Hello to all.  I am from South Dakota.  I am 52 years old and am trying to go back to school for Applied Science degree. This would allow me to use my creativity and open up employment opportunites that would secure my future.  I have no husband or anyone to share expenses.  I have recently lost my job of 9 years and I am ineligible for any financial aid thru Fafsa due to my 2008 income. It is amazing that I worked last year but the income that I made barely met my basic needs and now I am being punished for needing assistance.  I had to jump thru so many hoops even to the point that I had to answer the following questions.  What nationality I was.  Whether or not I was on any type of government assistance; such as food Stamps, ADC, housing, ect.  Because I responded no, I cannot get help. It would seem to me that those who have been fortunate enough to not have to have assistance in the past, should not be shoved aside when things change. My income ( if went the whole year) dropped 30k. I am so discouraged. I have been to so many websites that ask for banking info or asks you to pay a fee for applying for help.  I can hardly put food on the table let alone pay for something that may not pan out. I can ony count on me so if I am unable to start school in September due to no assistance, I will be forced to go out and get another dead end job with no security. Thank you for listening.  I just feel so bummed right now. God bless all of you who are experiencing the same issues.  Kat 

My daughter went to an expensive and she was heavily aided.  We had to answer all those  questions--it is just part of the Fin Aid process.  They ask them so that the aid that is available is distributed to those who need it most.  If you are touchy about your privacy, don'tb other applying!

We also learned that if unforesen changes come up in your income, to let the college's FA office know right away.

Example:  When I was in college, the mother of one of my friend's had a re-occurence of her old breast cancer, which she had  had treated many years earlier and they had believed cured.  In fact, my friend  and her sister had been so young, they did not know their mother had ever had breast cancer!

Suddenly, the family income dropped---the Mom had to quit her job and have surgery and treatments. And they had medical bills, what the ins. did not cover.

My friend was a twin btw, so 2 daughters in college, same year, at once.

Both girls went to the FA offices in their schools and their aid packages were adjusted.

2nd example, when my own daughter was in college, at the end of her Jr year, my mother suddenly  died, and so did our car.  So we had to get another car and also we had to pay for my mother's funeral, because she had had no insurance.  The fin aid letter for the next year had already come out, for my  daughter.  And all of a sudden we were going to have to borrow against my husband's retirment account for the funeral, and also get a car loan.

I called the Fin Aid office and told them we had had a change---that we suddenly were going to have to buy a car of some kind and also be paying back a loan for the funeral; my mother had died 2 days earlier.  My daughter's officer told me to get the bill from the funeral director when the paperwork was all done, and send a copy to them wioth a covering letter.

We did, and a couple weeks later, a letter came---it said "We have been advised of changes in your circumstances,  blah blah blah..." and they had raised the amount of daughter's grant by exactly the amount we were going to be paying back the loan on the funeral, for her last year there.  The school basically picked up the  tab for my mother's funeral, for 10 months of the payments for it anyway.

So you never know.  Always call the financial aid office of the school if you have a sudden change like job loss or  big medical bills.

For you, is there a community college nearby where you could go for the first 2 yr?  They cost less than four yr schools and the distribution courses are pretty, much the same.  Many states' university systems have deals worked out with their comm. colleges whereby they will take students from them, no big fuss about transfer credits, as long as you took the right courses for the major & got good enough grades.

The comm. college near us also has online classes, and night classes---so you might be doing a dead end job but be taking courses at the same time, to move yourself further along.  The tuition is lower if you are a county resident.  Even if it's one course at a time, it's progress.

Good luck and hope you will be doing better!

I hate to see that!  It makes it so hard that we are penalized for trying to better ourselves and in the meantime those who were born with a silver spoon in their mouths or due to origin have no trouble getting assistance. Please reconsider staying in school.  I don't know how old you are but I am 52 and if I have to live in a box to get the degree that I need, I will.  I cannot count on having a husband that works or even just a room mate with a job so I have to settle for 300.00 per week.  This is after earning  $730.00 per week.  It is so discouraging but I believe that this is what God wants me to do so I will continue to trust Him.  I have gone to so many websites for grants that they claim are free to file for!  Yeah!  Right!  Most of the others are for online courses.  What is the point of that? I wish I knew Bill Gates or Donald Trump personally!  What I need is what they spend on a business lunch per day!  lol!  Good luck and don't give up!

You all need to file for an amended EFC. When my child support ended, it made a big difference in income, so amending the FAFSA with the new income info pushed me in to a lower EFC and more aid.

Talamak you need to speak to the FA department about something called a Professional Judgement.  Are you on unemployment now?  If so they should drop your income from last year.  The government uses your last years taxes as a predictor of what you'll make this year, but if you can show that your income has drastically change the school can reconsider your aid package.  These used to be hard to get but the Department of Education is more lenient now, as people are having financial problems attending school.