Affording college apartments

cewillm
Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:04:22 +0000

Hi,

I am currently a sophomore and commuting this year because I didn’t have my finances set straight at the end of last year. Anyway, my school absolutely has no housing for Juniors and up, and instead they have private apartment complexes build on their property.

As a student, I can’t apply the bill to my tuition. I also have a weird financial situation:

I have about $32,000 left as a college fund from my grandmother. I go to a state school and pay about $5000 per year. I get about $5000 in grants and scholarships, which seems like a pittance.
The apartments have a 1-year lease and are not billable to tuition; they expect monthly payments.
To access my fund each bill has to be transported across the country to be signed by my aunt and uncle. I can’t do this every month.


So, I technically have the money to pay for an apartment bill, but no real way to access it. I am hoping to get get loans next year to pay for my bill in full, then to get enough extra to pay for an apartment. I’d just pay back the loans with my savings after graduating.

With this situation, I don’t really know what to do. I am scheduling a financial aid meeting this week, but I’d appreciate hearing constructive suggestions. Do keep in mind that my parents do NOT have the money to pay for housing, and “getting a job” doesn’t help when the apartment bill is $600-$800 monthly.

(cross-posted in Financial Aid and Student Life, because they have very different audiences. If one post must be deleted, remove the Student Life thread.)