One of the most frustrating things I have encountered lately is the whole college education funding problem. For most people, this process seems easy. You fill out the FAFSA form, you apply for scholarships, and sometimes you get money to help pay for your kid's education.If you don't happen to qualify for any assistance, then you can apply for a loan, and bang, you are good to go. . . EXCEPT when you have me, or my husband for a parent, then things all of a sudden become complicated. We have completed the FAFSA, my daughter searched for appropriate scholarships she could apply for, and she has been accepted to the college of her choice. The only problem is that we can't afford it. My daughter has been rejected for all of the scholarships she applied for. As of yesterday, all hopes of winning even a little scholarship money are dashed; the last rejection letter came in yesterday's mail. My poor daughter, crestfallen! The problem for us is that we are not in a minority, my husband and I are still married, my husband and I both have jobs, and my daughter is "only" a B student. On the surface, that doesn't sound like a bad thing, and it also looks like we should be able to at least help our daughter apply for a loan, but things are not always the way they appear to be on the outside. If you were to look just beneath the fraying edges of our family life, you would see that we are sitting precariously on the very top of a dangerous cliff; one little thing could send us over the edge. Because my husband and I are in an active Chapter 13 bankruptcy, three quarters of what we earn is taken by the court appointed trustee to pay our debts. The other one quarter of the income is to go to pay for groceries, utilities and healthcare. We are not in a position to co-sign on a loan. The FAFSA forms do not reflect the "sins" of the parents. It only looks at how much a person earns, not at what, where or how much of it goes to other things. So, because of the financial ineptitude of my husband and I, my dear daughter(s) are suffering. They are the ones who will be shouldering the cost of something my husband and I should, at the very least, be assisting with. My daughters will be impacted by a mistake my husband made and my inability to see it and insist that it be remedied, for years to come.
If you are currently considering filing for bankruptcy, or are currently in Chapter 13 bankruptcy, and you have found my blog because you were looking for help paying for your child's education, I am sorry, I do not have any help to offer you. There does not seem to be any assistance anywhere. Our only hope is that our daughter will be able to get a high interest student loan with a deferred repayment plan. If that happens, then we might be able to help her in four years when we have paid back all our previous debt. If you are considering filing for bankruptcy, please do a lot of research and if possible, find another way to get out of debt. Bankruptcy is awful and should be an absolute last resort.
6 comments:
This is our exact situation too. I'm just wondering what you're daughter is going to do. Thanks for the blog on this subject, I think it hit's home with more people now than ever before.
Steve
Still waiting to get the "Award Letter" (I wonder why they call it that?) to see if my daughter will get any kind of assistance. She has tried to apply for private loans but having no credit history, and no co-signer, she has been turned down every time. Praying for a miracle! Will keep posting any developments.
I just came across your blog and we are in the same situation as you. What was your outcome? I realize this is a few years old but if you could please share it would be greatly appreciated and helpful as we try to figure out what we will do. Our child was not eligible for financial aid due to our income. Go Figure !
Thanks and I hope it worked out. I agree it is an awful and stressful position to be in but we must remain hopeful and not let it get us down.
Hello there. I am glad at least a few people have found my blog and sort of feel like they aren't the only ones out there in this situation. We are now at the beginning of our 4th year in the Chapter 13, and let me tell you it has been ROUGH! This situation still sucks as much now as it did when we first filed. Anyway, in answer to your question, we ended up actually qualifying for a Parent Plus loan. We talked to the financial aid people at the school and they encouraged us to apply for the loan, and we got it. Our daughter will be a junior and there will be quite a lot of debt when she graduates, but we will finally be finished with our 5 year term and then our income will increase substantially. We have 3 younger children who will be going to college too, so this all will be very interesting!
We are in our second year of our Chapter 13 with our oldest daughter starting college this fall. Saw you mentioned that you qualified for the Plus loan. I have been looking at the credit requirements for that loan and have concerns that even though our credit report clearly says we are under Chapter 13 there are several creditors that are still showing as "petitioned/charged off $amount". Wondering if this would impact an approval since their guidlines clearly say you shouldnt have amounts charged off. Would appreciate any advice you could give. We also have 3 younger children the next one will be starting college at the completion of our 5 years.
A couple of years after your original post and here I find we are in the same position. What I get to take home after the trustee takes her portion is equal to my son's first year's tuition. Lots of scholarship applications and no results. Poor kid...its not his fault.
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