September College Money Woes

It’s September; the start of school and the start of your college money woes. First you have that gigantic tuition bill to pay. Then you have your college apartment where you may have to put down a deposit and first month’s rent. On your way to spend the rest of your cash at the college bookstore, you get slapped with a fine since you haven’t bought your parking pass yet. Yikes! While we’re hoping this isn’t happening to you, many of these expenses are typical for most college students and they often need to be paid by September.

Your family is probably trying to cut back on college expenses this year, but that doesn’t mean that these expenses will disappear. On the contrary, across the nation, college tuition and expenses have been going up year over year. Many students realize after the first month in school that they do not have enough money to cover college expenses for the rest of the semester.

Before you decide to borrow more money, make sure you have maximized free money options, like grants and scholarships. Ask your school’s financial aid office if there are any additional scholarships available. Unfortunately, if you are short on money now, applying for new college scholarships at this point in the process probably won’t solve your September woes. If you are in need of money to cover miscellaneous expenses and perhaps an extra bag of groceries, you should consider accepting your Federal Work Study award (if you received one) or try to find a part-time job.

Once you have determined that you need to borrow additional money, start by making sure you have borrowed the maximum amount on your Federal Stafford Loan.

Maximum Stafford Loan Amounts

• $5,500 Freshman
• $6,500 Sophomore
• $7,500 Junior, Senior and 5th year undergraduate students
• $20,500 Graduate Students ($40,500 certain medical professionals)

Unless your parent’s are willing to borrow money for you in the form of a Parent PLUS Loan or you are eligible for the Grad PLUS Loan, your next option is probably to look into applying for private student loans. Private loans are an increasingly popular way for students to pay for college expenses when scholarships, grants and federal loans fall short. Here’s an example:

A private loan can provide the money you need to pay for textbooks, lab fees, college travel, food, lodging and more. Its best that you make a budget for the remainder of the year so that you can borrow only the amount you need in private loan funds, since these loans typically cost more than Federal loans.

For more information on private loans, start your research here:

• Private Loans for Undergrads
• Private Loans for Graduates
• Private Loans for Parents