will my plan for paying for college work

Paying for College
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<p>i applied to Stephen f austin state university and i am waiting for their decision. the reasons i applied to sfa is that they offered the majors i am interested in and also they have a pretty good financial aid program. Sfa offers a program called the purple promise. the purple promise program pays the tuition for students whose families make less than 30k a year. My father who is a taxi driver makes below 30k, which makes me eligible for it.</p>

<p>if my tuition is out of the way, then the only thing left for me to pay for is my dorms and books. i was thinking that if i signed up for the federal pell grant, it could pay for my dorms and books. i heard that the pell grant can reach to about $5,000. dorms at sfa cost about around $4,000</p>

<p>will my plan work. i don’t think my grades are high enough to get a lot of merit aid, but i think i can recieve a lot of low income aid. </p>

<p>my stats are:
somali american. first person in my family to be born in america
high school senior.
class rank 457/766
gpa 2.76
sat score 1250, act score 17. taking them again</p>

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<p>In addition, you could do the Stafford loans for $5,500. You will probably also qualify for Federal Work Study money through the university which you earn via an on-campus job. Usually the award is about $2,500 per year.</p>

<p>As soon as you are accepted have a face to face meeting with their financial services people - building a personal relationship with that office may open the door to good things. For instance, it is not unusual for them to know of the better on-campus jobs - good pay, good hours, and study while on the job is ideal.</p>

<p>Room and Board (housing and meals) is $8,868 for the year btw - your figure sounded low to me.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.sfasu.edu/faid/basics/costofattendance.asp”>http://www.sfasu.edu/faid/basics/costofattendance.asp&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p><a href=“What is a Subsidized Student Loan? | Edvisors”>What is a Subsidized Student Loan? | Edvisors;

<p><a href=“Federal Work-Study (FWS) Program”>http://www2.ed.gov/programs/fws/index.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>Check to see if the school includes Pell Grants in that promise. The promise may be that tuition gets covered by a variety of aid, including Pell grants. </p>

<p>edited to add…</p>

<p>I just looked…it appears that the Promise is including Pell Grants.</p>

<p>You have to be a Pell student (which means that some $ is coming from the feds)</p>

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<p>So, the “promise” kicks in AFTER other grants and scholarships are applied…the promise covers what’s left. </p>

<p>Run the NPC and post the results here.</p>

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<p>^Post #2

Yes it does. See <a href=“http://www.sfasu.edu/faid/programs/purple_promise.asp[quote]The”>http://www.sfasu.edu/faid/programs/purple_promise.asp

OP, your test scores kinda below the admission requirement:

See <a href=“First-Year Students | Admissions Process | SFA”>Stephen F. Austin State University;

<p>You may want to find another safety school just in case your scores don’t improve.</p>

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<p>According to their website, the numbers above are the costs for room/board and books for this school year. So…your total costs after tuition is paid would be closer to $10,000 for the year.</p>

<p>If your income is below $30,000 for both parents (mom and dad) it is very possible that your EFC per FAFSA would be an auto $0. If that is the case, you would be eligible for,the full Pell Grant of $5730. </p>

<p>Is this Purple Promise award in addition to the Pell…or do they include the Pell if you are Pell eligible? You need to find out,</p>

<p>If the Purple Promise pays your tuition and does NOT use the Pell Grant to help do so, then you would have some portion of the Pell…plus your Direct Loan.</p>

<p>Have you done the Net Price Calculator on the college website? Perhaps this will give you a better idea of your net cost. Try it.</p>

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<p>The tuition and fees are about $8900 per year. A full Pell student will get about $5700 from the feds, and maybe some SEOG money. the state of Texas ALSO has aid for low income students.</p>

<p>The school may be actually giving very little in aid. </p>

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<p>Right…but the big question is…will the student get tuition and fees paid through Purple Promise AND also receive th Pell Grant if eligible?</p>

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<p>

See <a href=“http://www.sfasu.edu/faid/npc.asp”>Stephen F. Austin State University;

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<p>@thumper…not likely. The school sees what gov’t aid a student gets (Texas and federal) and then makes up the difference for tuition/fees. </p>

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<p>There you go…the Purple Promise kicks in after all other grants.</p>

<p>So…the OP would need to come up with about $10,000. $5500 would be the Direct Loan. That leaves $4500…or about $2300 per semester.</p>

<p>So OP…do you have a job? How much can you save? </p>

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<p>i don’t have a job at all. i was thinking of doing work study if i get accepted to sfa.</p>

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<p>Work study is unlikely to cover a $4500 shortfall. Plus, you don’t actually GET the money until you work to earn it.</p>

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<p>npc results</p>

<p>cost of attending
Total Cost $23686
Tuition & Fees $8772
Room & Board $8868
Books $1192
Other $4854</p>

<p>median grant : $8900
estimated grant/scholarship assistance:$5645-14145
estimated net cost- $9541-18041/year
Estimated student loans and/or student work earnings:$200-$5500/year
Estimated net cost with self-help:$4041-17841/year</p>

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<p>^So If you get the best financial aid from SFA, you still have to come up $9541, $4041 if you borrow $5500. Don’t know why the NPC won’t include any work-study.</p>

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<p>They give a range because they do NOT guarantee to meet full need.</p>

<p>But if this student gets that Purple Promise award…one would think her net costs would be closer to $10,000 than $18,000 a year.</p>

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<p>Study hard for your tests, use Number2.com or ■■■■■■■■■■■■.com, sign up for Question of the day on the SAT and the ACT websites, they’re all free.</p>

<p>I don’t think it’ll work for you though. You’ll be short $4,000 to $10,000 (depending on whether you take on the $5,500 loan you’re allowed freshman year). You’d have to start working right now about 12 hours a week, and save ALL your earnings.</p>

<p>I think Prairie View A&M would be within reach academically and if you can increase your test scores you may qualify for extra financial aid:
<a href=“http://www.pvamu.edu/”>http://www.pvamu.edu/&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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<p>I hate that Texas schools do this. They should ask for stats so that they can give a better estimate. Having a nearly $10k range when the COA is $23k is crazy.</p>