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Wiggy Marie posted:IratelyBlank, what works in your favour is that you're 24 and therefore will automatically qualify as an independent, making you eligible for more. What could hurt you is if you've had a good income. They have to take your previous year's income into account, HOWEVER you may also tell the financial aid office that your income will drop to $0 for the school year. They should be able to adjust your information accordingly. I went to the financial aid office today to get some information. They said because they didn't have my FAFSA and because I'm not a student that they can't give me any specific information but that I most likely won't qualify for subsidized loans but they made it sound like I could pull the full $12,500 in unsubsidized. Does this sound right? I thought I read somewhere that the amount you recieve is based on what the school wants to give but the woman I spoke to made it sound like a certainty. I also asked about modifying my FAFSA or whatever they do based on my income and they said they had a program called professional judgement where they alter things based on your income, but that it wouldnt help me because by August, I would have already made a good deal of money. It looks like I'm going to need to take private loans to help me cover the cost. Do these loans require a cosigner? I have pretty good credit, around 730-750 but a lot of debt ($230k) in the form of a mortgage so I'm not sure how this is going to factor in.
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Mar 21, 2011 15:11
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UCS Hellmaker posted:How would going from full-time to part time status affect financial aid? Besides making my loans come due in 6 months once classes start again. If you are dropping down to taking say just one class, your 6 month grace period will start as soon as you drop down below half-time. If you are really afraid of this you can always just sign up for some online classes in underwater basket weaving (pass/fail if possible, so you can slack as much as possible and not have your GPA affected, if your university does that sort of thing.)
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Mar 21, 2011 18:18
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IratelyBlank posted:I went to the financial aid office today to get some information. They said because they didn't have my FAFSA and because I'm not a student that they can't give me any specific information but that I most likely won't qualify for subsidized loans but they made it sound like I could pull the full $12,500 in unsubsidized. Does this sound right? I thought I read somewhere that the amount you recieve is based on what the school wants to give but the woman I spoke to made it sound like a certainty. Your mortgage, assuming you have perfect payment history, may actually be a plus. Many 18 year old kids who sign up for these private loans have no credit history whatsoever. Payment history and stability goes a long way. Beware though, if you have ANY negative entries on your credit report (late payments, collections) they are likely to view this very seriously even if your overall credit score is good, and it is very possible that they will cut your funding if you, say, get a collections while you're in school. I am basing this solely on the fact that Sallie Mae cut off my loans for my last year citing my weak credit (the only negative entry on my credit report was ONE 30 day late payment on a credit card). Luckily my finaid department was able to make it up with other poo poo so that I could finish my degree. I almost had a heart attack when I got that letter in the mail (can you imagine being 3 years into a degree program, not being able to pay for the last long semester, and entering repayment with no degree and hence no job prospects?) Edit: was cut off for the last year, not last semester. seacat fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Mar 21, 2011 |
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Mar 21, 2011 19:16
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seacat posted:I'd say you're likely to qualify for a private loan without a cosigner with that credit score but remember they look at your credit history as well. Nobody knows what kind of twisted formula they use. Yeah that is definitely my biggest fear, not being able to have enough money and being unable to pay my bills. I have perfect credit and I think the only thing counting against me is my relatively short credit history (6 years). I was re-reading the OP, and this section is confusing me a little bit: quote:Year Three-Five The http://direct.ed.gov/applying.html website is saying that basically the same thing, but it is phrasing it a little differently (or I am interpreting it differently) and this was a point of confusing for me today. I think what this is saying is that you can borrow up to $12,500, with $5,500 of that being subsidized or the entire $12,500 being subsidized. Is this accurate? If so, I would be able to do well with this and minimal private loans. But then I run into this: quote:The actual loan amount you are eligible to receive for an academic year is determined by your school and may be less than the maximum annual amounts shown in the chart above.
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Mar 21, 2011 20:02
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IratelyBlank, the reason for all of the uncertainly is because they honestly have no idea what they can offer you without a FAFSA on file. I'd say you should get that in ASAP so that you can start talking shop with them as soon as possible. $12,500.00 is the absolute total you can receive in a given year, and a portion of that will be subsidized versus unsubsidized. Professional judgment is a super common practice in financial aid offices, but until they have your FAFSA (what you make this year won't matter on a 2011-2012 FAFSA, it's based on your 2010 taxes only) they can't really tell you anything solid. UCSHellmaker, the other concern to keep in mind is that if you go part-time rather than half-time (there is an important distinction there!) you cannot take out federal loans. You must be at least half-time in order to receive federal aid, and also for most scholarships/grants.
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Mar 21, 2011 23:18
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Ok then can you tell me the distinction? I've searched for it but I think i'm just retarded at this point. My main problem is that I can take 8 credits but I have an internship that runs from May to November that is 30 hours over the weekdays. I can't do that on top of 3 classes each day on top of my current job which is 30 hours a week and liable to be full time employment over the summer. If anything I'm gonna try to force my internship to count in the fall but thats all chance at this point. Or take 12 credits which is full time status and withdraw at the earliest possible point after the add drop period closes.
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Mar 22, 2011 01:04
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Wiggy Marie posted:IratelyBlank, the reason for all of the uncertainly is because they honestly have no idea what they can offer you without a FAFSA on file. I'd say you should get that in ASAP so that you can start talking shop with them as soon as possible. I am currently enrolled for the Summer at the school that is not the school I would go to if I were to quit my job and I already had my FAFSA sent there (but I sent it to my prospective school today). I went into the financial aid section because I figure since they are both state schools, they would both probably offer pretty similar things and this school is offering me $5500 in subsidized loans and $7000 in unsubsidized. I guess now that I know I can be funded I have to make the tough decision about whether or not to quit my job.
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Mar 22, 2011 04:38
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IratelyBlank posted:I am currently enrolled for the Summer at the school that is not the school I would go to if I were to quit my job and I already had my FAFSA sent there (but I sent it to my prospective school today). I went into the financial aid section because I figure since they are both state schools, they would both probably offer pretty similar things and this school is offering me $5500 in subsidized loans and $7000 in unsubsidized. I guess now that I know I can be funded I have to make the tough decision about whether or not to quit my job. This is an incredibly difficult and important decision. I've reviewed your posts in the other thread and you seem to have a fairly stable job with a decent salary. Beware that people are going back to school in droves to ride out the recession (which has officially ended, but you wouldn't know it from the unemployment rates). The law schools, universities, colleges, and technical institutes are more than happy to take your tuition money. Your job will likely be filled as soon as you quit, and you won't be able to go back unless you have a written contract saying you'll be rehired upon graduation. You will likely be graduating and competing with droves of younger people who do not have a mortgage and will work for much less (in some cases, for free). Hopefully your choice of major is extremely lucrative (your work experience will DEFINITELY help) but there is absolutely no guarantee that upon graduation it'll be likely to get anything. Your own personal situation obviously will differ depending on what kind of connections you have. But giving up a sure job (presumably with health benefits) at this time is nothing less than a gamble. If you have decent credit you can almost be guaranteed funding for almost any degree program for which you are qualified. Even if you have lovely credit as long as your expenses are low you can ride the non-credit-based federal loan gravy train. This is how we have philosophy majors with 60K in debt. Would you lend 60K to someone to study philosophy, knowing that that great skill will surely enable them to pay you back with interest? gently caress no, but Stafford lenders are backed by the government, so they could give a poo poo. Being approved for financing is no guarantee of being able to pay back that financing when you graduate. You have to flesh out your plan more in depth. Of course, there is a chance you will major in whatever, graduate and land a kick rear end job with double your current salary, health benefits, a signing bonus, 401(k), etc. There are always people like that (generally the privileged and well-connected upper class kids) no matter how high the unemployment rate is. If you're seeking advice in a student loan thread I doubt you're privileged and well-connected (as someone who has had to pay for everything himself I do not mean any malice with this at all, if anything it's a compliment.) If I were you I would stick with your current job for a year or two and then go back to school only if you see the unemployment rate drop to pre-recession levels. The universities will gladly feed you bullshit about their graduate employment & salary levels (see the Law School Megathread, for example). Do not listen to them. More education only opens doors to higher places if you are absolutely sure of what your goal is, have a distinct plan on how to use your new education to achieve that goal, and have a reasonable way of paying for it. I am like the poster boy of this: went to school, studied what I love, put my best into it, did fantastic, soaked up all the knowledge I could, did double what was asked of me, did everything right, and had absolutely gently caress all come graduation time. I graduated into the worst job market since the Great Depression and had great acclaim of at least 5 of my professors (who spoke with me frequently and were surprised at the caliber of my work and enthusiasm), several academic awards including one very prestigious one, 4 semesters of straight As, published research papers, and 3 years of lab work experience. I also had student loan debt in the upper five figures, dumped almost all of my belongings because I owned no car and had no room to put them, lived on a couch in my friend's flophouse, endured harassment calls from Sallie Mae as soon as my grace period was over and even many more from my credit card companies (before my cell phone was unactivated for nonpayment), nicked food from HEB and ate out of the garbage on a regular basis. At least I got job interviews (no offers); most of my friends didn't. YMMV but I feel it would be insane to quit a stable 9-5 in this economy for the much-touted dream of what a higher education will bring you. People ask me if I'm going to quit my job to get my master's/PhD (YOU MAKE SOOOO MUCH MORE OVER YOUR LIFETIME!) and I promptly laugh in their face and tell them to gently caress off. Most recent PhD graduates I know are unemployed or adjuncts working 60+ hour weeks for less than I get paid as a QC lab drone, and often lack health benefits; most are depressed and miserable. The most successful ones I know got their company to pay for their Master's and are now enjoying a stable job with a much higher (20-30K+) salary. Is there absolutely no way you can take classes while working? There is no amnesty for those who cannot pay their private student loan bills 6 months after graduation (or their mortgage at any point during or after). I would at least wait until the unemployment rate dips before taking such a big step (not to mention 30K+ more of debt). Sorry to derail the thread a little bit but since this discussion does concern racking up student loan debt I think these things need to be said. seacat fucked around with this message at 09:45 on Mar 22, 2011 |
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Mar 22, 2011 09:36
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seacat posted:The most successful ones I know got their company to pay for their Master's and are now enjoying a stable job with a much higher (20-30K+) salary. This is a great way to do it also because you get to do and see actual non-academic work and interpersonal interaction. Setting yourself up not only for the cheaper Masters and job experience, but for the networking these days is key.
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Mar 22, 2011 09:51
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This question is pretty situation specific so I don't know if anyone will be able to help, but I figure I should try to help and calm my girlfriend down. My girlfriend has been admitted to 3 graduate schools for this coming fall semester. She is very excited, but also frustrated because making her final choice is starting to come down to money. The problem is that two of her schools need a decision by April 14th, and no one seems to be willing to talk to her at all about funding opportunities as a whole. Of course her last choice school (Temple) is the only one that has provided any type of award or other financial option information. Her first choice (Rutgers) won't say anything, and her middle choice has contacted her about the possibility of working as a research assistant with a stipend and full tuition remittance, but won't say what her chances of actually receiving such a position are. Is there anything that she can say over the phone to these financial aid offices to try and get at least a little more information before she has to decide? I feel really bad for her as she is so excited to go, but now has to pick and just hope it was the right financial choice down the road. She is more stressed out now than she was waiting for acceptance letters. Right now all we have to go on is knowing that the maximum yearly federal cap of $20,500 is a possibility for all 3 schools. Thanks for any help!
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Mar 22, 2011 13:55
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nesbit37 posted:This question is pretty situation specific so I don't know if anyone will be able to help, but I figure I should try to help and calm my girlfriend down. I mainly know about the latter -- most STEM PhD graduate students are supported by a fellowship (this is usually independent of the university, like an NSF grant), with the rest of the gap filled by TAing, which pays very well for the low time commitment required. Esp. at a big school, even in liberal arts you will be able to make some good money by TAing on the side. Source: I was a lab TA for a year. The work was easy, I was only required to be on campus 25 hours a week or so for a FT 40 hour appointment, and did a lot of my work from home (grading, updating course websites, etc.) Of course I went to a gigantic state school which had so many undergrads they had to have hired guns like me to TA because they literally didn't have enough grad students, but it's virtually unheard of for any school not to have TA appointments for their graduate students to make some money and hopefully get health insurance. Sorry, sorry I'm rambling. TL;DR: post some more information about your GF's undergrad field and her graduate plans. Edit: You're not alone. On both the undergraduate and graduate sides funding can down to the very minute (for grad degrees, especially if you don't have a fellowship secured). It's just the way a lot of financial aid depts work. I had this too for my undergrad - I had already moved all my poo poo into the dorms and was about to attend my first class before my financial aid came through to actually pay for the dorms. seacat fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Mar 22, 2011 |
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Mar 22, 2011 19:08
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Her undergrad degree is in Growth and Structure of Cities. The graduate programs she has been accepted to are for urban planning, more on policy and such and not the engineering side of things. Masters only, not going for the phd. I didn't realize it was this down to the wire for new grad students. I guess I was just lucky, in a way, when I went to grad school. I only applied to the one school I wanted to go to and knew I could afford. Applied in November, got in mid-January, and then the semester started like a week later. Financial aid wasn't finished for me for at least a month after that, but because it was an odd and speedy situation I expected that. This wouldn't be a big deal for her if it wasn't the fact that how much aid and other funding opportunities the school offers her played into her final decision of where to go. She can afford both schools with a mix of federal and private loans if she can't get anything else from the schools, but when you have no idea how much one school is going to offer in terms of opportunities and funding compared to the other one its very difficult to choose and not wonder if you made the right decision.
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Mar 22, 2011 20:55
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UCS Hellmaker, the standard is 12 hours for full time and 6 hours for half time. Part time would be anything below 6 hours. Since your school uses the stander number for full time, I would think that 8 hours will quality you as a half time student, so you should be good to go. It is always a good idea to double check with them on that, though. Most schools will list their hours requirements on the financial aid office's website, though you'll probably need to hunt it down. IratelyBlank, I will give you advice based on my personal experiences working for a student loan company as well as going to school myself while working full time: keep your job. Even if you need to cut yourself down to part time to make the hours work, keep your job. I am going half time to school and working 35 hours a week. As such, I keep my benefits at work while working toward a degree in an entirely unrelated field. Having a job while also receiving loans was probably the best decision I have made in regards to my education. You can live off of your loans, but you do not want to do so if you can at all avoid it. Why? Because you will pay it all back at some point. A regular paycheck will cut down how much you need to use. What I have done is plugged huge chunks into a money market account to gather some interest while I'm attending. Half-time will still qualify you for student loans. Yes, it will take longer to get your degree, but I promise you it is worth it. You want to graduate with as little debt as possible. Sit down with your employer and tell them that you plan to go to school but would like to work a flex schedule to account for classes, etc. Chances are they'll work with you. If not, well, it answers your question about whether to quit! nesbit37, at this point she needs to become very pushy with the financial aid office. She needs to contact the other two and tell them what Temple has offered. She also needs to contact whoever told her about the job/stipend and get them to say if that's a done deal or just something they offer but she may not receive.
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Mar 23, 2011 02:26
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I'm starting a career program this summer which will end with me getting an associates degree. I'm taking 2 classes in the summer, 3 in the fall, and 2 in the spring which will end up costing $7500 for the tuition. I'm applying for loans and I'm wondering if it's smart to apply for the full $7500 now or if I should borrow only what I need as I go along. I've applied for the FAFSA but still waiting on my school to find out what I'll get from that.
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Apr 4, 2011 15:09
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Question about deferment and income based repayment. My FIANCE is just about to finish her Master's, and is sitting on a boat load of loan debt. She'll hopefully be starting her doctorate in the fall, and thus will basically be fine. However, she might not get in until spring because of some Application snafus, and she will be unemployed starting in August. So I guess multiple questions: 1) Can she get an in-school deferment if she'll be out for a semester, even if she won't have a definite yes if she's been accepted to the program or not (she will be, as everybody on the faculty committee wants her in the program, but they won't make an official decision for quite a while). 2) How long can she get away not paying anything while unemployed? As for the total size of the debt, we're not really too worried about that, as she's going into education, and that means she'll be able to do income based repayment for 10 years and write the rest off, right? And will my income have any bearing on how much she has to pay?
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Apr 4, 2011 16:54
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FISHMANPET posted:Question about deferment and income based repayment. So she is planning on doing IBR but she is taking unemployment deferal? Did she have a lot of taxable income on her 2010 taxes? If not - have her enter IBR now since her interest won't capitalize while on IBR. There is a huge marriage penalty for you both since your soon to be wife is planning on using IBR. There is a way around it however - file your taxes as Married Filing Separately. You will lose marriage tax benefits but this will prevent her repayment amount from using your income in the calculation. If you make a lot of money you might consider paying an accountant to crunch the numbers to determine if filing separately will benefit you more than joint filing.
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Apr 4, 2011 17:36
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I've been in and out of college for a long time, and have racked up a ridiculous amount (over $45k) in student loan debt without managing to actually get a degree. I'm in a crap financial situation (admittedly my own stupid doing) with thousands more dollars in consumer debt that I can't afford now, because my student loans are all coming due. To complicate matters further, I'm planning to move to Europe to live with my boyfriend (an EU citizen). At present, I'm carrying the following: (first dollar amount is principal, second is interest) 1 FFEL STAFFORD UNSUBSIDIZED 07/07/2009 $ 7,000 $ 632 6.8% (f) grace until 6/2011 2 FFEL STAFFORD SUBSIDIZED 07/07/2009 $ 5,500 $ 0 5.6% (f) grace until 6/2011 3 FFEL STAFFORD UNSUBSIDIZED 03/26/2009 $12,500 $1,637 6.8% (f) grace until 6/2011 4 FFEL STAFFORD UNSUBSIDIZED 07/18/2005 $ 5,615 $ 2 2.47% (v) repayment 5 FFEL STAFFORD SUBSIDIZED 07/18/2005 $ 4,463 $ 1 2.47% (v) repayment 6 DIRECT STAFFORD UNSUBSIDIZED 08/23/2004 $ 3,980 $ 329 2.47% (v) repayment 7 DIRECT STAFFORD SUBSIDIZED 08/23/2004 $ 3,038 $ 34 2.47% (v) repayment 8 DIRECT STAFFORD UNSUBSIDIZED 01/16/2004 $ 2,911 $ 241 2.47% (v) repayment Loans 1-5 are serviced by Great Lakes, 6-8 are Direct Loans. Right now, they've somehow got loans 1-3 lumped together, 4 and 5 lumped together, and 6-8 lumped together. (I've never consolidated - I assume this is just for payment purposes - that the loans were taken out at the same time, or something.) The monthly payment on 4+5 is $109.64 and the monthly payment on 6-8 is $113.82. I have no idea what to expect from the other one, when that begins to be billed. I want to figure out how to get all of this arranged so that I am making one payment - as small as possible - until I am able to secure decent paying employment abroad. I keep seeing stuff about IBR, and wonder if maybe that's for me? Do they evaluate income that occurs outside the US? Is IBR the one where after a certain number of payments (120, or whatever), the rest is discharged? This crap is so confusing I could cry. I should've turned to a life of crime.
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Apr 4, 2011 17:50
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Gloria Hole posted:Loan question To get things setup as one payment, you'll need to consolidate the loans together into one big loan. This can probably be done at direct. That said, usually lenders are smart enough to just bill you for the aggregate loan amount (regardless of the subset of the loans themselves), so as it stands you'll only be paying two different entities as it is - 1 payment to Direct and 1 to Great Lakes. It would probably be cleaner for IBR purposes if you got them consolidated, though. Consolidation will give you a small leg-up in that it will register as 1 large loan, allowing longer repayment options. Regarding IBR, I have no idea how they'll handle foreign income, but you'll need to call your lender(s) to get it setup asap. Since you likely won't be working for the government, I'm afraid that it'll take 360 payments to kill the loans rather than 120, but regardless of income they will go away one way or another. If you've got the money to work on the loans for now, get them into IBR/the longest payment schedule possible for now until you get them consolidated, and once they're consolidated you can figure things out further. You're allowed to change your payment schedule once/year, so if once you get a job you can pay more, you can move to a more aggressive payment schedule if you wish.
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Apr 4, 2011 21:48
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two_beer_bishes, you'll need to wait to hear back about the FAFSA. Absolutely do not apply for ANY other type of loan until you have the awards package from your FAFSA. You may get everything you need in federal loans, and the university can split up the loans as needed for you.
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Apr 4, 2011 22:30
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I am running into a lot of problems trying to find a loan for myself. I an American and just graduated from college. I was accepted into two French business graduate programs and will be going abroad there. I am running into a lot of problems for all different sorts of reasons. Sallemae only has one of my French schools on file. The other loan websites don't have either. Simpletuition.com doesn't have any international schools. I just need a loan so I can get to school. My tuition isn't really that bad. It's only 9,000 EUR per year for about 2 years. On top of that I will be need money for living expenses. What is the besy way to get this going? Enigma89 fucked around with this message at 17:06 on Apr 5, 2011 |
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Apr 5, 2011 16:19
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Enigma89 posted:I am running into a lot of problems trying to find a loan for myself. I an American and just graduated from college. I was accepted into two French business graduate programs and will be going abroad there. I am running into a lot of problems for all different sorts of reasons. Sallemae only has one of my French schools on file. The other loan websites don't have either. Simpletuition.com doesn't have any international schools.
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Apr 6, 2011 01:11
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amethystbliss posted:Can you not get U.S. federal loans for this? I'm studying in England (also American), have lots of friends doing an MBA in the UK, and everyone I know is financing their overseas education with U.S. Stafford loans. I'm still waiting to hear back from my FAFSA =\ e: poo poo, I thought my FAFSA was already submitted but it wasn't. I just finished it. Here is what my FAFSA said: quote:Eligibility Information Enigma89 fucked around with this message at 01:30 on Apr 6, 2011 |
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Apr 6, 2011 01:25
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Enigma89, at this point you'll need to wait to get your financial aid awards package. Sounds like you'll probably be fine though, especially with an EFC of 0.
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Apr 6, 2011 01:48
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Wiggy Marie posted:Enigma89, at this point you'll need to wait to get your financial aid awards package. Sounds like you'll probably be fine though, especially with an EFC of 0. How long do you think this will take? The reason why I feel so rushed and pressured for time is because I need to decide between two schools and the cost is 9,000 EUR and 18,000 EUR per year. So there is a huge difference. The reason why I need to decide so quickly is because I have to apply for my visa THROUGH this school and that process takes 2-3 months (school starts in August over there in France).
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Apr 6, 2011 02:15
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Without going into too much detail, I was at school for several years, left school to take a (professional-level) job without having graduated, and have since returned to school to (finally) pursue my career goals. I'm almost 30, and just now figured out what I want to do with my life, and it's not even remotely related to what I had been studying or to the job for which I had left school. . . That said, I was back in school part-time for the past year and it seems I've bumped up against a maximum for attempted credit hours, which leads to a denial of further financial aid. I'll need loans to continue, and I had planned on being back to full time status for two more years to finish up. I understand that there's an appeals process, and I've seen it mentioned in a few places in this thread that you should obviously appeal this sort of decision, but searching the first and last several pages didn't turn up any detailed suggestions on what the appeals board might be looking for. I don't want to screw this up, goons! What do I put in (or leave out of) my appeal?
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Apr 6, 2011 02:20
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Enigma89, unfortunately that depends on the school. Generally it's around 2-4 weeks. Calling them and asking what they think you can get won't work either, because they honestly have no idea until your file is reviewed. Sorry  allsizesfitone, they're looking for your personal situation. However, also keep in mind that you might be approaching your student loans aggregate limit, too. You'll need to contact the financial aid office and ask them about how to file an appeal. When you file your appeal (which could be as simple as a personal statement), tell them your entire situation. I would suggest emphasizing your desires to finish the particular program you're going for, but don't try the "please pity meeeee" angle because that will just serve to annoy them. Just tell them your situation straight out and hope they're feeling generous. That being said, if it's related to an hours limit there may be nothing they can do. It's worth it to still try but don't get your hopes up, just in case.
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Apr 8, 2011 18:10
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Wiggy Marie posted:Enigma89, unfortunately that depends on the school. Generally it's around 2-4 weeks. Calling them and asking what they think you can get won't work either, because they honestly have no idea until your file is reviewed. Sorry Oh its depending on the school? Well, I don't think my school will tell me anything. On the FAFSA application form they asked if I want to send my FAFSA to any school. I couldn't send mine to my school because its in France, it didn't come up on the list.
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Apr 9, 2011 03:07
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Since your school is international you will HAVE to contact their financial aid office to 1. find out if they even participate in federal US loans and 2. how to get your FAFSA information there.
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Apr 9, 2011 22:29
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Well it turns out the school has no sort of partnership at all with FAFSA. I talked to a FAFSA officer and he said:The GOVERNMENT posted:If they don't participate in the federal student aid programs, then you just can't get aid to go to that particular school. At least not federal aid. You should contact the financial aid office at that university and see about other options for financial assistance. This university also doesn't have a financial aid office. They are a French university, people just go to school for next to free basically. My next option is a private loan now? e: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Sallemae and Discover won't give out loans to me because they don't have a partnership with the uni  e: I went through every bank I or Google could think of, called them all and they all refused. I am tempted to call French banks but from what I can see on the internet, that doesn't seem like a viable option. I am all out of ideas. Enigma89 fucked around with this message at 19:16 on Apr 12, 2011 |
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Apr 12, 2011 18:11
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If they have an international student community, they will have a financial aid office for those students. You need to try and see if you can find someone in that type of position with the uni. If they don't have one, then yes, unfortunately you really don't have any loan options.
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Apr 13, 2011 02:52
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 Am I doing it right? 
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Apr 15, 2011 05:57
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Hey guys. So I have a bit of a problem here which is mostly, if not all my fault. I transfered from my community college to another school in the spring, and dropped out after a month of being there due to health problems. I had 50% of my costs refunded, but still owe the school 4.5k. I have a debt repayment plan worked out with them, but can't get my transcript from them until I've payed my bill in full. I really need to go back to school this fall, and I plan on going back to my community college. They'll admit me for a semester while I work things out with the other college, but won't give me federal or state financial aid. My question is: Is it feasible for me to take out a private loan to pay my debt to the school off and pay for my bill for a semester? I'd be using the scholarship money and the extra financial aid money I get in future semesters to pay the private loan off. Can I even get a private loan when I'm in this temporarily admitted state? I plan on talking to my school's financial aid office as soon as possible, but if someone here has an answer, that'd be great. I would have a cosigner if that makes any difference. Thanks. Edit - Got my question answered, so I'm good. PineappleChunk fucked around with this message at 05:38 on Apr 19, 2011 |
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Apr 17, 2011 02:46
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Has the summer Pell grants program been killed? Nobody's said anything about it at my school, but I was looking for information on them and inadvertently found out via Google News that they were cut out of the federal budget... I'm pissed. This seems to be flying under the radar because nobody's really saying anything. I guess the summer program was cut in order for the maximum amount to stay the same during the school year, but I really appreciate the ability to take classes in the summer.hatersg2haet posted:
You've got loans but no tuition to pay? And you're paying twice more than your rent on "music stuff"? I'm confused!
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Apr 17, 2011 03:26
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hatersg2haet, I got to be honest, I can't read your flow chart And now I see you're permabanned...in case you come back with a new user id, I'll need you to break down what you're asking. It looks to me like your primary expense is technology and music stuff? What is that for? PineappleChunk, I'm so sorry I didn't get back to you. Life gets hectic and I put off answering for a few days like a jerk. Let me know if you have any other questions!
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Apr 22, 2011 02:16
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My current undergraduate loans and their remaining balances (with interest rates): Stafford - $2,194 (2.47) Private - $5,116 (3.62) Stafford - $2,925 (2.47) Private - $5,397 (3.62) Stafford - $4,513 (2.47) Private - $5,401 (3.62) Stafford - $4,839 (6.8) Total - $30,387 Original loan amounts - $35,025 I've been working full time in a job outside of my field for a few years. I make $21k a year and life's been pretty good. Now, I'm finally moving out on my own, and the rent each month + my monthly tuition bill of $321 is going to be a little much for me to handle. What would be my best option here? I'm thinking about IBR, but that would only apply to the federal loans. Would consolidation be a better choice? I haven't signed up for auto-debit yet - how much would the 0.25% interest rate reduction lessen my monthly payments?
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Apr 28, 2011 02:19
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The interest rate reduction wouldn't lessen your payments, instead it will increase the amount of your payment going to principal rather than interest. Not really helpful for what you're looking for. Honestly, either IBR or consolidation might be a good option for you. I would call your servicer and ask about IBR, what the payments would be etc. Then contact Direct consolidations and ask about a consolidation. Between the two, it's likely that the IBR plan will lower your payments more. For the private loans, consolidation never hurts because there's very few other options. You can contact the companies to ask about a forbearance/deferment on your account but don't bank on that option. Some of them do offer repayment plans which would lower your payment, though, so that's definitely worth a shot.
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Apr 28, 2011 03:29
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Thanks for responding. I get my private loans through CitiBank and up until a few years ago they offered consolidation through their website. Is there a reason they stopped offering it? EDIT: N/M - I re-read the OP The Stafford loans, if I'm not mistaken, will get an interest rate reduction after I have made 48 months of consecutive on-time payments. If I change from the standard plan to something else like IBR, would I still receive that interest rate reduction? Eugene Jerome fucked around with this message at 05:23 on Apr 28, 2011 |
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Apr 28, 2011 04:58
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I was reading this article about federal loan repayment options: http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/42595955 But I am not sure if my loans are federal loans? I was specifically looking at the income based repayment options and got all of my info together. These are the two loans showing in my AES account: Loan Program: SUBSIDIZED SPOUSAL CONSOL LOAN Owner: AES/PHEAA Guarantor: AES School: DUQUESNE UNIV Interest Rate InformationInterest Rate: 3.125% Interest Rate Type: FIXED Subsidy: SUBSIDIZED Loan Program: UNSUB SPOUSAL CONSOL LOAN Owner: AES/PHEAA Guarantor: AES School: DUQUESNE UNIV Interest Rate InformationInterest Rate: 3.125% Interest Rate Type: FIXED Subsidy: NON SUB We consolidated before as well, but I think we paid those ones off??? Any help/suggestions/info would be very helpful.
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Apr 28, 2011 19:37
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It's almost that time.... loan repayment! June 17th, 2011. Ugh. I've been trying to pay on Sallie Mae as much as possible but it's so hard with inconsistent subbing jobs, and now a part time (hopefully full time in the summer) job that pays $9.50/hr (and I'm lucky to be making THAT much). Not to mention cars breaking down, gas going up, graduation exhibition, med bills, etc. Sallie Mae loans aside (it's $10,000 with $2,770 accumulated interest at a 9% rate or so at the moment), I have a bunch of federal loans to consider. I want to consolidate since there are a total of 14 loans, some are just $2,000 others are more. But it's a lot to take care of separately. I was putting off consolidating because I heard it puts you into repayment sooner. Here is the basic breakdown though:  It seems Direct is the best option, as I don't want to do anymore business with Sallie Mae. I was wondering if, like the individual federal loan plans, they let you choose different repayments. I wanted to do something income based so I'd have the lowest minimum payment possible, not because I am going to take forever to pay it off, I just want to focus on the Sallie Mae loan since the interest rate fluctuates and can go up to 15%. Once Sallie Mae is paid off then I will focus on my federal loans and put as much into that as possible (I live with my fiance's family, so we don't pay rent, therefore it'll be nice to put what would be rent money towards my loans). I also am not sure about my income situation (last year it was only $5,000 ouch... unemployment). I've been searching for a job, but since my degree is in education, sometimes teaching jobs are hard to come by, and it's not something I will know for sure until about August. I guess I just want to check with you all first before I go ahead and consolidate with Direct. Good idea? Bad idea? The only choice I have?
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May 3, 2011 01:10
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Eugene Jerome, that is honestly a question for your servicer. I have heard both sides - that you keep other incentives with IBR and that you don't - so ask them what their policy is next time you call. Uziel, a spousal consolidation was available for federal loans that two spouses wanted to combine into one loan. The reason you see two loans there is that one is the unsub portion and the other is the subsidized portion. Without payment information I can't really say what you'd be eligible for, but your servicer definitely can! anaaki, are you going to be back in school at-least half time soon? Your loans stay in deferment any time you're in school at least half-time or more. Otherwise, the way our consolidation applications used to work is that we gave students the option of consolidating right before their grace period expired. Direct may have the same type of program available, you'd need to check through their consolidation website. As for consolidating federal loans in general, Direct is the only option, and unfortunately Sallie is one of their servicers which means you could be stuck with them again regardless. You can indeed change your payment plans depending on what your income/necessities are. Right now the IBR program is all the rage, and I bet it would be able to help you out too. Finally, with a balance like that, yes I would highly recommend consolidation. One bill, one servicer, one headache instead of several.
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May 3, 2011 02:34
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