How do I pay for school?
To sum it up I was forced to drop out of school about a year ago because my parents went bankrupt in the middle of my first semester. I had just transferred in to my dream school (an expensive private university) and had counted on my parents co-signing a loan with me. However, they had not told me that the business they had invested thousands of dollars in had gone under so when it came time to apply for a loan and pay the university for my first semester and register for the next semester’s classes I was told there was no way they could afford it. In shock and without financial or emotional support from them I left the school and moved in with my grandmother. I didn’t handle payments with the school immediately because I had no idea how to go about it and assumed they would arrange it.
After that semester I also returned to a junior college and completed requirements to transfer in to a more affordable, state school. This last fall I began a new semester at the new university feeling excited to be back in school. However, now that it is time to register for the upcoming semester’s classes I am being told that without the transcript from the first university I cannot come back to school in the Spring (the requirements for transfer students is to submit ALL transcripts from previously attended schools by the Spring) I contacted the previously attended school to discover I had been put in collections (notices had been sent to my parents home, warning of this, and my parents had never told me). They refuse to give me a transcript without paying the amount in full which is over 10,000 dollars. I have set up a payment plan with the collections agency but again, without paying it all at once, I will not get the transcript and therefore cannot finish school at the university I currently attend. I have tried applying for a loan but as a student I do not qualify for that amount without a cosigner, which I do not have. I don’t know what to do…I have tried contacting everyone imaginable, the president of the previous university, counselors, the head of admissions at my new school, and family members but no on offers me any help or alternatives. I feel so incredibly helpless and all I want to do is finish school.
Does any one know of a lender that approves student loans without a co-signer? Should I file for bankruptcy? Contact a talk show and see if they’ll give me money?? I’D DO ANYTHING TO FINISH SCHOOL! PLEASE HELP!!
You need to talk to your previous university at the controllers office and set up a payment plan with the school, not a collections agency. With a plan, they should not make you pay all at once for a set of transcripts. You probably have a controllers hold and that is why you cannot send the transcripts.
You need to talk with the admissions department of your present school, because you may technically say you only transfered in with credits from the community college without looking at the previous college until you get that mess straightened out. There has to be a loophole, or someone who can help you. That is what they are there for.
You need to talk to the financial aid department of your school and look into FAFSA as well as fastwebs for grants. The financial aid department will tell you how to file.
You have the option to take up the fact that your parents were accruing debt in your name in the peoples court. They are the ones responsible for the mess, although you should have been more on top of things. I do not blame you, if your parents voluntarily were paying for school and then stopped and ignored bills in YOUR name, then this needs to be taken up in a higher legal office.
January 25th, 2010 at 4:37 pmI think you have now learned how pervasive the credit crisis is, and how this is not going to go away any time soon.
Got to a different school, get a job, stay living with your gran, get a second job, do whatever it takes to make your dream come true. My parents both had to quit school in the 8th grade, because of the Depression, and these are similar times. Your character and determination will carry you through. You have learned that your parents are not much help, so just accept that. They are who they are, and it is best to accept their weakness, and not buy into it or hope for help from a source from which it will never come. Get your debt under control, as far as I have heard, student loan debt never goes away, even with bankruptcy (Suzi Orman as source)
I have complete faith that you will be able to accomplish your goals, What you live through will teach you the best lessons, that will sustain you throughout your life, Just keep doing what you need to do, clear your debt, source everything in your life carefully (will used do? can I borrow for free? do I really need this? )
January 25th, 2010 at 4:37 pmAs much as you want to go back to school, try and look at the big picture here. Do not take on more debt! Right now, your credit is probably pretty rough, but not as bad as a bankruptcy which is going to follow you for up to 10 years.
You need to check, just to make sure that your parents did not file on the debt that was at the first school. Are you sure it was all in your name? A collection agency will be more than happy to take your money regardless.
As you get older and have a steady income lenders are going to be more willing to accept some credit scuffs based on paying back a college debt than they will about a bankruptcy.
I know you do not want to lose the momentum but we are looking at the life view so hang in with me for a sec. What I would do, if you have the support of your grandmother as far as place to stay and putting food in your mouth stay with her for 1 more year.
Find a part-time job and pay off the $10,000 and put back for your first semester. By that time you have your transcript and most importantly for your financial well-being you are debt free. Then you can apply and more than likely will be eligible for state or federal aid because of your income level and because you have no outstanding issues with past colleges.
You will have to pay on that $10,000 and any interest forever, get it off your back now. It is a year compared to the rest of your life.
Good luck with whatever you come up with and decide to do.
January 25th, 2010 at 4:37 pm