Matching safety for prospective CS student [MA resident, 3.8/1330, $0 parent contribution]

If your family won’t pay for any college, and you can only get $5500 in loans your first year, how would you get the rest of the money to total up to $20-25k?

If your family is not willing to contribute anything monetarily, find out if they are willing to support you by letting you live at home. If so, look into your local community college and take your first two years of classes there and then look into transferring, perhaps to UMass-Amherst or to Lowell. This is likely to be your “safety” option.

Will continue to think of other options for you.

ETA: I would also ask your family to run a FAFSA estimate (is it updated yet?). If it’s $6206 or less you may qualify for the MassGrant, and even if it’s above that, the MassGrant Plus may be an option for you at in-state schools.

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