Looking for a college close to Robert Morris (Moontownship Area) that I could get a good teaching degree from?
Please give the whole story here. You are NOT a PA resident. You need an affordable college in PA. In addition, you are a junior transfer student.
Okay I never used this site before. I am a student from WV looking for an affordable college around $20,000 a year close to Robert Morris University. I am getting an apartment near there and would like it to be close. I am junior transfer with a 3.20 GPA (Cum.)
You’ve been a CC member since March and have used the site enough to start several threads.
The cost of attendance at West Virginia University is just under $20,000 a year. You are instate for that college. Go,there.
Slippery Rock and California University of PA are the closest PA state universities to Moon Township, though neither one is very close (~an hour away). There are many private schools in the greater Pittsburgh area, but most of them are more expensive than Robert Morris. Why not go to one of the WV state schools, where you would get instate tuition rates?
Where are you getting $20k? You can only borrow $7500 as a junior. With a $962 EFC you may get $5k Pell. That leaves you ~$8k/year short. Are you planning to try to pay for rent, utilities, and food on top of that?
She is also hoping for an additional $4000 in loans if her parents are again denied a Plus Loan.
That leaves $4000. With a job, might be doable…at West Virginia University where the cost of attendance is $20,000 a year for instate students.
It’s NOT going to work in PA. Not t RMU. Not at Slippery Rock (COA $28,000).
I haven’t heard any compelling reason why this student NEEDS to live near RMU. None.
I think her boyfriend is in PA.
@kenadeek, Are there any schools you can commute to from your parents’ home? Students can’t borrow money on their own. You just don’t have enough to pay the remaining costs at a PA college because you’re not a resident. Take advantage of your residency status in W. VA. and get your degree there. You can always go to PA after you get your degree.
Is your boyfriend in college too? If he can’t afford to go to W.VA., then I’d plan to see him during long weekends and breaks.
I don’t know why you guys are judging me so bad for me wanting to be near RMU. It’s kind of rude. You don’t know my whole situation. Nobody can afford college most student are on student loans anyway. I am trying to limit my cost. I have a workstudy at RMU which pays about $400 a month plus an another job which pays about $400 a month also. My rent is $300 a month which leaves me with $500 left to use on food and I get my books on Amazon. I am even considering going to CCAC for two years bc they have online program for Teaching and then they allows to transfer to a 4 year institution.
CCAC is only $7,000 a year and that is without financial assistance for out of state
I don’t think people are trying to be rude, but pointing out that almost any private or OOS college is going to cost more than Direct student loans and Pell can cover. How much do you need for just tuition? $20,000 per semester? So where will that come from? You need all the workstudy and job money for living expenses. You’ll have $5000 Pell plus $12500 as a loan (if parents are denied Plus loan). That’s great, $17,500, but you need $40000! It just isn’t there.
You can look at public schools near RMU but you are OOS and the tuition is going to be too expensive. You can only get work study at RMU if you go there. Another school might award you w/s, but it’s getting late in the application cycle.
It is so hard to know when something just won’t work, and this just won’t work. My daughter goes to a school that she couldn’t attend without her merit scholarship, her athletic scholarship, some instate scholarships, and her student loan. And she knows that. If any one of those goes away, her whole structure fails. You need more in your structure to get to $40k per year, or you need to go to a different school. You can’t be a teacher in PA if you don’t finish school and you can’t finish school if you can’t pay the tuition, but you could get a WV license and then take any additional classes you need to get licensed in PA.
I don’t understand why I can’t go to a community college in pa graduate then get my masters at bigger college ?
I thought you already had 2 years of school. If you’re a rising junior, you probably have too many credits to be able to attend a community college. Once you get an associate’s degree, you’d still have to go to a 4-year school for your bachelor’s. How will you pay for that in 2 years if you can’t cover it now?
Some community colleges do grant 4 year degrees, but most do not, and not in every major. You need to check the PA community colleges and see what degrees they grant. Most community colleges only grant associates degrees, and then you transfer to a 4 year college to complete a BS or BA. You need a BS or BA to get accepted to a master’s program.
It is more of the other way, there are 4 -year schools that also give associates degrees. However, in order for OP to get a teaching degree and be eligible for a teach grant, she needs to be pursuing a bachelors degree. Op needs to attend a school in WV, where she can commute. She would also be served, going to a brick and mortar school so that they can assist her in setting up her student teaching (required) and walking her through the process of getting her state certification in teaching (which can be very challenging and can take a very long time if you are trying to do everything on your own)
All of this is gone if you are not attending RMU
If you are very well organized and self-disciplined, and want to consider an online program, check out Western Governor’s University, which is non-profit, accredited, inexpensive, and has a very good teaching program.
It does not make sense to pay the same tuition as WVU or more to go attend a community college where you cannot get the degree you need.
It does not make sense to attend IUP or Clarion or CalU or Slippery Rock at twice the tuition cost of WVU, when they are the same distance or further from Pittsburgh than WVU.
People are trying to help you get the teaching degree you want, but in another thread we were not given enough information or in bits and pieces to give you the best advice for your situation.
And you might not like it but the reality is that you can only count on the Pell grant in PA, and the student loan. That is not going to cover OOS tuition at a public or private PA school. And if it covers tuition, then not your living costs.
At WVU you probably would qualify for a state grant, Pell, and maybe TEACH grant, depending on the education major you are in, not all qualify. Then you could find an apt if you cannot commute from home, with roommates it should be more affordable.
WVU is not that far and you could afford to go there and finish your degree.
I still don’t understand why you left the first college, if you only had to pay $69. And then transferred to RMU where tuition is $30,000. But the past is the past, now you need a feasible plan to get your degree with the aid you have available.
I would try to limit the loan amount you take out as well. Elementary teachers don’t earn a high salary, at least in rural PA where I’m from.
In Pennsylvania, community colleges mostly lead to a system known as PASSHE. Those used to be teaching colleges so you can get your teaching licensure at all of them. You can spend two years at a cc then two years at a PASSHE sxhool to become a teacher.
What township is RMU in and what PASSHE school is nearest?
NOTE: work study is typically linked to enrollment at a college. How do you get work study at RMU without enrolling there?
RMU is in moon township the closet PASSHE school is in California PA which is an hour away, is there anyway I could take classes online.