Getting my daughter to college help please.

[outoffunds]

Hi everyone,

I am having my first initial meeting with the lawyer on Thursday. This forum has been a saving grace. I now know I should not be ashamed and just making this decision has made me been able to breathe easier. My only concern is my daughter is going to college next year. How does that effect applying for student loans? Is this going to ruin her chance at going to college? Thank you in advance.

[HHM]

Well, if she applies for the student loans, no. If you are intending to get student loans for yourself, potentially there is a problem. I am not 100% sure how the parent student loan programs work, but in general, your credit worthiness is not an issue for getting a student loans.

In general, if someone has to borrow to go to college, I would SERIOUSLY reconsider either the choice of school or going to school at this point in life. Student loans create indentured servitude and most careers these days do not pay enough for a person to service student loan debt.

[frogger]

Who is applying? You or your daughter?

[outoffunds]

it is my daughter she is a senior in high school so she is definitly going. So I can apply in her name?

[frogger]

All applications are done electronically, so technically, you can apply in her name (but you must have her permission!) You or her are going to need to complete f.a.f.s.a., you'll need to have your tax returns done, and then you can start the application process.

I understand you insisting that she go to college, but you don't need to saddle her up with a $100k or more debt to do it.

Go back and read what HHM said.

We put that saddle on our back and got 4 kids with college educations, however they came out debt free.

We did not. That is one of the reasons that bk was in our financial picture.

Many kids work their way through college.......

[tdawg]

Try for grants and scholarships first

Fill out the fafsa for her as soon as you can. I think you are probably past the priority date for this coming year. For most schools it's in February or March. For future reference, try to have her get that submitted BEFORE the priority due date each year. They allocate financial aid (grants, etc.) first to people who have filed before that date. So, her ability to get grants (that don't have to be paid back) is maximized big time if you can do that. I'd also suggest spending a lot of time finding out about scholarships that she's eligible to apply for and having her apply for them.

When I went back to school, it took a lot of time to apply for scholarships, but it paid off big time down the road when I got several of them (I applied for 10 or 15 or them). I kind of figured the more I applied for, the more chance I had at getting 1 (or more). Good luck to you and your daughter! :-)

[backtoschool]

Whether or not you will be able to get enough loans to cover your daughter's college expenses depends on whether or not you will need to supplement stafford loans with private student loans.

Stafford loans are given out regardless of credit history, you simply need to fill out a fafsa as mentioned above.

Private student loans however will look at credit history and credit score. You and/or your daughter will most likely not qualify for private student loans at this point.

Your income will be considered as relevant when your daughter fills out the fafsa, since she has been living at home.

[dumpinmydebt]

It is definitely past the priority date so that FAFSA application needs to be submitted ASAP.

She will need your household income, since it is factored even if she leaves home. If you are DENIED a Plus loan (the parent loan) then she will be independent status and can get more stafford loans and grants. If you are filing for bk soon, you will probably not be eligible for a Plus loan because it is based on credit.


Subsidized are needs based, and unsubsidized are not. Here is a link that gives you the yearly limits and explains more:

http://www.finaid.org/loans/studentloan.phtml

Keep in mind there are also Federal and State grants (needs based.) Also look into scholarships. It's too late for freshman year, but it's great to look into for the other years. Check out www.fastweb.com

She can also look into work-study at the school. And yes, many, if not most, students work while in school.

[idainc]

A friend of ours filed in 1997 and their son graduated 8 years later with an Ivy League Law Degree. They got all sorts of aid and grants ( probably tied to the BK in some way) and he got a huge grant for law school.

It helped that they run their own business so they were in control of what / how it got reported.

Chin up. It may not be a problem at all.

[outoffunds]

Thank you for all the replies, We had already filled out the fasfa forms and submitted information and are waiting to hear back from another college by the end of May. I know if she gets in we have to redo the paperwork so I was curious how it worked. Thank you all so much for the help.

[outoffunds]

I also wanted to say that my daughter has been working since she was 14 bought her own car and does pay her insurance and part of the cell phone so she is aware of how things are around the house at the moment. I would love to be able to help her out anyway I can. All of the information really has been helpful and I am going for the initial meeting today. I am a nervous wreck but also relieved. I would be lost with out all the input available here so thank you again.

[newbie2]

I also wanted to say that my daughter has been working since she was 14 bought her own car and does pay her insurance and part of the cell phone so she is aware of how things are around the house at the moment. I would love to be able to help her out anyway I can. All of the information really has been helpful and I am going for the initial meeting today. I am a nervous wreck but also relieved. I would be lost with out all the input available here so thank you again.

Congrats to you on raising such a hard working young lady. I don't doubt after reading what you've written about her that she and you both will be able to figure out a way for her to earn her college degree. Good luck!

[Flamingo]

Hi everyone,

I am having my first initial meeting with the lawyer on Thursday. This forum has been a saving grace. I now know I should not be ashamed and just making this decision has made me been able to breathe easier. My only concern is my daughter is going to college next year. How does that effect applying for student loans? Is this going to ruin her chance at going to college? Thank you in advance.

My youngest daughter went into her freshman year of high school the year we filed. She went to college while we were still in an active Chapter 13. The easiest and simplist thing for you to do in your situation is to contact the financial aid offices of the colleges to which your daughter plans to apply and explain your concerns and what should you do. They are trained to help you, have been through/seen it all so don't be embarrassed about your BK. They will also have complete listings of grants and scholarships that can be applied for and will provide necessary instructions for other financial aid paperwork. Easily done. Been there.

[outoffunds]

Thank you for the help

[Exployer1234]

Thank you for all the replies, We had already filled out the fasfa forms and submitted information and are waiting to hear back from another college by the end of May. I know if she gets in we have to redo the paperwork so I was curious how it worked. Thank you all so much for the help.

I filed Chapter 7 on 4/23 and I am going back to school in the fall. I filled out my FASFA form back in January. I just got my acceptance letter from the school I will be attending, but I have to resign some forms on FASFA. From my understanding you just can not get private loans while in BK. ONce you are discharged there can be an estimated 6 months to 5 years before you can get a parents plus loan. I had my lawyer look up the information.

If anything it may be better for her to obtain the loan on her own, as long as she is 18 years of age. I know pell grants have a cut off date , which I believe has already passed. Sometimes even past the deadline you may still be able to get the pell grants. I was awarded a pell grant a year ago, even though I was past the deadline date.

Depending on what state you are in there are also additional grants which the deadline has not passed yet.
Here is the deadline's per state:

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before003a.htm