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I'm a single mom with four kids in high school (yes, they're multiples.) My income, even with child support from my ex, is relatively low. I am fortunate to remain in the home that my ex and I purchased 20 years ago, although I'm facing many years of mortgage payments. I have been worried about college expenses for some time, but now that it's only a few years away, I'm getting more stressed. We have no college accounts.
They're all bright (3 out of 4 are straight A students) but my entire salary would not even pay for one year of college, never mind four kids for four years. What is my best strategy? With a second job or serious budgeting, I might be able to put away a few thousand, but that won't help much. Will the fact that I'm sending four kids at once be considered on the FAFSA? Any advice?
I believe they do factor in the number of people in the household in college during an academic year. Since you have a low income, even if you were just sending one child to college, he or she would more than likely qualify to the max in federal and state grants. Your kids might get lucky and get a nice, loan-free, financial aid package from a private school, but public schools are often cheap enough so that your children shouldn't have to take out much in loans. Public colleges also offer scholarships and grants. Even though I'm a PhD student, I will be receiving a state and university grant. I also received a state grant in my masters programs. My state, however, only awards grant money to those attending in-state, public colleges. The key is to apply before the priority deadline. Your children can save money by living at home and/or working part-time. Students usually incur massive amounts of debt by using student loans for living expenses.
Thank you -- I'm a grad of a state university myself. I have no problem sending them to one of our great state schools, but even those are close to $20K per year -- and our flagship is more than a 2 hour drive, so commuting there is not an option. I get it that they might not be able to "have it all" as far as going full time and living on campus. But I'd like to think they can go to college one way or another.
Which state do you live in where the tuition and fees are close to $20k per year? Is that the total cost of attendance? The total cost of attendance factors in estimated living expenses. Even if they have to move away from home, it could be cheaper for them to move into an apartment with a roommate or each other. Where I live, campus housing is more expensive than living in an apartment by yourself.
Some people here may not like this option, but attending a community college the first two years can save a lot of money. In my state, community colleges are about $2-3k per year. General education courses and courses for certain majors are guaranteed to transfer to any public school in the state. Plus, the community colleges often have articulation agreements with public and private colleges in the state.
The maximum one can receive from the Pell Grant is currently $5,645. A state grant might add a couple of more thousand dollars.
Scholarships, financial aid, and community college. Tell them they will be expected to work part time. I agree with L210; if they want the "college experience," whatever that is, they can pay for it themselves. You will help provide a low cost education at a community college that they can transfer to a university at a later date.
I'm a single mom with four kids in high school (yes, they're multiples.) My income, even with child support from my ex, is relatively low. I am fortunate to remain in the home that my ex and I purchased 20 years ago, although I'm facing many years of mortgage payments. I have been worried about college expenses for some time, but now that it's only a few years away, I'm getting more stressed. We have no college accounts.
They're all bright (3 out of 4 are straight A students) but my entire salary would not even pay for one year of college, never mind four kids for four years. What is my best strategy? With a second job or serious budgeting, I might be able to put away a few thousand, but that won't help much. Will the fact that I'm sending four kids at once be considered on the FAFSA? Any advice?
Don't be afraid to have them apply to expensive private schools. Sometimes you can get better financial aid packages from private schools, especially if you are low income. Be sure to apply to schools that agree to meet 100% of aid. State schools often do not have much financial aid to give out so they sometimes wind up being more expensive than private schools for low income earners.
Schools do factor in how many are in school at the same time.
Edited to add: Schools will expect your ex to include his income on the FAFSA and will expect some sort of contribution from him.
Don't be afraid to have them apply to expensive private schools. Sometimes you can get better financial aid packages from private schools, especially if you are low income. Be sure to apply to schools that agree to meet 100% of aid. State schools often do not have much financial aid to give out so they sometimes wind up being more expensive than private schools for low income earners.
Schools do factor in how many are in school at the same time.
Edited to add: Schools will expect your ex to include his income on the FAFSA and will expect some sort of contribution from him.
Scholarships, scholarships, scholarships, if your kids have the grades...my family had three in college at once, and scholarships made all the difference. I applied for dozens and dozens, and got lots. We all qualified for and worked federal work study jobs, as well. The remainder, we took out in federal student loans (NOT private). We also mostly went to private colleges that offered much more by way of in-house grants and scholarships. I got a founders scholarship from my college that paid 75% of my tuition.
To piggyback on TR above, if your kids have good grades, cast a wide net and see who offers what. You really need to know what kind of financial packages are on the table.
Use the Net Price Calculators on a few college websites to get an idea of what you would be expected to pay. And use an assortment of colleges - those that use PROFILE (which will require ex-husbands salary/asset information, too) and those that only use FAFSA (which will only use your salary/income).
If your kids have high GPA's as well as very high sat/act scores, there are colleges that will give full or near full tuition scholarships.
I'd not be afraid to tell your kids that their college education is their responsibility since you're not in a position to fund it for them. They need to apply for scholarships, grants and student loans. They will need to work during college. There are options like military service to get the GI Bill or ROTC to help with tuition and a stipend in return for military service afterwards. They can apply for the service academies also.
While I could have funded my son's college education I let him know that I wasn't going to fund him goofing off for four years in college and some of it was going to be his responsibility. He came to the conclusion that he wasn't ready to go directly to college and joined the military for four years to earn the GI Bill. He now says he's so thankful he didn't go straight to college as he wasn't ready (even though he was a A student) and is looking forward to it in two years when he gets out of the military.
Between his GI Bill and our assistance he won't have any debt when he graduates college. He won't even have to work while in school if he doesn't want to. He seems to think the route he chose was the best one for him, I tend to agree with him.
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