Tuition Sucks

[CUNYguy]

So.. My financial aid office emails me at 6PM today, telling me I have 2 days to pay my tuition because my financial aid didn't go through and last semester's tuition also got refunded to the government, so I have two semesters to pay off with only $800 in my bank. I got denied by two banks already tonight, and paying off installments is a bit pricy for me (don't know if it's in my budget).

Has anyone else been in this situation? Or have any suggestions?

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[sufitopia]

Why did your financial aid not go through?

 

[SpartanWolverine]

You got denied by two banks for what - a personal loan? Why were these last two semesters denied? What is your budget and how did you previously pay for school?

It looks like CUNY takes credit cards plus a 2.something% interchange/merchant/whatever fee. Considering CUNY tuition is not all that expensive for NY residents (I'll assume you're one), would that work? Put it on your CC, figure out the Federal aid, and pay it off once your aid goes through.

... However, it sounds like we have to be missing something, because there must be a story as to why you've had two semesters of tuition "not go through"... I would assume someone in the CUNY financial aid office could help you more than we could.

 

[CUNYguy]

I've been disputing it all semester. It went through initially and then it turned its head and got taken back. I submitted all documentation of my parents' and my own income, contacted the IRS for documents that the school requested and it still flopped.

I got denied because my credit history isn't as lengthy (had my credit card ~1.5 years) for STUDENT loans, not personal, so I need a co signer. And I tried my mom (who's willing to cosign) and my sibling (who doesn't have a lengthy credit history either). My dad is refusing to help.

The price isn't my concern. I wasn't expecting to go through college without paying out of pocket expenses. It's the fact that I currently don't have that money, and I have zero support from my family in terms of financials. I can try to put it on my credit card but I'm afraid a partial payment might not suffice.

Thanks for the responses.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

I was under the impression that credit history has zero impact on Perkins and Stafford loans. However, I expect the issue might be with your family income being too high? I'm sorry that your father is refusing to help. Unfortunately, I expect you are filing as a dependent which could be the issue -- the government looks at tuition as a family obligation based on income and does not consider their willingness to help.

If this is the case, dont risk putting it on your CC... because it might sit there for far too long. It's not worth paying CC interest on tuition. Get it figured out before starting back up in school. Sorry about your situation! I'm no financial aid whiz, so hopefully someone can come in and give you a bettet answer.

 

[kalat]

[Disregard this entire post unless you're wanting to learn about how medical school loans work, I thought OP was in medical school instead of undergraduate.]

The Federal Direct Loans (~5-6% interest) do not take into account EFC or credit history at the graduate level and will cover up to an aggregate amount of $224,000 with a maximum of $40,500 per year. Federal PLUS Loans (~6-7% interest) do not take into account EFC but do take into account credit history. However they have no aggregate limit for borrowing.

I'm assuming with no other information you have borrowed over the $224,000 in Federal Direct Loans for previous education (undergraduate, graduate degrees) and you are attempting to take out Federal PLUS Loans? If not, you should not be taking out loans from other sources or Federal PLUS Loans. If not, have you committed a crime that disqualifies you from certain types of aid?

Even if you have not taken over the aggregate limit of $224,000 in Federal Direct Loans, if you knew the tuition was over the $40,500 aggregate limit per year you should have prepared for this knowing you would have to apply for Federal PLUS loans. If you knew you were coming up on your Federal Direct aggregate loan limit and you had adverse credit history you should have prepared for this.

 

[SpartanWolverine]

You're not telling us something here. The Federal Direct Loans (~5-6% interest) do not take into account EFC or credit history at the graduate level and will cover up to an aggregate amount of $224,000 with a maximum of $40,500 per year. Federal PLUS Loans (~6-7% interest) do not take into account EFC but do take into account credit history. However they have no aggregate limit for borrowing.

I'm assuming with no other information you have borrowed over the $224,000 in Federal Direct Loans for previous education (undergraduate, graduate degrees) and you are attempting to take out Federal PLUS Loans? If not, you should not be taking out loans from other sources or Federal PLUS Loans. If not, have you committed a crime that disqualifies you from certain types of aid?

Even if you have not taken over the aggregate limit of $224,000 in Federal Direct Loans, if you knew the tuition was over the $40,500 aggregate limit per year you should have prepared for this knowing you would have to apply for Federal PLUS loans. If you knew you were coming up on your Federal Direct aggregate loan limit and you had adverse credit history you should have prepared for this.

You need to read your student financial aid handbook, get in touch with the schools financial aid advisor, and/or contact an independent financial advisor on your own. I realize this is in part a failure of your school to educate you properly on the financial aid process, but it's unfortunate that there is such a large amount of money at play and very little understanding of how it is being distributed.

I believe the OP is still an undergrad... so doesn't EFC play a large role in that case?

 

[kalat]

I believe the OP is still an undergrad... so doesn't EFC play a large role in that case?

Ah, great, I just wrote all that out without even noticing it said pre-medical. I was thinking it said accepted medical student for some reason. I just edited it, but I'll leave it there in case anyone wants to read about medical school loans. If he's an undergraduate it's all about EFC. There's no loopholes or tricks to get extra money if his parents aren't willing to help. If he turns 24 he will however be able to file independently with no EFC but his own.

If he's truly stranded I'd withdraw my classes if I could still get a 100% refund and take the semester to work the financing out. Do not put tuition on a credit card. Credit cards are commonly 12-18% APR while Federal Direct Loans are only 6%. You will drown in interest before you can pay it off.

 

[CUNYguy]

Yea. I'm still an undergrad. It was just a last second notification from my school so I was scrambling to save my chance to stay continuously in school.

I'm writing a proposal to my boss to borrow the $6k for repayment period of 12 months. So.. I hope this works out.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed info

 

[Mad Jack]

Yea. I'm still an undergrad. It was just a last second notification from my school so I was scrambling to save my chance to stay continuously in school.

I'm writing a proposal to my boss to borrow the $6k for repayment period of 12 months. So.. I hope this works out.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed info

Good luck!

 

[deleted390966]

Tuitions suck everywhere in this country.

A suggestion is to look into "health profession student loans", or private loans for students.

 

[hallowmann]

Yea. I'm still an undergrad. It was just a last second notification from my school so I was scrambling to save my chance to stay continuously in school.

I'm writing a proposal to my boss to borrow the $6k for repayment period of 12 months. So.. I hope this works out.

Just wanted to say thanks to everyone who contributed info

Also, I highly suggest talking to the student resources and financial aid offices at your school. Most schools are willing to adjust fees (drop late charges) or set up a repayment plan (monthly payments) if you talk to them and explain the situation and make it clear that you want to and will eventually pay it all back.

Good luck