I Need Help With Financial Aid!!!?
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What kind of financial aid are you applying for? It sounds like you are going after a career loan instead of a student (Stafford) Loan.
A career loan is typically offered for certification type education programs and non-accredited colleges and educational programs. Example: Many massage schools and modeling schools cannot acquire accreditation and so they cannot offer Government Financial aid. So, they offer a career loan that requires you to have good credit or a co-borrower with good credit. Typically they want to see a credit score of 650 or above with immediate online approval for credit scores of 700 or above.
Government Financial Aid (Title IV Funding) offered through accredited colleges and schools is different. This money comes in two forms: Grants and Loans. A grant is money that you never have to repay… it’s free money to pay for tuition books and school supplies / housing, etc… The largest of these grants is called a Pell grant and you can recieve up to around $3500.
The main loan program offered through Title IV is the Stafford Loan program. There are two types of Stafford Loans, the Unsubsidized and the subsidized stafford loans. The subsidized Stafford loan is guaranteed by the government. This means the financial institution that gives you the loan is guaranteed to get repaid. And because of this you don’t have to have a good credit score. In fact they dont check your credit at all. The Unsubsidized program is a different story because they require decent credit to get that one.
So, you should be able to get some money for school. Hopefully a Pell grant and a Subsidized Stafford loan. How do you get this money? Well first you need to go to a college that offers Title IV funding. Second, you have to qualify to recieve the funds. You need to complete an application for financial aid. The financial aid officer at your college can perform something called a “needs analysis” to see if you qualify. The needs analysis is a 94 variable calcualtion that tells the Financial Aid Officer if you have a need for financial aid. The take a look at your income, your parents income, assets, number of family members, etc…
So, go find a college that offers Title IV financial aid and see if you qualify.
Good luck!
Chris