Okay, So I never went to college and have never gone through the college experience and getting loans, and I have no idea what to do. My step-daughter wants to go to college. My two kids did not. One got vocational training through her high school and the other joined the navy. I helped her fill out the fafsa and we got that figured out. She has been accepted to a local college. It is really out of the question for us to pay for her college. Just cannot do it. So she got an approval letter in the office from the financial aid dept at the college. She got stafford unsub loan, parent loan PLUS - HUH??? and AK supplemental loan U/G all equaling about $15K for 2 semesters. YIKES! She needs to go to the college web and click which ones she wants to accept. I cannot get it through her head to do scholarship apps. She is very unmotivated and ofter clueless, and is not mature when it comes to this stuff at all. She really needs to wake up and do things herself.

What should I do, since I am just as clueless as her when it comes to this. I cannot be responsible for a parent loan. no way. I am trying to talk her into going to the local college and stay at home for the first year She's really driving me crazy and has no life.

Any direction would be most appreciated. I wish she would join the military. Or at least get a boyfriend!

How much is the Plus loan for??

Does she have the maturity to do well in college?? The grades? As an ex financial aid aid officer, I would be sitting this girl down and asking her, "How are you going to pay for college?" Is she going to work a summer job to pay the difference or does she have it in savings? Scholarship application time in most cases has already passed or it coming to a close very soon and if she cannot be motivated by potential free money, IMHO this girl is not ready to go away to school. Honestly she sounds just like a friend of mine's daughter..same step parent situation too. Parents refused to take the PLUS loan based on maturity factor. She ended up dropping out by February and now owes the school a chunk of money. This girl is now working 2 jobs to pay off the school and to save so she can go back to a local school.


http://www.dlservicer.ed.gov/exitcounseling/ecec-main.asp

The above link is from the US Dept of Ed...if has the entrance and exit counseling pages for financial aid. She needs to do some studying. Also direct her to her schools financial aid webpage.