This is a very common situation among students that don’t understand that the universities have to look at the whole family’s finances.
Even if your father is not currently your primary caretaker, your father is still your father.
Universities have a finite set of dollars. They meet demonstrated need as they see it. No one is going to give you a full ride unless they need an athlete or a celebrity or the next Stephen Hawking. They have to try and fund as many students as possible with their limited funds. The first financial responsibility for a student are the parents. It’s called using the “Bank of Mom and Dad”.
When you are a child of divorced parents, it doesn’t change the fact that there are two individuals that are supposed to be funding their child’s education.
The bottom line is you cannot afford this university. You cannot take a loan for $45,000 on your own. The most that you can take out for a yearly loan is $5500 per year.
Yes, we understand, as parents that you’ve worked hard to get into these schools, but if the money isn’t there, it’s just not going to materialize. Where do you expect them to get it from? A large number of students don’t realize that their parents didn’t save these large amounts of money for college, so they have to find affordable schools.