Pennywell

Our eldest is in her final year of high school and is currently looking at Colleges for next year. She came back the other day there, armed with potential places given to her by her guidance counsellor. Looked them up, great schools but the tuition fees were exhorbitant! Average was 35K per year before living expenses were added in. Unlike many of her friends parents we haven't had a college fund set up from birth and therefore we are going to find it difficult but not impossible to pay.
Here are some of my questions:-
She will be 17 at the time of starting, does that mean for the first year she can't have a loan in her own right?
Do employers have "snobbery" in regards to which school applicants have attended? Ideally we would like her to go to the local CC and then transfer to a state college, mainly because of her age but the financial implications as well.
Her guidance teacher has told her all colleges offer scholarships, are these open to LPRs?
What loans are open to us? I gather that it will be means tested but again, as LPRs, do we qualify?
Her GPA isn't great which is why we think all the info she was given was from private schools or is this cynical?
I really feel for her but we have got to give her a reality check . In the UK, she always did exceptionally well in school but has suffered in the US system, I know she is college material but think she needs to mature a little.
Appreciate any advice given

robin1234

You don't say where you live.. each state system is different, and priced very differently (for in-state residents.) In New York, where I live, the strategy of attending a community college or other State 2-year school, followed by junior & senior year at a State 4-year college or university is a very good one. One advantage, the student can live at home for the first two years and then have the away from home, campus life experience for the subsequent two years.

teach_k_jp

Actually, starting out in the cc is good advice for any student. It will give her the opportunity to show the universities she applies for in year 3 that she is, indeed, able to breeze right through the work. It gives her a chance to learn the expectations of university life. Go to the cc you have in mind, go to the Financial Aid office and find out exactly what is available to you...you might be pleasantly surprised Your daughter will be able to get a degree if she just works at it. If she is having problems academically, the cc will put her in the classes she needs to get those grades up. It is a great idea...check it all out. Good luck

Elvira

Check out the FAFSA website for information on financial aid/loans:

http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/

Tarkak9

the other 'advantage' is the matriculation and graduation benefits too but some places have wised to that.

robin1234

How do you mean ... "matriculation and graduation benefits"..?

Pennywell

Thanks Elvira. We are so aware of the drop-out rate and having attended the local CC myself, self sufficiency in learning, studying was quite astoundingly low. Uni was a great experience for me and I really want her to experience it but at the same time come out with a qualification that will put her on a career path. We need to sit down and talk to her honestly about her choices.

Bluegrass Lass

Getting into a community college is often easer, from the GPA perspective, than a 4yr college. Most 4 yrs have a min. GPA and achievement test scores that have to met by the applicant. If she goes to the CC first, and gets her GPA up, that would greatly help her ability to get into a 4yr.

A PR is eligible for all Federal Financial Aid. Go the FAFSA site and read up on the information, that you, as the parents, will need to provide. Go to the CC's you have in mind, to their Financial Aid office, and find out what scholarships she could qualify for, and the deadlines for applying. I think usually scholarships have deadlines towards late Fall/early winter, so now is the time to find them and apply. Also, go to www.fastweb.com. There are all kinds of scholarships on there. Not all of them will be dependent on GPA, so who knows what she may qualify for.

robin1234

In terms of the different value of a degree from different colleges, there is a very definite value in terms of employment prospects etc. of a degree from a high-prestige school; e.g. ivy-league or a very prestigious liberal arts college such as Williams or Middlebury. But these are places that are very competitive to get into. Your regular private college that charges $40,000 a year or more, but is not particularly selective in terms of entry requirements, is no better than Podunk State Agricultural & Technical College in terms of job-snagging prestige. (IMHO)

kins

Would a year out suit her? Give her time to mature, a chance to travel, a chance to find out what it's really like to earn a living, and maybe make her more interesting when it comes to college applications?

Tarkak9

people would go to another school, such as a cc or their local uni/college and then transfer and enroll later on to a more 'prestigeous' school in the senior year so that when they can graduate and get the piece of paper from that school. eg attend a cc then off to Penn State (or whereever) so that their paper says Penn State but obviously not pay the full whack of attending Penn State.
Cavaet may be that not all credits will trnfr so that you have to them up make up, staying longer at the school and more fees...

you mentioned scholorships... have you explored that?

lapin_windstar

I would definitely +1 on at least considering this. Gap Years/OE are not very popular in the US (practically unknown afaics) but I think they can be very valuable, esp if your son/daughter does not know what they want to do.

(Although US colleges are very flexible for the first couple of years, so that's not as important as in Europe, where you're pretty locked into one programme from practically the first day).

Also - a lot will depend on where you live (you have more choice in/around Chicago than in rural Oklahoma), how prestigious your state colleges are, and whether you qualify for in-state tuition.

janj

I would recommend a gap year too. My second daughter was unsure about university, but applied and got herself a place, then deferred it while she went on her gap year to NZ. She had the time of her life, matured a lot, realised she definitely did want to study, and came back and threw herself into her studies much more enthusiastically.

By the way, gap years arranged from the US are prohibitively expensive, but we found that UK organisations such as mygap.org will accept British passport holders and conduct telephone interviews. We paid the airfare and approx 2000 pounds.

The US system is so different - I sympathise with what you are going through. Community College is a good route for the first two years, provided the kid stays motivated and you look closely into whether all credits will transfer. I believe most 4 year colleges want at least half the credits from their institution to award a degree.

Good luck!

teach_k_jp

All credits will transfer so long as your daughter works toward an Associate's degree...the entire degree transfers over and then all that is needed is the last 2 yr. of credits...if she goes the cc route, just make sure she gets that degree from that college, then there will be no problem with transferring to any college. It will be from the University that she would get her Bachelor's...all this information is available at the local college...take her with you...let her see what she has to look forward to...that may really help her make up her mind.

CarrotCruncher

I am currently studying in a CC, and chose to do so purely because of financial reasons. The 4 yr colleges averaged at approx 30k per year, the CC I am attending is 7k per year. (After the first semester, I won 2 scholarships, which halved my tuition costs). I did, however, begin to look at the 4 year colleges pretty much straight away. I'm glad that I did. The 4 yr college I have applied to, and will be transferring to, is picky about what they will accept as transfer credits. For me though, doing just the Gen Eds this way really is the most cost effective way. Another plus is that if your daughter is able to achieve a decent GPA that will equate to automatic scholarships when she transfers from a CC.