Newbie-question about financial aid and tesc

[rebel100]

Well if you have completed the FAFSA you are done with the first step. And they should have told you roughly what you will qualify for. I would look for ways to maximize any assistance that does not need to be paid back (ie....GRANTS) and I would avoid student loans like the plague (except very small loans just to tide you over from semester to semester.) Large student loan debt is a great way to saddle yourself with insurmountable burdens that are not dischargeable even in bankruptcy. Be very carefull of the grinning Financial Aid Advisor.

I understand your desire/need to utilize financial aid to get things rolling. The big three (TECS, COSC,EC) may not be the best bet for this. The big three all require advance fee's and fee's each year to continue. This can add up to thousands of dollars that you simply don't need to spend if your in the early stages of college. Also you have to take actual classes to receive financial aid. The big three will cost $800 to $1000 for a 3 hour class ! and to recieve say a full time pell grant you need 4 of these classes ! It adds up quick !

Provided you have less than 60 accumulated credits right now a community college is going to be the far FAR better bargain. Lets look at it:

Say you qualify for a full PELL grant. Thats about $5700 a year. We divide that in two for 2 semesters so you get $2750 a semester to spend. If you chose say COSC (right in the middle cost wise) you get hit with an enrollment fee of $1000 and you still have to register for 12 hours of classes at about $3200 a semester so you would still need to come up with $1450 out of pocket.

Lets apply that same PELL grant to your local Community College (or Clovis CC in New Mexico, or New Mexico Junior College) you will have maybe a $25 application fee and courses run less than $100 per credit. So around $1225 per semester. At the end of the semester you get a check for the difference so you have $1500 or so to spend on CLEP and DANTES tests. Or books or shoes or whatever. (note that clovis and NMJC offer a great deal of classes online and are extraordinarily cheap).

Even when you finish all the introductory courses its gonna be a good idea to matriculate into a 4 year school if possible to keep aquiring affordable credits.