Let me begin by explaining my current situation.

I am 26 years old, and have been employed full-time by a technology company in Michigan. I have recently gotten married (Jan 6, 2007) and our combined income was in the mid five-figures last year on my 2007-2008 FAFSA. My job is soul-sucking, and I have been looking for another job since last November. Unfortunately, with the amount of experience I have, paired with my lack of a graduate degree, I find myself falling to the bottom of the pile when it comes to applying at jobs around the Detroit area. I came to the decision about two months ago to go back to school full time, and have applied to a college recently.

I am a veteran in the Air National Guard and have been overseas twice. I will be receiving benefits from the National Guard (tuition reimbursement and Montgomery GI Bill), but that will only cover the cost of school itself. I still have to worry about feeding myself, my wife, paying auto insurance, electricity, rent, and my phone bill.

I am considering private student loans in order to make this happen, but I don't have a co-signer for any private student loans. What can I do? How do I pay for school without a co-signer?

The problem I am running in to is the state of our current FAFSA has made us look like we are able to support ourselves, and that is certainly not the case if I am in school.

What do I do? Any suggestions?

Joel

That is the student loan bugaboo in a nutshell. The only thing I can tell you is that the FASFA expects you to sacrifice yourself. The thinking is that going to college should not be a lark and that mature people should make sacrifices to attend. Is that unfair? I think so, but that is the way the system is set up.

You need to have a meeting with someone in your school Financial Aid office. There are many options but only someone who can see the whole picture can really advise you. The sad part is that many school FA offices stink; I know. There are also good websites out there; you need to educate yourself as much as you can. Learning how to attend school is as much a part of the learning experience as what happens in the classroom itself. If you're not ready for that, then maybe you're not ready for school.

BTW, you mentioned the need to feed your wife. What is she doing? It's important to understand that you going back to school is family decision, not just yours. More than one wife has worked full-time while hubby goes to school. If she is not willing to make sacrifices for your education (and the future of her family) you need to rethink your decision.

Sorry, I forgot to put that in there. She's currently going to school full-time, and is one credit shy of being considered a senior. She's getting her bachelor's in architecture. If she was able to be working right now, she would be. She's agrees that my going to school is a good idea, I just need to figure out how this can be done.

Joel

Have you considered working while you're in school? I'm facing the same problem right now and am finding that working will be the only way to make it through. I'm 29 and already have a B.S. degree but want to go back to school for nursing. DH and I make a combined salary in the mid-upper 5 figures, but I can't get any financial aid from the good ol' government. Kind of depressing considering the fact that I worked my butt off to be able to apply to nursing school, but now I won't be able to afford it....I almost feel like my dreams were crushed.

Private loans are always an option, but I don't want to be overwhelmed with high interest debt when I get out of school.

Good luck with whatever you choose, I feel your frustration!

Can you suck it up for a year? Why not continue to work for a year until she gets her degree. Then you switch places and she works while you go to school. That seems like a very fair relationship deal to me. You worked for her, she works for you.

Once you're admitted, make an appointment with a financial aid officer. If your financial situation is expected to be drastically different from what's on your FAFSA, they have the ability to do what's called an FAA EFC adjustment at their discretion.

Ah. I'll be facing this exact problem in about 2 years...then I'll have the added problem of supporting myself and my fiance' while he's finishing. We'll figure it out, though. I live on my own right now, and in order for me to finish on time, I need to work a lot less than I do, so I need to take out private loans in order to take out the full cost of attendance. I've come up with a nice financial plan, though.

I, too, have no co-signer, but my scores are pretty good. It's going to be tough, trying to get a loan with only 23 months credit history and only 1 year in my current place of residence. It's possible, though. I don't have much of a choice, anyway.

go to www.finaid.org and use the loan calculator to find out how much you could eventually end up owing. It's a decent tool to use, though it doesn't take into account origination fees or interest accrued during school (but you could probably estimate those). Also, come up with a financial plan of exactly HOW MUCH you're going to need to live on; perhaps cut out a luxury or two? I don't know your situation, but I always assume that everyone has one or two luxuries that they can live without.

Talk to the financial aid office, they could help you find scholarships and grants. I live in Royal Oak and go to Oakland Community College, and even doing that is tough full time. What's going to be even harder is finding a job in Michigan when I'm done!

I'll second that. I went back to school in September 2006 and while not married, I have had to support myself. Staffords covered tuition (with a little help from PLUS loans) and I've worked to pay for some classes, books and living expenses. Easy? No. Doable? Yes. I'd love to have had the choice not to work, but I couldn't.