Everybody CAN'T afford college

This is my second year at college, and my first year dealing with the financial aid office. Last year I was only part time and didn't bother filling out the FAFSA(big mistake). So let me explain my situation to you before I start compliaining about not getting financial aid. I have lived on my own for a year, and by on my own I don't mean away from my parents and having them pay my rent, but COMPLETELY on my own. I pay rent, car payments, insurance, food, toilet paper-everything. This isn't because I WANT to be on my own-if my mom offered to pay for my classes or books I would be more than happy to let her. But in my family, once your 18 your on your own.

So that being said, after working 3 jobs over the summer(one in the morning, one in the afternoons, one graveyard), I decided that I better get an education or I would be doing that my whole life. I would literally go 3 or 4 days without sleeping, and I can't even tell you the amount of times I did some pretty stupid things because of exhaustion. I had filled out the FAFSA earlier this year and was told I wasn't eligible for aid because my estimated family contribution(EFC) was more than my predicted expenses. It said that I would only be contributing $50 dollars to my education, and my family would be contributing over $10,000(oh how I wish this was true).

So I went to the financial aid office at my school to explain that this was the complete opposite of the truth. Here's what they told me(and I don't know if these laws are only in California or nationwide, so if you've had a different experience in another state let me know so i can move there!)-

Even though I don't live with my mom, she doesn't claim me as a dependent on her taxes, and I don't receive any sort of financial help from her, I am still considered a dependent as far as financial aid is concerned until I'm 24 years old. The only ways for me to be considered independent and under 24 are if I was married, I had a kid, I was a ward of the court either currently or in the past(as in have been to jail or foster care), or I had served in the military. I don't know how this translated to whoever made this law, but to me it was saying "Since I want to wait to find the right one to get married to I can't go to college," "Since I'm not dumb enough to get knocked up when I'm 19 I can't go to college," "Because my mother didn't beat me and put me in foster care as a child, and I'm a law-obiding citizen so I've never been to jail I can't go to college," and "Because I don't want to go out and kill people for a pointless war I can't go to college." What part of this sounds right to you?

After spending hours in the financial aid office, I finally accepted that my only hopes for getting money were either loans or scholarships. And since my EFC was so high, I'm not elligible for Fedral Stafford loans. I was only elligible for private loans(which, in case you didn't know, cost A LOT more than federal loans). Even though I have a very high credit score for my age, I couldn't get approved for any loans without a cosigner because I don't have a long credit history. And part of me being on my own means my family doesn't help financially in any way-including cosigning on student loans. So without any financial aid or loans, my only hope is scholarships. Except there's not even that hope for me-last year I was working graveyards, went to school in the mornings, and worked at my second job in the afternoons. In other words, with barely enough time to sleep, my grades arn't so great, and extracurricular activities are completely out of the question.

So now I'm only a part time student, and I can't even buy the books for my classes. I told the people at the financial aid office about this, and they said there is one exception-if I have a family member sign a piece of paper saying that I have no communication at all with my mom, then they have somebody investigate my 'case' and determine, basically, if I'm making that up or not. I talk to my mom everyday, and if anybody was to investigate that it wouldn't be hard to prove.

So now it's hard for me not to get mad when I see people give those encouraging speeches about "Everybody can afford college". Because that is a flat out lie. I havn't heard of anybody else out there having the same problem I do, but I know I can't be the only one. So for all of you high school seniors, or people hoping to go back to school soon, don't dream too big until you know there's a way to pay for it.

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