No loans for low-income families

Paying for College
1

<p>Hello, I am a rising senior with plans to go into music. </p>

<p>My family’s annual income is around $22k-25k. We have a family of four. I have used EFC calculators, and my EFC would be 0. I can either go to a state school, or go to a decent school with no loan policies. The ones that I’m interested in are U of I, Northwestern, and Rice. Can anyone confirm the legitimacy of these policies? From what I researched, attending any of these three schools would be close to free. And if anyone has an idea of how much I would get from Indiana or Oberlin, that would be great. Thank you so much!</p>

2

<p>emory would be free too if you can get in</p>

3

<p>You should contact Questbridge. You family is within the income guidelines</p>

<p>[QuestBridge</a> Home](<a href=“QuestBridge”>http://questbridge.org/)</p>

4

<p>scroll down and read about some of these schools as well.</p>

<p>[Project</a> on Student Debt: Financial Aid Pledges](<a href=“http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php]Project”>http://projectonstudentdebt.org/pc_institution.php)</p>

5

<p>Understand that there are schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need or close to it with or without loans in the package, and schools that do not. Most schools that use FAFSA only, in fact nearly all of such schools, do not meet 100% of need. Uof I is such a school. Unless you have stats that put you into a program that guarantees you a full ride, you are not guaranteed to get a full need met package from your state schools and all you may get are the loans and PELL. </p>

<p>The problem is that those schools that tend to be most generous with aid are also the ones most difficult to gain admissions. So they absolutely cannot be your safety schools . If you have stats that make you a good candidate for such schools, by all means have them on your list. Also look at some schools where you will be a prize for such stats that also have some nice merit awards. They may offer you a generous package. </p>

<p>The most important schools on your list will be the ones you know you can afford that will definitely take you. Those should be some local schools where you can commute and where your PELL and other awards will take care of your full cost with borrowing Stafford money as a good buffer. Some local privates may also be of consideration if you know that they are likely to ante up some incentive money to make it worth while for you to commute there. </p>

<p>Illinois, sadly, has become a state with high tutions for its universities, something not the case when I lived there.</p>

6

<p>You will also need to make sure you create a balanced list of schools in terms of admissions. From your screen name I assume you are looking at vocal music and are a soprano? Because music school admissions is competitive you will want to have schools that you can afford that range in artistic selectivity.</p>