Little background - we live in Central America serving as missionaries. We are still MS residents because they still want those taxes and we are still licensed to drive and vote there.
I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to ask the financial aid office but I'll get answers much faster, and probably more clarity here.
So my oldest will be going to college next fall he graduated in May but is taking a year off to reacclimate to living in the US, he moved from the US at age 11. As we're starting to navigate this college thing for the first time since I went I'm looking for some help.
My first impression of the financial aid situation is, have the award amounts changed over the last 20 years to keep up with college costs? I could have sworn that when I graduated high school ('94) a 32 on the ACT was practically a full ride. Now I'm looking at their charts and a 36 only offers $9k a year which doesn't even cover full tuition (granted I'm sure they would be eligible for other stuff).
We are "poor" by US standards so he'll be eligible for full pell grant and I'm just now learning about the MS HELP grant which I think he'll be eligible for as well but it looks like those will only cover tuition. He'll still be on the hook for room and board which is actually more expensive than tuition.
So my first question, if the pell grant and HELP grant pay for tuition is that before or after the scholarship he is eligible for because of his ACT and gpa or any other scholarships he might win?
Any other tips you might have for ways for pay for college would be greatly appreciated (I spent their 529 money to buy lifetime subscriptions to BulldogBlitz and SixPackSpeak, that turned out to be a bad choice).
PS - he has already received a letter from MSU telling him how much he is eligible for in the scholarship for ACT but hasn't even heard if he's accepted yet, is that normal?
Thanks
I'm sure I'll have the opportunity to ask the financial aid office but I'll get answers much faster, and probably more clarity here.
So my oldest will be going to college next fall he graduated in May but is taking a year off to reacclimate to living in the US, he moved from the US at age 11. As we're starting to navigate this college thing for the first time since I went I'm looking for some help.
My first impression of the financial aid situation is, have the award amounts changed over the last 20 years to keep up with college costs? I could have sworn that when I graduated high school ('94) a 32 on the ACT was practically a full ride. Now I'm looking at their charts and a 36 only offers $9k a year which doesn't even cover full tuition (granted I'm sure they would be eligible for other stuff).
We are "poor" by US standards so he'll be eligible for full pell grant and I'm just now learning about the MS HELP grant which I think he'll be eligible for as well but it looks like those will only cover tuition. He'll still be on the hook for room and board which is actually more expensive than tuition.
So my first question, if the pell grant and HELP grant pay for tuition is that before or after the scholarship he is eligible for because of his ACT and gpa or any other scholarships he might win?
Any other tips you might have for ways for pay for college would be greatly appreciated (I spent their 529 money to buy lifetime subscriptions to BulldogBlitz and SixPackSpeak, that turned out to be a bad choice).
PS - he has already received a letter from MSU telling him how much he is eligible for in the scholarship for ACT but hasn't even heard if he's accepted yet, is that normal?
Thanks
