kw817817

Even if i do decide no to attend my college the housing is a legally binding contract and UCSC says that i have to stay there for the adademic year. Which is so not fair because they give my fincial information after the housing has been finalized. Is there nothing i can do to afford this college without taking out this huge loan?

thumper1

NOPE...this is absolutely not true. If you are not a student at USCS, you will NOT be permitted to live in student housing...PERIOD.

If you decide NOT to attend the university, you will very likely lose your housing DEPOSIT...but you will no be required to live in the university housing...or pay for it...as you won't be a student there.

The financial aid award is based on the information provided on the FAFSA. It is only as accurate as the info provided. Your initial information omitted a sizable asset, and some income (the rental income). That was a huge omission.

The second house will have to be listed as an asset as long as your family owns it. This would be the case at ANY college you were to attend.

If your family does not have another plan for paying for college, you might want to consider taking a gap year, working, and applying to schools that are more affordable or where you would garner significant enough merit aid to make it affordable.

If your EFC is really $35,000...then for any college that costs that much...or more...your parents will be expected to pay at LEAST that amount.

UCSC does not guarantee to meet full need for accepted students so your need might not have been met anyway...outside of eligibility for the Cal Grant (if you are instate for CA...are you?)...and it seems that you are ineligible for this.

cptofthehouse

There is no mortgage against that house that your family rents out?

This is a family decision that has to be made. Can your parents mortgage the house? Can they afford to do that? Can you and your parents as a family afford this school?

swimcatsmom

You can't blame the school for this. They based your initial FA on the financial information you provided on FAFSA. The information was wildly inaccurate. Once they received the accurate information, they of course had to adjust the aid award accordingly. There is nothing unfair about that.

No, there is nothing you can do without your parents taking out the loan. It seems like this school is not affordable for you. As Thumper said, if your EFC is 35,000 then that is the minimum you will have to pay at any school that costs $35k or above. You need to look at schools that you can afford without FA as you are unlikely to qualify for any. it would be a good idea to look at schools where your statistics may qualify you for merit aid.

Next year when you and your parents complete FAFSA, take the time to use the filling out the FAFSA guide. Here is the link to this years.

Completing the FAFSA 2012-2013/The Application Questions

It gives question by question instructions. For instance the instructions for question 89 about investments are quite clear:

swimcatsmom

Also, as Thumper says, you may lose your deposit, but you are not legally bound to stay in university housing if you are not going to attend the school.

vballmom

If your EFC went from $12,000 to $35,000 based solely on the net value of your rental house, then your rental property would be valued at around $410,000. Does that sound right to you? Have you subtracted out any loans on the house, plus the cost of selling the house if it had to be sold?

kw817817

The house other house that we own is probably worth around 300k. Do you guys have any suggestions on what i should do. Cause my only options are to attend UCSC and take the huge loans that are offered and pay them back in the future or should i attending a community college for two years enroll in a TAG program and finish my General Education at a lower cost and then see if i can transfer back to the UC system. But i feel if i do this my financial situation will be the same and i will still not be able to get financial aid in two years. I don't know what to do. Any suggestions?????

thumper1

If you go the community college route for two years, your expenses will be far less, especially if you are able to live at home. Your larger expense would then be for only two years instead of four. It would also give you and your family those couple of years to plan for the expenses for your last two years.

But first...please talk to your parents. The debt you are thinking about is very high...find out how your parents can help you with college costs with minimal debt. See what they say.

mom2collegekids

Do you understand that if you go to a CC first then you won't need to borrow nearly as much since your first two years will not incur debt?

If your parents won't co-sign big loans or take out Plus loans, you're stuck anyway. Besides, that is way too much debt to take on....and NOT necessary.

It is VERY unlikely that you'd earn enough after graduation to pay back large loans. Do you have any idea of what you'd be earning upon graduation??? You're talking about borrowing $25k+ per year. You won't earn enough to pay all that debt back.

Going to a CC for 2 years first will give your family 2 years to figure out how to pay for your last 2 years of college. Over the next 2 years, work as much as you can saving for your last 2 years. Work full time during the next 2 summers.

I know this is disappointing, but when your family filled out FAFSA, it clearly asks about assets and you neglected to mention the rental - for some unknown reason.

you need to withdraw from UCSC. you will NOT have to pay for your housing there. That contract is only for attending students.

dodgersmom

First, let's be clear - it is your parents who must decide whether or not to take out a PLUS loan, not you. If you attend UCSC, they would have to borrow $28,000 (or more, depending on tuition increases) EACH of the four years you attend. It would be their debt, not yours, and it would be up to them to pay it back.

You could help to reduce their expense slightly by getting summer jobs each year and working part-time during the school year. You could also eventually move off campus to reduce your housing expense.

If this is more than they can afford, and you still want to attend UCSC, then you'd need to attend a LOCAL community college for two years. It has to be local so that you can live at home and keep your expenses down. After that, you transfer to UCSC. Your parents would still need to pay for you - but it would be for two years only, instead of four. As noted above, if you start working year-round immediately (full-time during the summers and part-time during the school year), and save the money, you'd be able to help them out quite a bit with the expense.

Your other option is to take a year off - and that means no school at all for a year! - and apply to colleges where you'd be eligible for significant merit aid. I know it might sound impossible, but if your GPA and SAT/ACT scores are high enough, there are schools that will cover most or all of your cost to attend. But this will only work if you apply as a freshman. If you go to another school for a year (even part-time) and then try to apply to one of these schools as a transfer student, you won't get the money you need.

The schools listed here and here offer guaranteed merit aid if your grades and scores are high enough. All you have to do is apply early, before the school runs out of money. Look at some of the school links and see if you'd qualify. Yes, most of the schools would be quite far away, but school would be paid for!

Sit down with your parents and explain to them how much they'd have to pay (each year!) for you to attend UCSC. Maybe they can afford it - perhaps by borrowing the money against the rental house. If they can't, then you need to come up with a different plan.

Good luck!

cptofthehouse

Do understand that if your family owns $700k in realestate with no loans against it, that is a major asset right there. They do get a break on their primary residence since FAFSA does not include that at all in the assets. Most people do not have such holdings.

shoboemom

I wonder how common this is, with budget cuts being the norm right now. I know you said that this was a state school, were you in state or OOS? Does anyone have info on how common this is, or if it happens more at state or private schools? That risk would seem an important thing to consider when making the final college choice.

cptofthehouse

In some states, NY included, there have been times when no decision is made to continue a program, such as our state TAP and the student is left in limbo over the dispute. So far, the program has continued to be funded, but the votes and passage have been after the start of school year on occasion. Most schools assume that the program will squeak by and await the legislative outcome on that assumption.

But I would not be surprised if that is not always what happens in other states and situations.

But in the OP's case, his aid cut is directly attributalbe to the fact that he left off a rather major asset on his FAFSA. That means the aid awarded before that asset was in the picture is not going to happen. If he and his family cannot afford what the college is now going to cost, he can't go. Can't conjure up money, just like that. It happens a lot to many students which is why anyone who is counting on awards of any sort for college absoutely should have a fail safe option at hand that has an affordable sticker price and is sure to take you.

lerkin

OP,

is there a mortgage on the house?

GTalum

OP, talk with your parents. It may be that they don't need to take to take such large loans, or that they can take out a much lower interest mortgage for the rental house. They may have already planned to do so.