help getting student loans after Chap 7

[brobeau21]

We had to file chap 7 due to losing my job and still not finding any work almost a year later. Our oldest daughter is a freshman in college and we were able to get a parent loan last year before filing to cover what she didn't get in scholarships and stafford loans. This year they are denying us due to the chap 7 and she tried to go Sallie Mae but they want a cosigner. Does anyone know of a way to get a student loan after Chap 7 has been discharged? Thanks in advance!

[Exployer1234]

You need to go to the colleges financial aid office. You will have to complete the FSFSA. She should not need a cosigner for these loans. they are through the government normally, plus she may be able to get a pell grant which does not have to be paid back.

[HHM]

Yes, its called daughter getting a part time job

But in all seriousness, you really need to consider the financial burden these student loans are going to cause you and your daughter. In general, student loans are not denied because of BK (unless truly private, but even then), you are the first case I have ever heard of be denied a student loan because of BK. It might be more likely due to lack of income if still unemployed.

[discombob1]

As Exployer said, federal student loans should not require a co-signer. I was making 25K a year while in grad school and didn't need one. If she goes through the school and completes FAFSA she should get a complete financial aid package on her own.

[Exployer1234]

The reason why you were denied for the student loans is because this was the Parent Plus loan. It is considered a private student loan and you will not be eligible for those after a BK.

I can tell you that I the financial aid I receive gives me more than enough for my educational expenses. I do not make a lot of money right now due to the fact I have 2 more semesters left to go and I am only working part-time. It helps out.

[brobeau21]

My daughter is at a small private school in a very small town on a part athletic part academic scholarship plus she has a grant due to her course of study. She doesn't have time to work a part time job during the school year unfortunately due to the athletic schedule. She does plan to work over the summer if she can find a job. We do not qualify for the Pell Grant and yes it was the parent plus loan that was denied. After she gets the max on the stafford loans there is still a little left that we have to cover that we were using the parent loan for. I am still unemployed or we could cover it out of pocket but we are barely paying the bills on hubby's salary with not much left over for tuition. If she went to another school then we would lose the athletic money and it would end up costing more.

I will have her check again with the financial aid office and see if they have any other suggestions. Thank you for the replies and if anyone else has any helpful info I welcome it!

Edited to add that we have already done the FASFA and they are making us count my severance, disability, and unemployment from last year in the determination of our EFC even though I don't get the disability anymore.

[Exployer1234]

Can you revise the FASFA to only have her information? I am not sure how it works with a student that lives at home, but I would double check with the financial aid office to see if this can be done. She may qualify for more money if she is the only one on the FASFA. If she has no income then she would qualify for pell grants and various other loan types. The EFC number will be better if she is the only one applying for loans.

I would ask the financial aid office this: if they can revise the submitted FASFA to only include your daughter and not include yourself. Basically I would state that you do not want to be included on the loans. That your income should not be counted, and I would question them on why thy are counting your income (disability, severance, and etc). Unless you are considered the co-signer to the stafford loan, but it is not giving her any benefit at this point by you being the co-signer. Therefore she needs to have her on loans through the FASFA.

Also if the tuition is that high I would ask the school if they have a plan that you can break the payments on the remaining balance. Such as many schools will allow you to make a 50% at the beginning of the semester, 30% at the middle of the semester, and the remaining amount at the end of the semester. It may be an option at this point. The only other thing is doing away with the athletic scholarship and seeking a university that is not as much. That way the FASFA covers all the cost of the tuition and you do not have to worry about where to come up with extra money.

[brobeau21]

Thanks Exployer I will check to see how we could do the FASFA with just her listed. I don't know if things have changed but when I was in school you had to be independent (no longer living at home or being claimed as a dependant on your parent's taxes) to do that. It won't hurt to check though. Dropping the athletic scholarship is something we really would only consider as a last resort as she worked hard since she was 9 yrs old to get to play college ball and it would devistate her to have to give that up plus she is planning to coach in her sport as well and playing college ball is almost mandatory to get a good position as a coach. The Stafford loans are in her name only and deferred it was only the parent loan that we were signing. UGH! Filing was the only option we had to avoid closing out our 401Ks to pay our credit cards but it sure does stink not being able to help her out with the loans now.

[Pandora]

Thanks Exployer I will check to see how we could do the FASFA with just her listed. I don't know if things have changed but when I was in school you had to be independent (no longer living at home or being claimed as a dependant on your parent's taxes) to do that. It won't hurt to check though.

Unless she's 24, married, has a child, or been declared an independent due to being removed from your home as a minor - she's still a dependent, and the FAFSA cannot be submitted with just her unless those 2 things apply. There are no exceptions to it (been there, done it...ad nauseaum) and there is no way around it. Your income will count regardless if its disability, workmans comp, regular pay..etc etc etc.

The only other options are for her to: get a co-signer other than yourself (bad idea), take out a private personal loan herself; see if the school has a work-study program; or work a part time job when she can (weekends/nights). Perhaps she can offer coaching lessons to kids at $X an hour. While its understood that she has a heavy schedule, it just may be that she has to cut back on some things in order to fund her education.

[brobeau21]

Thanks Pandora that is the same pretty much as when I went to school so nothing has changed and fortunately or unfortunately whichever way you look at it none of those situations apply to her situation. Her grandparents have offered to cosign a loan either with us or with her but I was trying to avoid that option unless it was the last resort and it appears that it may be. Hopefully she will be able to find a summer job that will let her work some weekends once school starts back in the fall and gas won't be so expensive by then that it won't be worth her time to drive the 120 mile round trip to come home and work. The town that the college is in is so small that there aren't any jobs for the college kids and all the work study jobs are taken and there is a wait list for them. So to work she would have to come home. Thanks for all the suggestions and replies!