Another Financial Aid Question

[GalDisney]

I hold an AA degree and am thinking of earning a second one for a career chang From what my finacial aid office has told me, there is a limit of somthing like 160 college credits that a person can have of financial aid, which I have exhausetd most of those credits, yes i dinked around alot lol So basically once you have accumulated that many college units at the community college level, a person is no longer eligible for financial aid. Is this true? Even if i have never used any aid before. That does not seem fair. I hope i am making myself clear. I want to go back to school, but at my income level there is no way I could afford it without aid.

 

[branv]

That's what it says at my universities web site. I would agree with this if it was someone who had received financial aid during those 160 hours...Yes, you repay loans, but the government pays the interest on those loans while you're in school and they can't carry everyone for as long as it takes them to get it together. But if you've never gotten it before, I don't understand why they would do that?

I messed around alot too, which is why I'm just now getting my bachelors at 32. Ah, if only I were as wise then as I am now - I really wasted some good financial aid! I keep telling my advisor that education is wasted on the young

However, I don't know about this, but you should ask about unsubsidized loans. I don't know if those apply to the same 160 hour rule since YOU are the one paying the interest during college instead of the government, but it can't hurt to ask. You could also talk to your bank about a private loan.

 

[MyGoofy26]

Yep - they tried to take my FA away before this school year when I hit that mark. I had to rush around and get a letter from my advisor stating that I was double majoring (since our Admissions and Records' computer only holds info about 1 major at a time) If you're pursuing a second bachelors, you're given I *think* an extra 60 hours. That might not be exactly right, but close.

I don't know if it's possible to do this since I just had to get a letter confirming that I was double-majoring, but talk to someone in the FA department and see if you can do an appeal. It's basically where you write a letter pleading your case and a couple people will review it and decide if you "deserve" a second chance. I know they can override certain things, so this may be one of them.