madison University (JMU Dukes). He called last night and said, Dad, get the checkbook ready... My question is... I educated myself (at the expense of the US Navy)... I am a big Bruce Williams fan... Don't use your (my) retirement funds for a kids education. I don't mind helping him to a degree... when he turns 21, the family trust will provide him with about $30,000. He is smart and can work full time and go to school full time... unlike me. I told him to look for other funds, ie, grants, etc. My nephew is graduating from JMU this spring with about $30,000 in the hole. Where are other places to look for funds?

"Ask the Chief"

mark

 

[MikePA]

Where are other places to look for funds?

Stafford loans, ParentPLUS loans, credit union. There also may be some loans specific to Virginia. There are in PA.

Everything starts with the FAFSA form here. You'll get a letter back indicating how much and what kind of loans/grants you're eligible for. Actually, your son should fill it in, but he'll need a lot of information from your tax return. I found it easier to do myself than sit and tell my daughter what to type.

Even though it's a pain to fill in, the report you get back tells you what federal and state loans/grants your son is eligible for. FAFSA info also goes to the schools your son is interested in (you have to list them) to see what you're eligible for from the school. FAFSA is a one stop shopping for financial aid.

 

[mjarrels]

I can write the checks... but I do not think it is the thing. Needs to work and learn.

mark

 

[randy41]

my son graduated from JMU last may. our family income isnt much so we got a lot of fin aid for him. there is no debt. JMU just requires a FAFSA but their priority deadline is March 1st i think. i missed it the first year and we paid in full.
dont spend your retirement money on it. But since he will get 30K in just a few years i wouldnt worry about borrowing.

 

[LMTC]

Learn the FAFSA well. The whole financial aid system has become a sick joke over the past few decades as federal aid has increased and they now do the determination of eligibility. Seriously....learn it well and play their game. After three children going through college over the past 8 years....our youngest is finishing his junior year....I wised up early. Our first got some athletic scholarship which helped, and of course student loans.

Fafsa rules change every so often too. Currently one can own any number of vehicles of any value and it has no impact on eligibility for aid, but 10k in your checkbook lowers your eligibility (increases your EFC). You can own a house worth 2.5 million and it has no impact. Go figure. I can spend 10k at the casinos, but if I put 10k into IRAs/401ks, it goes into the computation reducing my aid (by a %, not $ for $)....you can see what various changes do to your EFC (expected family contribution) by using the fafsa online. Same income, 0 withheld for IRAs has a lower EFC than when you have contributed to an IRA/401k. In effect you are punished for being frugal and rewarded with more aid for not saving any of your money. Tremendous amount of nuances to that document, so study it well. I would not lie or cheat on it, nor ever recommend doing so, but I know simply changing certain circumstances in one's financial affairs can make significant difference in EFC.

 

[rox]

If you don't want to give him the money is it possible for oyu to lend it to him and when he turns 21 and gets his trust meny he pays you back? IOW have you thought of it as a loan instead of jsut giving it to him?

To each his own, and i am certainly not going to judge you, but my husband and i felt very good about providing the resources for our children to go to college. Not verone is able to do that, and i do understnd that. hopefully you will be able to help him out with discretionary expenses, now is not the most optimum time to be going in the military.

 

[MikePA]

To each his own, and i am certainly not going to judge you, but my husband and i felt very good about providing the resources for our children to go to college.

I agree.

Also, FAFSA is not mandatory. There are all sorts of requirements for using someone else's money, just like there are rules to play baseball or soccer. If you don't like the rules or disagree with them, don't play and simply tell your son to get a loan.

 

[KubotaSteve]

My parents told me I would be paying my own way through school as I had 3 other brothers. While I did pay my own tuition, they helped me out in other ways if I needed money. I also worked the entire time I was in school as well as through the summer. They didn't mind helping me out some, the stipulation was that I didn't waste my money by going out partying, lavish spring break trips, etc. In the end it worked out well as I felt proud that I had paid for most of my schooling and realized what my parents were trying to do. While in school, it didn't seem like a good deal at all when some of the kids parents were paying for everything and they were having a good old time.Some things can't be learned in school.

 

[PhilNH5]

Things have changed since I was in school. I worked summers and took out small gov't loans and covered my tuition. You could do that then. Now tuition is simply to high.

My kid goes as a non-resident to a state school and tuition/board is 27K per year. Private schools were 43K per year. If my 18 YO were smart enough to come up with 27 to 43K a year I would say she doesn't need college.

The gov't loans have not kept pace with tution. I think the max amount you can take will not cover 1 full year at a private school. Then there re the private loans. But I would be concerned with my kid graduating with 120K in debt.

We filled out the FAFSA and got zilch. But my kid's school uses it to disburse their scholar ships so we had to fill it out again this year.

I don't know what the answer is. We are paying for my kid. The school has a program and we pay over 10 months for the years tuition.

Phil

 

[MikePA]

There are plenty of good community colleges and in state schools that are much less expensive than almost any private or out of state school.

 

[MarkV]

Don’t forget to look into private grants and loans. A friend’s daughter was very aggressive and found grants from service organizations, private trusts and varies other sources I would never have thought of. Many of these were small, like $500 from the Shriners and $300 from the local Jr. Woman’s Club, but they all added up. She found most all of her college money on the internet and put in many applications.

MarkV

 

[scott_vt]

Learn the FAFSA well. The whole financial aid system has become a sick joke over the past few decades as federal aid has increased and they now do the determination of eligibility. Seriously....learn it well and play their game.

Mornin Wayne,
I agree, the FAFSA is a total PITA ! Both our boys have gone through college allready but the lingering effects of FAFSA are still fresh in my memory banks, unfortunately your forced to cooperate with this sysyem !

 

[MikePA]

...unfortunately your forced to cooperate with this sysyem !

Forced?

 

[scott_vt]

Forced?

Mornin Mike,
Did I spell it wrong ?

OK maybe too strong a word ! Still you have to jump through some hoops and fill out a bunch of paperwork to get any help ! Is that better ?

 

[Turbys_1700]

Lots of great info here. I'm going through the same thing with my son. Not really a big deal for me with FAFSA. I've taught at a community college for 14 years now and know the system pretty well.

The deadline is March 1st for FAFSA and they will mail out to the colleges your son is interested in based on your profile.

The most economical path to higher education today is to attend a community college for two years and then attend a university if that is what you want to do. The biggest pitfall is in losing credits when transferring to the university. The main thing for young folk to do is decide what degree they wish to pursue, the university they wish to attend, and then find out what community college offers the easiest transfer of credits. The system is not perfect but it's what you have to deal with.

 

[MikePA]

Mornin Mike,
Did I spell it wrong ?

OK maybe too strong a word ! Still you have to jump through some hoops and fill out a bunch of paperwork to get any help ! Is that better ?

You don't have to go through the FAFSA process to borrow money is my point. If people do not like the red tape, find the selection criteria stupid, etc. then don't use FAFSA.

No one is 'forced' to use FAFSA.

 

[scott_vt]

You don't have to go through the FAFSA process to borrow money is my point. If people do not like the red tape, find the selection criteria stupid, etc. then don't use FAFSA.

No one is 'forced' to use FAFSA.

Mike,
Please correct me if Im wrong on this but to the best of my memory we had to fill out the paper work whether we got any funding or not ! Actually my wife did most of the paperwork, but if I recall this paperwork was mandatory.

Possibly this was the criteria spelled out by the college that the boys were attending ? I may be wrong on this point and I will check with my wife this evening.

 

[MikePA]

Perhaps this is a semantics debate?

FAFSA is required IF someone wants a subsidized loan, grants, etc. offered through the federal or state government or via the school. That's probably why it's so complicated. They pulled together all the requirements from each of these sources of money, e.g., Pell Grant, Stafford loan, etc. and combined them into FAFSA.

In other words, if someone wants the benefits of lower interest loans, nothing due until after graduation, one stop application for a bunch of different sources then the 'price' to be paid is the FAFSA process.

If people do not want to use these sources and want to borrow from their local credit union or bank, they do not have to use FAFSA.

 

[EddieWalker]

There was a guy on the local AM radio show about a year ago who wrote a book on getting grants. He said that he applied for ever grant there was, without regard to his qualifications to receive the grant. some or based on ***, race and other factors that he was not a member of, but he was awarded them becasue nobody else applied.

My parents could not afford to pay for my college education, so I went to junior college and paid for it myself. They never charged me rent and fed me, so all I had to do was come up with enough to pay for tuition and books. I droped out and went into the Marine Corps. After the Marines, I tried again, but was able to make more money working then most of the people I knew who had degrees. It was the wrong decision in the long term, but I droped out again. In my view, it's my biggest failure, and one day I want to go back and get my degree. My Dad received his BS when he was 62.

I think that having to work and go to school at the same time was more then I was able to do at that time in my life. More mature and responsible people do it all the time, but that wasn't me. I don't know if I would have stuck it out if I didn't have to work at the same time, but I think it would have been more likely that I would have. It's easy to look back and say "what if?"

Eddie

 

[Jagmandave]

My two kids are only 2 years apart in school, so when it came time for college, we informed them that they would be contributing and they needed to get jobs and start saving up. The forumla we came up with was I paid 1/3, my ex paid 1/3 and the kids paid 1/3. My daughter's school was more expensive but she got a progressive grant, where each year they gave her a larger amount (encourages one to stay in school!); the first year was only $1k, the second $2k etc..........she also got Pell grants and a few other small ones. When my son decided to go to Law school, I told him those costs would be up to him, and he got student loans to cover it, but he lived at home with me and I took care of his car expenses etc.

I think having the kids pay at least for part of their education gives it more value to them, instead of just going to school to party and hook up - they had to earn their way and keep their grades up.

My take, FWIW......