If only

[Shawnee123]

Iggy,

I am a financial aid administrator, and I know exactly what you are saying. I say time and time again that there is an entire poplulation of students who don't get any federal or state grants, yet their family really doesn't make enough money to comfortably send their kids, or themselves, to school. We as administrators see this all the time, and there is nothing we can do about the regulations, though we help all we can.

You should be able to get federal stafford loans easily, as long as everything else is OK, meaning you have taken all the FAFSA steps and have a valid ISIR (what the schools are sent from the results of FAFSA processing; valid meaning all verification, or other docs, have been received and processed.) Stafford loans are figured on cost of attendance (a school's formula, based on federal guidelines, for determing what it should cost that student to attend school, taking into account tuition, fees, books, costs for transportation, living expenses, child care costs, dependency status, year of school...etc and so on.) Then, aid already received is subtracted from the equation. However, dependent students are limited by annual amounts.

I was just in a meeting last Monday at the State House talking about a NEW grant we have to administer, in very short time...that once again is for students who have a zero EFC (expected family contribution.) It is a convoluted story, but I did point out to the board of regents lady that we are ignoring a very large population of students and next time they want to look good they might consider helping out those who don't get help. I didn't say it nearly that harshly, but I got applause from all the other FA administrators in the room.

I always suggest students write to their congressman. It might sound silly, but the best way to effect change is for them to understand that a large part of their consituency is unhappy and wants change.

In the meantime, keep your eyes out for scholarship opportunities. We have many institutional scholarships (I am scholarship chair) to give out every year and we find so many who don't apply because they think they have no chance.

Watch for third party scholarship opportunities in your community from civic groups. Apply for everything. Spend time on your app...sell yourself!

Also, there are national scholarships available that target a million different categories; there may be a scholarship for blond haired, green eyed people with 6 toes. You can enter yourself in a database at www.finaid.org ...find scholarship searches. They take your information and inform you of scholarships that you might be eligible for that you otherwise would never had known existed.

Most of all, hang in there. Be very careful of scams. DO NOT give money to organizations who say they will find you more aid. Any self respecting FA administrator at any respectable institution will provide you with all information for free.

I wish you the best of luck. Keep applying for scholarships!