<p>Hi, thanks for reading my post. Hope you can help.
I went to college for about 2 years but didn’t transfer (was doing a transferable only degree). I had financial aid and was living at home. Got a job which I thought was going to be good for me. Ended up losing my FAid because I was focusing more on the job and got a couple of Fs. 4 years later, here I am, not able to pay for school and without a degree. I no longer live at home. I am old enough to file and not include my mother’s income (single mom who could not pay for my college). I recently applied and got rejected. I need to find out how this works. Also, I had a problem at work in which I (without knowing) filed tax exempt for about 1-2 years. Now I owe about 3-4 thousand in taxes. I would like to know what affects my eligibility the most: </p>
<p>1- Lost financial aid in the past.
2- Owe taxes
3- Make too much (yet not enough to pay for college)</p>
<p>I really want to go back to school. For 4 years I’ve worked in the same company, I’ve been able to learn a lot, yes, but still I’m stuck. I’ve now reached a point in which I have to go back and do things right from the start.</p>
<p>Also, the company I work for will soon terminate my employment because the branch I work at will change ownership. Is this something that I can take advantage of? I am sure the owner will hire me, but I no longer want that. I don’t want a job, I want a career. </p>
<p>Is unemployment a deterministic aspect to be eligible for Financial Aid. </p>
<p>Please help! I want to go back to school really bad. I now realize I made a big mistake when putting a job in front of a career. I don’t care about not having money. Anyways I don’t have it now. But I need to know if the decision of not accepting the new hire can help me get help so I can go back to school. </p>
<p>Are you trying to get back into the same school that you attended a few years ago? If it is the same school and you received some F’s that may be a factor. My personal opinion is that your income is the bigger issue. If you are single, with no dependents, and a decent income, colleges feel that you can contribute a lot of money toward your education. I don’t think the tax bill owing is a factor, as FAFSA doesn’t look at old tax information, only the previous year’s tax return.
Regarding the future unemployment issue, schools use last year’s tax returns in their income calculations, so you may not be able to “benefit” from your unemployment until next year. Have you applied for admittance and financial aid at more than one school? If so, are they all turning you down completely for aid? Maybe start out at a Community College first and then transfer?</p>
<p>For someone in your situation, finding a local college that will permit you to take loose classes as an unmatriculated student is the way to go. If you take some courses over the year, including the summer and do well in them, you will have a huge advantage in getting accepted. Our local SUNY will permit anyone to take certain courses without applying for admissions as will any number of schools. It’ll take a little longer to get into a program but,yes, you can get into such classes.</p>
<p>As for financial aid, I don’t know how eligibility works for some one in your situation but a counselor in the adult education division of any college can go over the situation. You can find out if you are eligible for financial aid again. Do complete the FAFSA and see if you qualify for PELL. There also may be state programs. You can also qualify for loans. You will have this transitional year when you are not in a program yet, and taking classes just to get back on track, but if you work this right, you can get back into a degree granting program in a year or so.</p>
<p>You need to get happy with the IRS right away. I am assuming you have some agreement with them in which you are on a repayment program? If not, then meet with an accountant and get that going. Then you can honestly say to the college “I am currently actively resolving my tax issue.”</p>
<p>I am unclear that you got rejected a) from the college where you attended before or b) from financial aid. </p>
<p>I would make an appointment with the Admissions office of the college and go inquire, in person, about what it would take to get you enrolled again. They will either tell you “No way”, in which case you need to find another school or they will lay out the steps you need to make to get going again. It may be that you need to retake those classes you failed before – or repay the financial aid granted earlier. Either way the process should be made clear to you and you’ll know what your options are. </p>
<p>A person CAN get educated. You may have slammed the door shut on that particular school but there are others. Please be wary of online colleges (which will be quick to loan you money and slow to help you to graduation). Try and get to a community college or small college that caters to older students (there are some). Hang in there.</p>
<p>Thank you for your response. Yes, I’m currently in the process of resolving my IRS issue. The school I used to go to is a Community College and all that is fine, I will not have any problem going back again, to take the classes I need to later transfer to a 4-year. I actually took more classes after I lost my financial aid, which I paid from my pocket… but I just couldn’t continue. Although I was taking just a few credits, it still was a lot of money for me. </p>
<p>By your responses I get the idea that the school has a saying on whether I get the financial aid or not. It’s that correct or did I just understood wrong? When I applied for FAFSA I enlisted 3 different colleges. When I received the rejection letter, they didn’t specify any school.</p>
<p>Was your FAFSA rejected then? I suspect that may be due to unresolved tax issues. Whatever you do, make sure you have paid your taxes plus back taxes before leaving a job and attending school.</p>
<p>The reason that OP was rejected because he did not fulfill the SAP requirements (a couple of F’s is not satisfactory academic progress toward a degree). IF he wants to go back to school, ne needs to straighten out his school situation. Taking courses as a non-matriculated student is probably not going to help him.</p>
<p>He needs to meet with his old school to discuss being reinstated. He can talk about how he has matured over the past 4 years and how he believes that he can successfully do college work. If his school does grade replacement, he needs to retake the courses where he got the F’s so that they can come off of his transcript and raise his GPA to the point where he is eligible for financial aid. This will also help him recover from any academic warning/probation issues he may have which may also prevent him from transferring to another school. Unfortunately, he will have to pay out of pocket until he can correct this.</p>
<p>As far as the job is concerned, in this economy I would not be so quick to quit a job or place myself in a layoff position unless you have another job on the horizion (it is easier to get a job when you have a job). I know people who have been unemployed for almost 2 years because they have not been able to find work. In addition, you need to find out if your job gives anything for tuition assistance, cos a few $$ could help.</p>