Paul
How can I afford college in my situation?
My mom made a bulk of my families' income, but she is leaving her job for personal reasons. Additionally, my father refuses to put his own money towards my tuition, which makes my FAFSA particularly unfriendly. I am currently at my dream school, Penn State, and have made lots of friends, but I worry that I'll be forced to transfer to a significantly less prestigious school. Please help! #college-tuition #college #scholarships #financial-aid
2 answers
Charles Anderson
Charles’s Answer
Paul,
I found an article on College Bound (http://www.collegebound.net/content/article/what-do-i-do-if-my-parents-refuse-to-fill-out-the-fafsa-/19114/) that talks about this similar issue. As Dianne mentioned speak with the financial aid counselor at the college. One thing the article mentions is, "If there are dire circumstances, expect to be asked to find someone, like another family member or a friend of the family, who will verify the severity of your situation in writing. That will help the financial aid administrator to make you independent, which means your parents' information will not be required on the FAFSA."
I would look over that and speak with the financial aid, counselor, etc.
I have also found some scholarship sites that are helpful: ScholarshipZone, StudentScholarships, and Scholarships360. Although the one I like because there is a directory of specialties (academics, athletic, ACT score, gender, etc) to search by: https://www.scholarships.com/financial-aid/college-scholarships/scholarship-directory
Good luck!
Charles recommends the following next steps:
Dianne Michele Dumas
Dianne Michele’s Answer
Yes that's a hard one. I think they require your parents income on your FASFA if you are under 25 years old. You may have to get a part time job and rent your own place. Prove that you are self supporting will probably get around that. Otherwise, you might try calling them directly and say "my family has refused to help me what are my options?"