I’m a single mother with a child starting college in 2008 , I need to know how much I can make yearly for aid?

That question is pretty subjective. You will need to complete the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) which will compute an EFC (Expected Family Contribution) that schools use to determine what types of scholarships, grants, and/or loans for which a student may be eligible.

There are many factors in determining the EFC: the parental income, the student income, how many people are in the household and of those how many are attending college, any savings you may have, any type of federal aid you may be receiving (WIC,etc.) and so on.

Then there is also the COA (Cost of Attendance) of the school. That will also determine how much financial aid a student may get: if the COA is $12000 and the EFC is 4000 there would be 8000 of unmet need; if the COA is $8000 and the EFC is 4000 there would only be 4000 of unmet need.

You said your child would be starting school in 2008. Even though the 0809 FAFSA is not yet available (not until January 1st), you could use a worksheet for the 0708 school year to: http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/before012.htm ; you could take that to your school’s financial aid officer to see if they could help you determine what your EFC might be for 0708 (and if nothing changes in 2007 then your EFC would be around the same for the 0809 school year).

It would also be a very idea to talk to your school’s financial aid officer to see what information/guidance they can give.

Good luck!

This is a pretty standard question. Without spending too much time in a financial aid office, there is plenty you can do get the process started.

Start by going to http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/ and filling out the online form for federal student aid. After finding out what you are eligible for in terms of subsidized stafford loans, you can figure out if that is enough to finance your tuition and expenses. Once you have decided how much you will need in stafford loans, shop around for the best rates. All the rates will be very close but each company offers different borrower benefits and while they may seem small, something as little as .25% difference will be significant over the life of the loan.

Becasue of loan limits, you may need more then what you are able to get from stafford loans. If you find that you need more money then you are offered, you may want to try a private student loan.

The best thing to do is compare the different private lenders out there, which can be done at http://www.finaid.org/loans/privatestudentloans.phtml

Most of the rates are very similar but do a little research and pick one that you think is best. I would suggest Think Financial. The application process is very quick and easy, and the check is sent directly to you so you can use the money for whatever you want. The limits are much higher with private student loans, up to $40,000 per year. You can find out more information about a Think loan at http://www.thinkfinancial.com . Good Luck.

I’m a Financial Aid Administrator, and it’s kind of difficult to give an estimate. You can actually think someone is going to get a full Pell Grant, but they will actually only get half or none at all. Depending on how many children you have and whether or not you receive child support also plays into the equation. You need to complete FAFSA before the deadline for your state. You also want to talk to the Financial Aid Office at the school your child is interested in attending.

Maybe you can try below website to get the information you need. It’s about student loans articles for your second opinion.