<p>I have some questions that I hope arent too silly. Heres some background information that may or may not be relevant. I graduated high school in 2003 as valedictorian (only 14 students in class though), but my GPA was only a 3.7-ish. At that time, I had no desire for education so I did the bare minimum most of the time. Now several years later Im interested.
I have the Post-9/11 GI Bill (Chapter 33) for 36 months and already used all 10 months of my Montgomery GI Bill (Chapter 30) benefits. For the first 10 months (Aug of last year to present) I have been taking classes at a local community college. If everything goes as planned, Ill graduate in December with an AS of Business. Each semester so far Ive had a 4.0 GPA and Deans honor roll. I am a member of Phi Theta Kappa.
The great thing about the Post-9/11 GI Bill is that it covers 100% of tuition and pays a lump sum that covers most of the books. The problem that Im running in to is that in order make use of the next 36 months benefits, Ill need to relocate or commute to get to a four-year university.
I know University of Oklahoma offers a small list of degrees 100% online, and thats a possibility, but real-life classes are much better. With my job, I can relocate to about 10 or 12 different states and still work. I work 40-50 hours per week, have a child in elementary and a wife thats also going to school and working full time.
My ideal situation would be to get an apartment near OU where I and my family could temporarily live while I get my degree. My wife could find work as needed and my child could attend a nearby elementary. I just dont have the money to get an apartment and keep our permanent house.
Now to the question: Since my tuition is covered, and my grades are decent, what are the chances of OU providing assistance with living expenses?</p>
<p>Public universities don’t have much need-based institutional aid to give. The little they have they use for incoming high stats freshmen as an incentive to enroll.</p>
<p>Public rely heavily on the low amounts of federal aid…such as Pell and student loans.</p>
<p>You will probably be offered student loans… Do you qualify for Pell?</p>
<p>Don’t you get living expenses with your post 9/11 GI bill? I don’t know your situation but my d who will get her father’s benefits is eligible for 4 standard years of tuition at the state tuition rate plus housing allowance of a married staff sergeant at that location plus 1000 for books. Many schools also offer the yellow ribbon program to help or totally make up the deficit from the GI bill. We aren’t planning on paying anything for her except for small incidentals.</p>
<p>You are correct, I do receive a monthly housing allowance with Chapter 33, but this is my first month so I’m not sure the exact amount. I doubt it will be enough to allow me to get an apartment on or near campus though.</p>
<p>How would I go about finding out for sure? Do I just call an advisor at the university and ask straight-out?</p>
If you attend the University of Oklahoma your housing stipend will be $918/month according to the calculator on the website.
You also get money for books.</p>
<p>The clincher - the housing stipend only pays you during the months you are actually in school.</p>
<p>As a transfer you probably won’t be eligible for much in the way of merit based aid. I think at my daughter’s school the highest transfer scholarship is a partial tuition waiver of around $2500, considerably lower than the highest freshman scholarship.</p>
<p>So any money you get will likely be based on what your financial need is. That will be based on your income. For Spring 2011 it will be based on your 2009 income but for fall 2011 it will be your 2010 income. You will need to file FAFSA to determine your EFC to see what aid you are eligible for.</p>
<p>I don’t think the GI bill money is counted as income for the purposes of determining the EFC. I’m not 100% sure but I think I read that somewhere. But I am not sure if it reduces your need when the school is determining your financial aid. Schools do include allowances for living expenses in their COA which is used along with your EFC to determine your “need”.</p>
<p>You might check your mortgage to find out if you could sublet/rent out your permanent home while you attend OU. If it is near another school, there may be students you could rent to during the school year. Just a thought.</p>