You now need to use those brains to come up with a way to pay for college. The FAFSA EFC does not include noncustodial parent finances and is nearly always the LEAST you can expect to pay after financial aid. If you are coming up empty for aid dollars with your mother’s info alone, it is highly unlikely you are going to get much, if any, financial aid from colleges, as the more generous ones tend to look at BOTH parents ‘ financials.
So, you need to look at what you have, what you can earn and save, (I’d pay mom for expenses so the money isnt sitting in your account to be dinged more severely in the financial aid process where student assets are hit up harder), what you can afford locally and in state, cheaper OOS options and merit money.
You’ve started early, you are aware of your financial issues, so you are ahead of the game. Go to it with the research!
Engineering is often an oversubscribed program so getting money or even a seat at schools can be a challenge. You may need to take a more circuitous route to get a ME degree. You have good stats but not great. Start looking at alternate ways to get what you want.
Boy. I didn’t not study. I just didn’t do as much as I could. There isn’t anything within distance of home except for a local community college. I quite frankly couldn’t live at home for another few years so that wouldn’t be an option. Thanks for the help ?
IIT in Chicago might be an option with a higher Act like 33/34. They do tend to give money away for Chicago Students like CPS. Are you in the City or Suburbs? UIUC has new scholarships. IIT has some free tuition spots for CPS kids.
Iowa State is a great match for you and also a good engineering school. Might want to look into their co-op opportunity and really at any school. This way you go longer but work your way through school.
Co-op is part of their program and you earn money to pay for school plus you get work experience. It’s like hands on engineering learning. Know kids that went there and really liked this atmosphere.
Michigan tech could be interesting. If your parents were in the military you could get instate tuition. Not sure about merit money there but Iowa State might be cheaper. Going to be hard to beat ISU or Alabama cost. Look into Kentucky and other southern states schools also.
Not in CPS. In a highly ranked HS in the suburbs. We’re kind of the poorer people in a rich town. Parents weren’t in the military. Neither of them went to schools that offer engineering/has a good program. I think I’ll be able to get my ACT to a 31-32. I did the net price on Iowa State and got $20000 yearly. Normally it would be $27,000 but for some reason it gave me $7000 in a grant so if that’s true than Iowa would probably be cheaper than most Illinois schools and would be worth it due to it’s higher ranking.
Where did your siblings go to college? You might have to start out the way they did. You can’t always get to a goal directly. I know a number of kids who had to come to the conclusion that living st home, as much as they hated the idea,?was by far the best option. They went to community college, worked and stashed the mobey, borrowing the Direct Loan amounts and putting them away too, and finished up at state Universities That was the only way they could do it. It costs money to go away to college and if parents won’t pay, a straight out of high school student can’t swing it on their own.
That, by the way, was my main option for college. As it was for my brothers. Our college plans were free tuition my dad got for his kids due to his job, but only to the school to which he was affiliated. And though he was generous with “3 squares and a cot”, there was no money for sleep away school. Financial aid covered about half of private school costs for us, so that was a dead end. Only way, we were going to go away to college was through scholarships. We all got ROTC scholarships (one sibling ended up at military academy) as well as other awards and that’s how we did it. That and the sweat equity. I worked through college, summers and even started early, having a stash from high school work and gift savings.
Your situation is not unusual. It’s quite common. A lot of kids do not qualify for enough financial aid to pay for sleep away college or private or OOS options, but their parents cannot or will not pay what it takes to go that route either.
Check out Manhattan College and some other Catholic engineering school options, as well as inexpensive OOS schools that have the programs you want, without the name recognition that makes it super competitive to get money. Also look for back door ways to get where you want.
They went to local colleges that were expensive. They got aid because of my mom not having a job. I was kind of considering ROTC. I’m not completely against it. Iowa State would be cheaper than a lot of instate options. I’d come out with about $50,000 in debt with my engineering degree if all went well.
Most important question…how much WILL you be getting annually from your parent(s) to cover college costs?
Yes, it does.
Forget about “rankings” for engineering. You should be looking a ABET accreditation at the colleges that interest you.
My husband went to a college for engineering that, guaranteed, isn’t in the top 1000 of colleges. BUT it had a fine accredited engineering program. He has had a very very successful career as an engineer.
So…look at some of the programs above. Utah, IIRC, isn’t that costly, AND I believe you can gain instate tuition status after the first year. @twoinanddone is that correct?
UAH is a smaller school with slightly lower stats, but it is in a huge Research Park and businesses are lined up to give co op and internship jobs to UAH students. And currently UAH offers outstanding tuition scholarships, although they have just stopped giving away free housing except for tippy top scores.
UAH offers ABET accredited Engineering Majors. Employers will insist on ABET degrees for ME. But they do not care where your degree is from. That helps you greatly.
Your search is simple. ABET engineering schools with automatic merit aid for GPA and test scores. UAH would offer you 100 percent tuition for 3.5 GPA and 30 ACT. They could adjust this scale for next year’s admission cycle, but if you study and retake ACT you should still get good aid.
ME majors can easily work co ops to earn great money to pay for their education. So it takes longer to graduate, but you get experience plus a higher hourly wage.
Currently, UAH uses whatever GPA is on your HS transcript to award merit aid. So if your HS uses weighted gpa, you benefit from that higher number.
UAH is in Huntsville AL, which is in all the top rankings for tech jobs, best and affordable places to live, and is blooming with arts, music and new restaurants.
UAH just released plans for new expansion of their campus to include more dorms in a mixed use area of restaurants, shopping and a park area. They are trying to grow into a more trafitional college town feel.
My S will attend UAH in the fall with free tuition, to study ME. He is looking forward to exploring all the outdoor recreation available around Huntsville.
Best of luck to you. If you follow the merit aid and plan to get co op work, you can get your ME degree.
How will you pay this? What is your EFC? How much can your mom pay each year?
You will be able to take $27K in loans over the four years ($5.5K, 6.5, 7.5, 7.5). So for the first year you can take out the loan $5.5K, maybe earn $3K working this summer plus whatever your mom has…does that equal $20K?
Then you will need to do that calculation for each year. You can probably earn $2,500 working during the school year too.
Lastly, not sure what ISU includes in their NPC, but you will have other costs—travel, books, incidentals, maybe health insurance if you are not covered on your mom’s policy.
Understand that YOU, alone can not borrow $50k. You can borrow $5500 freshman year$6500 sophomore and jr years and $7500 senior year. You need your parents to co-sign which is really the same as them taking on the debt but with you also on the hook ( it’s not a good deal) to get more. Also $50k is not $50k when you borrow because it starts accruing interest which is capitalized, the instant you get the funds. Costs go up each year too. So your $59k projection, almost certain to be more. Stuff happens in life, expensive stuff that tends to mess up tight financial planning, as well.
Personally I think $50K is too much in debt for undergrad. That is a payment of $555 every month (using 6% interest) for 10 years. 10 years! Until your are 32 or so. A monthly payment that high will impact your lifestyle, even on an ME salary. https://mappingyourfuture.org/Paying/standardcalculator.cfm
When they co-sign, they are stuck if you die, or otherwise cannot pay. Goes on their credit report. Those loans usually last a looong time too, not like car loans. Also, you are stuck if anything happens to them. The PLUS system where only they sign (and you can sign a separate note saying you’d repay them is usually a better deal). Also, you are off the hook, credit wise and if they die or become disabled. Few parents( people, really) know all the ramifications of these loans. Again, you should be doing a lot of research. These loans are not s panacea.
I know a number of kids, engineers too, now stuck with repaying these loans and it’s a tough burden lasting long after college. You move on, after college, and those loan payments become obstructive. .
That, this is an alternative, yes, is to consider. However, I recommend you look for other affordable options. Engineers do start out high in wages as compared to most college grads but the pay often levels out. Engineering also an area where the program or school or name recognition do not amount to a whole lot. Paying for more name recognition is not likely to get you any commensurate payback.
Parent Plus loans are expensive…7.6% interest and 4.2% origination fee. People with good credit may be able to find a better deal at their bank, credit union or by taking a home equity loan.
OP, it does sound like your are in commuting distance of UIC. I know that is not your top option, but I encourage you to not dismiss it out of hand. Of course, I don’t know your current living situation, but if it could work to live at home you may save money.
Ask your Guidance Counselor which type GPA your school puts on your HS transcript. That is the GPA that UAH Admissions will use to determine scholarship.
