FAFSA and Full ride? Is it possible?

[jjnelle]

Hello again!

I was curious to know if anyone has been able to attend any of the Big 3s and barely coming out of pocket.
Or has anyone used a continuing education scholarship to pay off any of these colleges?
I know I qualify for Financial Aid but I rarely see any of you mention using it to pay off a majority of you expenses at these school.

Is it unlikely to attend Excelsior, TESC or COSC and not have to come out of pocket?

Or...

Is there anyone here that has been able to attend these colleges and finish with little to no debt after getting scholarships, financial aid, grants etc. etc.

Looking forward to your replies!

Oh and one more question....which school do you think is the most affordable?

[rebel100]

PELL Grant covered my last year (30 some hours) at COSC. I had to find a cheaper place to take courses to do it though. Most of mine I did via a matriculation agreement between myself, COSC and CSU-Pueblo. Had some cash left over each semester to pay for some DSST/Straighterline. I think you will find it difficult to accomplish paying out of state rates at any of the Big 3 (hence my courses taken at CSU). You will also find that the enrollment fee's at TESC and EC make it more difficult...though the comprehensive enrollemnt fee at TESC is worth considering.I would only consider this near the end of your degree.

If your just getting started a CC online like Clovis, or New Mexico Junior College would maximize you available dollars. Or, of course, your hometown CC.

The way I work it out COSC is considerably cheaper than the others in general...tough there are different options to consider. I chose COSC based on their helpfulness before I enrolled, and their willingness to bend over backwards in dealing with my PELL grant.

Simple really...bring the cost below your award and it's free. I don't however know of any aid that pays for CLEP/DSST...you gotta get creative there.

[rebel100]

I worked this up a few weeks ago in another thread, post it here to give you an idea...it assumes everything that can be transferred in ...is:

The cost is very close, EC might be a little cheaper at first blush, but I think they will fall behind when you factor in the CLEP and SL that tesc accepts at the UL plus the 6 or so credits that TESC allows for free from FEMA.

EC:
$80 Application
$1170 for a 3 credit Capstone
$1015 Multi-source Enrollment option (lower in subsequent years...see post below)
$485 Annual Enrollment fee
$495 Graduation fee
$3245 and there are 15 free electives that you will have to pay for somehow...so $400is?

TESC:
$75.00 Application
$663.00 Cornerstone
$2559 Enrollment fee
$280 Graduation Fee
$3577.00 But there is room for 6 free FEMA in the plan, and TESC is very generous in awarding UL credit for courses like CLEP Management/Marketing and a couple of Straighterline.

COSC:
$75 Application Fee
$456.00 Semester Fee (2) (to allow for cornerstone and capstone)
$1932.00 Tuition (6 credits, cornerstone/capstone)
$205.00 Graduation Fee
$2668.00 Charter Oak is a bit more picky about what you can use at the UL in Business. They do accept FEMA free.

Anything wrong with the calculations....worked them up quick and might have missed something.

Another important factor is how thoroughly vetted the BSBA from TESC is here at IC. That in itself is really worth something...just not as many attending EC and COSC in this area.

[rebel100]

The brilliant NAP sent me this note on the enrollment fee at EC. The enrollment fee drops for subsequent years....is that right NAP?

Here is what I was sent (corrected)


"Would you mind removing or clarifying the $485 Annual Enrollment Fee (Student Service Annual Fee)?

The $1015 Multi-source enrollment fee is only for the first year. If needed, the $485 SSAF is only for extending enrollment for an extra year.

I wish the chart at EC was more clear about this. I am sure it turns off potential students unnecessarily."

......................so ammended!

[NAP]

Thank you Rebel!

Yes, there is a difference. Using your example to compare fees for one year of enrollment, when a student enrolls at EC, he/she would pay the $1015 multi-source enrollment fee. (This fee is a good choice for planning to transfer most credits and not needing to take any/many courses at the college.) The $485 annual enrollment fee, which EC calls the Student Service Annual Fee, is NOT paid in the first year. If the student does not graduate within the first year, he/she would then pay the $485 SSAF to keep his/her enrollment (academic policy date) current for another year.

The total of $3245 in the chart above reflects 2 years of enrollment at EC. For one year of enrollment, this would take $485 off of the total in the chart above for a new total of $2760 plus free electives.

I hope this is clear. I know the chart at EC is confusing regarding the SSAF fee.

[cookderosa]

Hello again!

I was curious to know if anyone has been able to attend any of the Big 3s and barely coming out of pocket.
Or has anyone used a continuing education scholarship to pay off any of these colleges?
I know I qualify for Financial Aid but I rarely see any of you mention using it to pay off a majority of you expenses at these school.

Is it unlikely to attend Excelsior, TESC or COSC and not have to come out of pocket?

Or...

Is there anyone here that has been able to attend these colleges and finish with little to no debt after getting scholarships, financial aid, grants etc. etc.

Looking forward to your replies!

Oh and one more question....which school do you think is the most affordable?

I graduated from TESC, and it used to be a tad cheaper, so this may or may not totally work using today's dollar. Anyway....
Prior to enrollment, I sold items on ebay and Craig's list to pay for all of my CLEPs. I'd save up $100, take two tests, and start to save more. Once I had enough money, I'd take another test. All cash. If I needed books, I used the library or discarded text books, etc. If I took a Peterson's, I just saved another $20. (plus, back then, there were free test codes, I don't think there are as many now)

At enrollment, I qualified for a Pell grant and a student loan. I think I got about $5000 on my Pell, and $5500 on my loan. All of that depended on me taking 2 courses per quarter (plus enrollment fee which was about $2500 at that time), so I planned 4 quarters in order to receive the full award. Each quarter, TESC would "refund" me anything above the tuition amount, so 100% of that refund went into a savings account.

I had 12 months of class, so during that time I also took a few classes at other colleges, and used that refund for that- plus books. I also continued to stack up money from more ebay, craigslist, and babysitting. I forced myself to stay ahead, and upon graduation I still had several thousand in that account. I continued to kick butt and do yard sales, ebay, babysitting, etc. On THE DAY that my first loan payment came due, I wrote a check for the ENTIRE amount.

Work hard, but don't go in debt for this degree.

[jjnelle]

Thanks everyone! You cleared a lot up for me!