nike0518

if i get student loans to pay off the rest of what fafsa and scholarships dont cover...will my parents have to pay any money?????

i dont want my parents to pay anything and i dont mind having to pay that back...but i heard that you need a parents signature for me to get finacial aid...so my parents want to know if they will have to pay anything?

if i do require a signature for finacial aid does it require both parents signature or could it be just one???

thumper1

What is the money amount of loans you want? There is a limit to what you, the student, can get without a cosigner.

One of your parents MUST sign the financial aid application forms (FAFSA and Profile if required).

You, the student, can take out stafford loans in your name only. These are $5500 for freshmen, $6500 for sophomore, and $7500 for junior and senior years.

Some lower income students also receive Perkins loans which are in the name of the student, but I personally have not heard of a Perkins that was more than $3000 for a year.

Any loans above those amounts will REQUIRE a cosigner and that is typically your parents. You cannot take out loans in excess of the Stafford and Perkins in your name only.

nike0518

alright but will my parents be obligated to pay any of that???
or i can pay the whole thing and my parents dont have to worry about paying??
what is the effect on parents?

cptofthehouse

If you take the Stafford loans and/or the Perkins loans, and sometimes loans that the school itself is lending YOU, not them, only you are obligated to pay them back. The loans die with you.

If your parents take out the Direct Loans for Parents, often called PLUS, you have nothing to do with them, and THEY are obligated to pay them back, every penny of it, though you can have a separate agreement with your parents to make the payments. The loans go exclusively on your parent's credit report and even if you have such an agreement, as far as the federal government, the lenders, are concerned, they will just go after your parents and any late payments or non payment are entirely on them. However, if you or they should die, the loan is forgiven.

The way private student loans work, is that though you have to take out the loans, a credit worthy person with income and ability to repay verifiied, has to cosign for them. So the loans go on BOTH of your credit reports and will affect both of your credits. When the time comes for YOU to repay the loans, if you don't, if you are late, if you die, if you are disabled, or for whatever reason, they do not get paid on schedule, it is noted on BOTH credit records and the lender will go after your Parent or whoever the cosigner is, as that person is EQUALLY responsible and obligated to pay every penny including interest and any late charged on that loan.

Hopefully that makes the various types of loans and their effects on your parents, crystal clear.

nike0518

yup crystal clear thnx for the info looks like im not getting private loans or the plus loans.... lol i would hate to have to make my parents be responsible

mom2collegekids

What is your situation?

What is the cost breakdown of the school?

What is the aid breakdown in your FA pkg?

How will you cover any gaps?

nike0518

well its going to cost around 24 grand a year...for 4 years...

but im not a senior im going to be a junior this year
sorry if i misled you all to think i was already going to college...
i just wanted to know so i could explain it to my mom...she was thinking that all the debt would come down on her and i just wanted to make sure that it wouldnt

sybbie719

The FAFSA does not cover anything. All it does is determine your eligibility federal aid: grants, federal work study and loans.

Your parents fill out the fafsa at Home - FAFSA on the Web-Federal Student Aid (the application is free). They will fill out the FAFSA and once it is processed, they will receive a SAR (Student Activity Report), which will list their EFC (expected family contribution).

As long as their Federal EFC is below $4995, you will be eligible for a minimum pell grant of $577. If your family's EFC is $4996, you get 0, because you are not Pell eligible.

http://ifap.ed.gov/dpcletters/attach...tSchedules.pdf

Financial aid is given based on the following

Cost of attendance (tuition, room board, books, misc)- EFC (based on the income and assets of both of your parents) = Demonstrated need

or

COA-EFC= DEMONSTRATED NEED.

Your parents are expected to pay their EFC

Please be reminded that the school determines how it is going to meet your need.

From the look of your post you are interested in attending UT Austin.

1. Are you a texas resident? this will determine how much tuition you will have to pay.

If you are a Texas resident, the current cost of attendance is $12,133-$12,829 a semester of $24,266-$25,658 a year (tuition will go up)

If you are out of state= the cost of attendance is ~50k /year

While tuition for in-state is $4,673-5,369 per semester or $9346-10,378 per year. Room and board is an additional $10,422/year (unless you commute from home)

Keep in mind that UT Austin is a school that does not meet 100% demonstrated need. any shortfall in your financial aid package will have to be made up by you/your family (most likely your parents, because you will get probably max out on loans in your financial aid package.

Best case scenario: your family is extremely low income with a 0 EFC:

You would receive $5550 in Pell, 5500 in loans or 11,050. this will cover your tuition.
If you are a texas resident, you could be eligible for a state grant (someone from Texas will have to chime in here). In order to be eligible for a Texas grant, you will need to have an EFC of less than $4,000.

For 2012-2013, the maximum amount is:

$7,400 per year for public universities and state college students

College For All Texans: TEXAS Grant

If your family has a 0 EFC, your financial aid package may look like this

$5550 Pell grant
5500 Stafford loan
7400 Texas grant

total $18,450 making UT Austin not doable as an in-state resident if you plan to live on campus based on a cost of attendance of $25,658. there is a short fall of 7508, which your parents will be responsible for paying.

Lets say your EFC is 4000 Your financial aid package may look like this

Pell $800
Texas grant 7400
Loans 5500

total 13,700 Based on the COA 25658, your parents will need to come up with almost $12,000

Lets say that your EFC is 4001

No texas grant
Pell $750
Stafford loans 5500
total $6,250

$25,658 -$6250 =$19,408 (the amount that your parents will have to come up with in order for you to live on campus at UT Austin.

cptofthehouse

To put some things into perspective for you, first of all, your parents are considered responsible for the final determination of where you go to school and for paying for it, despite your being an adult. You cannot be independent of them for college financial aid purposes without being married, having a legal dependent, being a veteran or having a court order or until attaining age 24. Just as your parent picked your high school, so it works with college, though most parents let the student have a lot of input, some parents all. But the bottom line, is that they are on the hook to pay whether they want to or like to do so. If they won't, that's their choice, but other than through some financial aid and scholarships, it's up to them.

If your family income is very low, and there are few or no assets, then there is some Federal and sometimes state aid. Sybbie has gone into that in some detail. If you are a highly desired student at a college with good grades, high test scores, or other special talent, you could get merit money at some schools.

Most families are not considered "poor" enough to get a lot of aid for their students, nor do they have the money for their kids to go to college, especially away to college. Like boarding school, it costs money to go away to school and someone has to pay for it.

So what do most people do about college if there is no money to pay for it from the parents, the parents really can't or won't borrow, and the scholarships and financial aid are not there? Most students continue to live at home and go to a local state or community college where the costs are usually affordable. Freshmen can borrow up to $5500 to cover tuition, fees, books, travel, etc. So most college students still live at "home" with parents covering living expenses (valued at about $10K a year), and with the loans and a part time or maybe full time job, they make ends meet.

mom2collegekids

well its going to cost around 24 grand a year...for 4 years...

but im not a senior im going to be a junior this year
sorry if i misled you all to think i was already going to college...
i just wanted to know so i could explain it to my mom...she was thinking that all the debt would come down on her and i just wanted to make sure that it wouldnt


Well, it's a good think you're not a rising college frosh. You need to first determine whether you'd qualify and get any aid. FAFSA doesn't give aid. it's just an app to see if you qualify for any federal aid, which isn't much.

You need to have the best grades and test scores to have the best options. Then apply to the right schools that will give you the best aid and/or merit scholarships.

Are you low income? Is your mom a single parent?

ohiobassmom

Good for you for thinking of this early in the process. So many kids wait until it's too late to learn this stuff.

cptofthehouse

You are truly to be commended to be thinking of this early. I started a thread that is on Page 2 of this secton titled. "How Families Sometime Do it" that gives you a real life example of a cousin who just went through all of this. He has good grades and test scores, not tip top, but very good, and a family income considered upper middle class where a hefty family contribution is expected for him to go away to college.

nike0518

ok every one as of right now my dad is unemployed....my mom has one job for dallas county........ i am a texas resident ....i live in dallas texas ...and i do want to go to ut austin...im pretty sure that living at home with my parents is not possible because austin is like 3 hours away....and we are not rich ...i think we are on the low low low end of middle class or high end of lower class...when can i do the fafsa and check how much finacial aid i can get because im not a senior im barely going to be a junior

swimcatsmom

You can't do FAFSA until January of the year you starting college - so January 2014 if you are just now going to be a junior. You will use your parent's 2013 income.

FAFSA itself will not tell you what you can get in financial aid. The schools you apply to will use FAFSA to determine your aid. It will vary according to each school's policies.

cptofthehouse

You can run numbers through the FAFSA estimator to get an idea what your EFC is. You can also check out the Net Price Calculators for a number of school. FInd out what state programs there are that can give you aid and if you have a possibility of being eligible for such funds.

However, be aware that UT Austin does not guarantee to meet full need, nor does it most of the time. Admissions to that school also make it a reach, but an acceptance does not mean your way is paid even with financial need. Please start looking around for local schools were you know you will be accepted and that you know you can afford. Once you have a couple of such schools on your list, start putting down other schools with "if" factors. You apply where ever you want with impunity once you have your base covered.

Be aware that the numbers may be very different when your dad does get a job. That he was unemployed and things remain tight while your family has to catch up is not taken into consideration in awarding financial aid.