Guest post by Erica the Intern
Being a senior in college is bittersweet, and this week it got a lot more bitter thanks to FAFSA.
In December, I will have completed a degree in public relations in 3.5 years. Throughout the last three years, I have managed to attend school debt free. My goal, which I set back in high school, was to graduate college without taking out student loans so that I could do missionary work after I graduated, and I was well on my way there.
This semester my family and I reapplied for financial aid because my parents' financial situation hit an all-time low. With career changes and a slowly growing business, my parents' incomes dropped even more than they had the year before. Last year, I was fortunate enough to attend school without paying for tuition because of a 4-year scholarship (that gives me half-priced tuition) and Pell Grants. I expected the same governmental funding, and it looked like I would receive another Pell Grant for my last semester. My potential grant was supposed to cover around $1,800 of the $2,300 I would owe for tuition and fees. That was doable. I would have been able to pay the $500 difference because I had been faithful to save a portion of each paycheck this summer. I was going to graduate debt-free and I was pumped.
When I logged onto my school's financial aid website to accept my award, my jaw dropped. All the "awards" listed were loans. I called the Financial Aid office and to my dismay, all they could offer me were the loans. This was because I made $10,236 in 2011, which is $236 more than students are allowed to make and still receive federal financial aid. I was penalized for working; for getting two paid internships and bartending to pay my rent and living expenses. The fact that my parents have four kids and are trying to keep their heads afloat didn't matter. All that mattered was that I had made $236 more than what was allowed.
I'll be honest and say as soon as I hung up the phone, I started bawling. I was so close to graduating, and the financial stability rug was ripped right from underneath my feet. It's too late to apply for scholarships and loans are still not an option. I've talked to my parents and our only option is to take money from my younger brothers' college funds and pay my $2,300 in tuition. Though this isn't my preferred method of handling the situation, it's the only way for me to graduate debt free.
If I had more time to come up with the money (since I start classes on August 20), I would have tried some of these ideas to close the money gap:
FAFSA isn't always fair, so sometimes you have to get creative or ask for help. Whatever you decide, don't just give up and quit school, or resort to taking out more loans. Asking for donations or working for extra tuition money will pay off more in the long run than racking up more debt or quitting school altogether.
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