I really want to go back to college, I started college back in 2007 but had to drop out due to family problems. Now I would like to return but I am not financially stable enough. I am a homemaker to two boys, and my husband is in the Army. I am not allowed to use his post 9/11 GI bill until he has been in the army for 6 years plus him re-enlisting for another 4 years. Right now we don't know when he can re-enlist and he won't be in for 6 years until next year. I tried looking up some grants but It seems I am not allowed to get them, one because I am not already in school and two because I owe some money on another student loan. Right now we can't pay off my student loan but I want to go back to school. Can anyone help?
Have you been looking at a community college? It would be a good start and it's cheaper. Though most classes are starting in the next couple weeks for the fall semester. You can not get financial aid until you are accepted at a school for obvious reasons. I'm wondering if you went to a place such as University of Phoenix and hence the students loans. UofP is expensive. Consider a community college.
There are limited ways to pay for college:
- Out of Pocket
- Scholarships & Grants (federal and private)
- Loans (federal and private)
Those are your only 3 options. If you can't get loans or federal grants because you're in bad standing on your current loans (you need to be paying on them for 6mo in order to qualify for more), and you can't pay out of pocket, then your only option is to write for scholarships and grants. There are thousands of them out there. Fastweb only has a portion of them, but it's a fairly decent place to start. The library, in the reference section has the 8" thick book of scholarships for the upcoming year with bible thin pages. It's a chore. But it has 'em all. All the published ones.
You don't have to already be in school to write for private grants and scholarships. You mark the "year" that you would be credit wise for the upcoming year, and you mark down the codes of any and all schools you see yourself going to. Then, after you've won them AND enrolled in school, the scholarships transfer to that school.
Now... here's the rub on private money... they have deadlines and they're for the UPcoming year. Most drop dead in March. So for those, you'll write, submit, and then in March/April/etc (aka months off) you'll get notified of the one's you've been awarded for the FOLLOWING year. AKA, you'll be writing for money you won't get for 18 months.
Over the next 18 months, pay on your loans (consolidate first) for 6 months, and then get them deferred. That way you'll qualify for them when you start school.
In a year, when you get GI money, you'll also be able to get your federal loans and grants. in 18 mo, you'll have GI Bill, Federal $, and any $ from scholarships you've won.
It's going to take some time, unless you can afford to pay out of pocket.
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There's a "half" option as well. It's called challenging courses. What you do, is do independent study at home, and then take tests/interview to challenge those courses. I've challenged 9 classes, which saved me over a year's worth of tuition (since I only do 2 classes a quarter, tops). I still had to buy the books, I still had to study, but I knocked a year off of my graduation time. I "did" those classes during the years I've had to take off of school, for lack of funding &/or time.
The reality of the situation is that you simply can't afford this right now. I know that it is disheartening, but college isn't "free" and as Riley has stated below there are limited ways to pay for the education.
Put any extra cash you have towards paying-down your student loans. If possible, get a job- even part time to start paying down your debt and put money away to pay for classes. Wait until you are able to use your husband's GI Bill-this is what it is for! By then your children may be in school, so you won't have to worry about paying for childcare and you will have time to study.
Wrong time... hold off on this until you can go back to school without the added financial stress.
Talk with the office that handles financial aid at the school in which you're interested. They will know much more than anyone else about what is available.
Sounds like your limited in options. I think a good compromise is to set up one class a semester until you can get the GI bill going for further classes. A little bit at a time is something. good luck
What about working and saving up some money to pay back the loan you still have and/or pay the tuition on a PT basis?
Crazy, I know, but college isn't a *right* it's an opportunity that we need to pay for.
Not trying to sound mean, but it sounds like you've looked into the grant options....and with the outstanding loan debt maybe a personal loan is the way to go.
Have you looked into scholarships? There are many that go unanswered.
Dont they defer your old student loans if you go back to school?
