What are his best and favorite subjects?
At one time he said he wanted to be a heart doctor, then he considered engineering, and more recently agricultural science
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It appears that he’s not afraid of math and science …is he strong in math, bio, and chem? Which math level is he in? Has he taken AP exams
Minot State doesn’t have an out of state surcharge, offers modest awards, but I believe they would stack any outside aid (like a local community foundation scholarship) and it has a low CoA:
$5,400 tuition/yr
$1,410 fees/yr
$2,440 room/yr
$13,154
-1,500 minot state auto merit
-5,800 pell grant
354 (should be able to cover that with some graduation gift money)
Add a summer job and work study to help with books, transportation (you might even know some one with airline miles they’d book a flight for him) and pocket money.
https://www.minotstateu.edu/finaid/cost.shtml
https://www.minotstateu.edu/finaid/scholarships.shtml
Another inexpensive school is Dixie State in Utah. Utah allows students to gain in state residency regardless of where parents live. A gap year working resorts in Utah and this school is another completely doable option without winning a full ride. https://dixie.edu/
You’ll probably be able to find a better option, but rest assured that if college is what he wants, he can do it.
If he wants to get away, but your most affordable option is a commute from home consider a working summer away. Resorts in Utah, Cedar Point on Lake Eerie and other amusement parks offer dorms, plenty of work hours and a lot of ‘dorm life’ with kids his own age, but no homework to be distracted from or grades to mess up.
Another “get away from home” summer option–all the western National Parks’ (Yosemite, Yellowstone, Glacier, Grand Canyon, all the Alaska NPs, etc) contractors hire hundreds of college students to work hotel, restaurants & concessions. Summer employees get free housing in shared dorm rooms, 2 back-to-back days off each week, 40 hour work weeks, and above minimum wages. There are students from all over the world working at the Parks, plus there are thousands of international visitors each year.
My neighbor’s daughter worked at Kanai Fjords last summer. D2 and several of her friends all worked at Yellowstone. Other friends worked at Yosemite.
No, my student loans are from undergraduate. I graduated in 1997 and had different deferments and forbearances over the years(unemployed, economic hardship) and for a while now it has been on income based repayment and the payment is set at $0. We paid on my ex-husband’s student loans for several years with what I though was an agreement to pay his and then mine(he was working before I graduated), but after I became a SAHM he said the degree wasn’t worth anything to him and he wasn’t paying for it. After being out of the workforce for several years I have not had any luck getting a decent job yet, just cleaning a church.
I think at this point he is completely uncertain as to what his career goal or desired major would be, and it seems to change frequently. At this point I can’t contribute anything other than maybe a few hundred per year, my income for last year was $7,800 and then each of the kids receive a check for $252/month because their father is on disability. I believe that will stop at age 18 though so by the time this son starts college the amount will be reduced from $9,072 per year to $6,048 per year. Their father’s monthly amount was a little over $1,500 per month when we divorced so probably just a little more than that now. He has started working on another degree or certification recently so I don’t expect that he will help any, other than when he takes a notion to do a little something.
He will retake the ACT, I have been trying to push him to take the time and start studying for it, he has a practice book, internet access, and I paid extra to get a copy of the test he took last time. I will check on the SAT, I have never known anyone in our area that took it, but it might be available somewhere not too far from us.
Math and Science have been strong subjects, though his math grade this year is lower 90’s than previous years but I think that is because he has been late or missed that class several times(first period class). He has Algebra II/Trigonometry this year and I think next year will be pre-calc. They don’t have AP classes other than through online access, but he doesn’t seem to do well with those as the only B’s he has had have come from those type of classes. His first semester average for this year in math was 92, chemistry was a 97.