To explain my background, I’m currently a Freshman (19) in a Texas University but recently found out through FAFSA that I’m not qualified for the pell grant anymore because they found out my parents live in a different country. It’s going to be a long explanation but here it goes.
I was born in the U.S., so I’m considered a U.S. citizen. I have a SSN and birth certificate and everything. But my parents are citizens of Korea. When I was very young, I moved over to Korea with them but came back over here by myself and continued elementary school here. But note that I was here by myself without my parents and I considered my uncle and aunt as my parents ever since (my uncle is the brother of my mother, and I really don’t have a connection with my aunt). Originally, my aunt never wanted me here but my uncle persuaded her into keeping me here because my uncle wanted a better future for me. So all my life I’ve considered them my parents although they never had legal rights over me… Then my uncle passed away during my junior year of high school and my relationship with my aunt grew worse…
I received financial aid for this year because I put down my aunt as my “parent” because I’ve lived with her technically for my entire life since 3rd grade and I’ve been putting her down as my mother since. FAFSA found out because I put down my aunts two children ( my cousins) as “cousin” but put my aunt down as “mother” while they put me down as “cousin” but put my aunt down as “mother”. This obviously made no sense to them and they said I needed to give them information about my BIOLOGICAL mother. They also told me that I’ve been committing fraud my entire life and that I needed to stop this immediately. I barely get financial aid now AND I’m a fraud. Great… Maximum Depression…
So now I won’t even be close to paying off the tuition. That’s the first problem. NOW my aunt is saying she is going to move out with her children and won’t have enough room for me. So on top of that I’m now getting kicked out.
Last semester I got a 3.8 and pretty much a set 4.0 this semester and it stinks that I have to move out…
I’ve been researching a lot and don’t really have many options except to take a gap year and find a job and apply at a community college and start over from there? I don’t have many options here and am in need of any help or advice. I do have a friend who lives in California and is willing to let me split rent until I can save enough money to move out and go to school. The only issue with that is going to be the out of state tuitions. Although De Anza College out of state tuition isn’t too bad compared to other California colleges. Maybe I could enroll half time while saving up money? Please any advice would be of help, thank you!!
Do your parents make any money in Korea? You can fill out the FAFSA correctly, using your bio parents and their income. You may get some money based on their income. This won’t change if you live in Texas or California.
You live in Texas right? If you move to California you’ll most likely have to start any residency periods over, and California takes at least 2 years of your supporting yourself before becoming a resident for tuition purposes. Why don’t you stay in Texas?
What are all of the benefits of waiting until I’m 24? I know I’ll be considered as an independent but how would it benefit me vs going to school part time as I’m working?
Yes my parents make money in Korea but a minimum amount. I believe my mother makes somewhere around 1000-1500 a month in USD which is only enough to support her and the rest of my family. Fafsa gave me an estimate of how much I’ll receive and loan but I’ll still need around 8-10k more per year to pay off my tuition on top of housing fees and I won’t be able to afford that.
I don’t want to stay here because I won’t be able to get an apartment as of right now. I have no credit nor do i make enough money to prove that I can pay off the apartment by myself. Living while paying off rent in California seems like a better idea since I won’t have to provide credit or income proof. I have about 1.5 grand saved up from left over financial aid from this year to pay for the first couple of months in Cali while I search for a job and start saving up.
Either way, I think I’m going to have to lay off school for at least a year while working but I do not know how hard it is to gain residency in California for me. Everywhere I’ve searched, it states that it’s almost impossible to gain residency for tuition purposes but technically if I won’t have a home anywhere but California and will be supporting myself so wouldn’t that make me qualified for gaining residency…?
For financial aid purposes, you are a dependent until you are 24. You can file the FAFSA with your parents’ income no matter where in the world they live. You just need to convert the figures to US$ at the exchange of the day.
Most public colleges and universities base a dependent applicant’s residence on the residence of their parents.You need to carefully read through the CA CC and university residency policies. It is most likely that you won’t be considered a CA resident because your parents don’t live in that state. You need to find out if you are considered a TX resident based on graduating from HS there and on the years that you lived there with your aunt and uncle. If you are a TX resident, your best bet is to figure out a way to support yourself (you would have to be doing that in CA too) and keep studying where you are.
Going to California will be expensive. The thing with Texas is that they have livable rates and you can support yourself.
Did your friend tell you how expensive it is to live and work in California?
If you plan on transferring to a California public, it will be extremely difficult.
You cannot accept help from anyone while you try to establish residency.
You will pay full fees at the CC’s plus, you have to pay market rental rates,utilities and transportation. That is if you can find a job with enough hours.
The public colleges will require diligent record keeping, a date of residency determination, and the filing of California state taxes.
Public transportation is awful in Southern California. Bay area transportation is better but the cost of living is insane. Governor Brown just signed a rate tax on gas, so everyone will be paying very high fees for transportation.