TESC Living Expense Loans

[Derek]

Hey,

Just getting ready to fully enroll at TESC and am in search of options as far as getting a Tuition and Living Expense Loan so that I will not have to work while attending. That way I'll have my tuition covered for the year I have to get my degree and to pay my monthly expenses and CLEP costs without the need of working.

Wells Fargo offers one that was directly paid to the student, however, it is not approved by TESC. They offer another option where the entirety of the loan will be paid to TESC with the same 6-month grace period after graduation. I am about to apply for it, however, I just wanted to make sure the remainder would be dispersed to me.

I'm looking for a $25,000 loan to cover everything for the next year. Rent, food, books, tuition, CLEPs, utility bills, etc. Would TESC give me the lump sum, or pass it out in increments? If they do it in increments, would there be any way to get it all at once?

Anyone know of any other loans that have the deferred payments and will be paid directly to the student, or any other ideas for that matter?

Thanks,

Derek

[cookderosa]

Hey,

Just getting ready to fully enroll at TESC and am in search of options as far as getting a Tuition and Living Expense Loan so that I will not have to work while attending. That way I'll have my tuition covered for the year I have to get my degree and to pay my monthly expenses and CLEP costs without the need of working.

Wells Fargo offers one that was directly paid to the student, however, it is not approved by TESC. They offer another option where the entirety of the loan will be paid to TESC with the same 6-month grace period after graduation. I am about to apply for it, however, I just wanted to make sure the remainder would be dispersed to me.

I'm looking for a $25,000 loan to cover everything for the next year. Rent, food, books, tuition, CLEPs, utility bills, etc. Would TESC give me the lump sum, or pass it out in increments? If they do it in increments, would there be any way to get it all at once?

Anyone know of any other loans that have the deferred payments and will be paid directly to the student, or any other ideas for that matter?

Thanks,

Derek

OMG Derek, rethink this. I seriously don't want to be pushy, but you certainly shouldn't even give a 25,000 PLUS tuition loan another thought. Wow. Do you know what kind of return on investment or break even point will be necessary to recover that loan plus a year out of industry?! Couple things- first, don't quit your job. TESC classes are not intended to be for traditional students who have no life outside of school, they are FOR working adult. Don't quit your job.

Second- don't enroll at TESC yet.
Third- start testing on a cash-only basis. Pay as you go. Spend the next 6 months testing out and when you get within 1 year or less of being finished (and needing the classroom part) then enroll using ONE student loan. (roughly $6000) and or a pell grant (in which case it would pay nearly 100% of your TESC degree).

Seriously, you don't need to quit your job. I averaged 21 credits per semester while raising 4 children (I homeschool them from 9-2 m-f) followed by working 2 nights per week and volunteering 1 night per week. Seriously, you don't need to quit your job. Test, test, test. Study an hour a night and you'll be WAY ahead of the game. You'll be testing 1-2 exams per month at that pace. Seriously, you don't need to quit your job, and you CERTAINLY don't need a living expenses loan. If anything pick up a second part time job to pay for your CLEPS. (I sold on ebay- which paid for 51 CLEP credits and who knows how many Peterson's lol) Ok, so seriously, don't quit your job. Don't borrow $25-35 thousand dollars.

[Derek]

OMG Derek, rethink this. I seriously don't want to be pushy, but you certainly shouldn't even give a 25,000 PLUS tuition loan another thought. Wow. Do you know what kind of return on investment or break even point will be necessary to recover that loan plus a year out of industry?! Couple things- first, don't quit your job. TESC classes are not intended to be for traditional students who have no life outside of school, they are FOR working adult. Don't quit your job.

Second- don't enroll at TESC yet.
Third- start testing on a cash-only basis. Pay as you go. Spend the next 6 months testing out and when you get within 1 year or less of being finished (and needing the classroom part) then enroll using ONE student loan. (roughly $6000) and or a pell grant (in which case it would pay nearly 100% of your TESC degree).

Seriously, you don't need to quit your job. I averaged 21 credits per semester while raising 4 children (I homeschool them from 9-2 m-f) followed by working 2 nights per week and volunteering 1 night per week. Seriously, you don't need to quit your job. Test, test, test. Study an hour a night and you'll be WAY ahead of the game. You'll be testing 1-2 exams per month at that pace. Seriously, you don't need to quit your job, and you CERTAINLY don't need a living expenses loan. If anything pick up a second part time job to pay for your CLEPS. (I sold on ebay- which paid for 51 CLEP credits and who knows how many Peterson's lol) Ok, so seriously, don't quit your job. Don't borrow $25-35 thousand dollars.

Jennifer, I truly appreciate your thoughts, however, I wish it was that easy. It's really not even a choice at this point in time.

My lease recently ran out and I have just moved back to my hometown. I was commuting 2 hours each way PLUS traffic to my job. Being in retail, there were several close to my hometown. They REFUSED to transfer me. I started applying to positions 4 months prior to my lease ending (roommates graduated and moved home, I couldn't pay for the apartment myself), and they just would not transfer me. With the cost of gas & tolls, I wasn't coming out on top.

The entire time, I was also applying to other jobs in my hometown. (The few that there are.) I was lucky to obtain a part time job 2 days/week @ $9.50/hr. Just over HALF of what I was making. It has upset me beyond anything else in the world. I've been going door to door to businesses trying to get anything to just get the bills paid. It hasn't worked out in my favor.

Not to think highly of myself, but I'm a great employee! No criminal record, always work hard and beyond the scope of my duty, and retail experience since I graduated HS in '08.

Two days a week, 8 hours a day at $9.50 an hour sadly won't cover my costs. I'm still searching but can't find anything. So, in a sense, I think this is a sign for me to finally begin my life, begin my path to a career.

Without a loan that large, I'll be screwed. I won't be able to pay for my phone, my health insurance, car insurance, car, utilities, and most importantly, my education.

Unfortunately, I was raised with old fashioned parents and at 21, this is what I'm looking to without a degree. I won't even qualify for financial aid.. my EFC is just under 40,000. So, as of right now I'm at risk to lose everything if I cannot find a living expense loan. With the deferred payments, it fits perfectly. I can pay all my monthly bills, tuition, books, etc. While working that 2 days a week, I can put that money towards the interest gained on the loan.

And after graduating TESC, I hope to get the Scholarship for Service through the Feds for Information Assurance/Security. The $12,000/year stipend would go to pay off the loan plus whatever part time job I have at the time.

Unfortunately I'm in a bad situation regardless.

Thanks again,

Derek

[mrs.b]

Edit: cookderosa said it all so much better, so I'll simply add my agreement to her sentiments above and below, with a note that it also took fifteen/sixteen years for me AND my family to pay for a similar loan like what you're considering. This is a very long-term decision you're looking at to resolve a short-term problem (though I know it probably does not feel short-term right now). You can get through it, but please think very hard about taking on more debt when already struggling with finances.

[cookderosa]

Jennifer, I truly appreciate your thoughts, however, I wish it was that easy. It's really not even a choice at this point in time.

My lease recently ran out and I have just moved back to my hometown. I was commuting 2 hours each way PLUS traffic to my job. Being in retail, there were several close to my hometown. They REFUSED to transfer me. I started applying to positions 4 months prior to my lease ending (roommates graduated and moved home, I couldn't pay for the apartment myself), and they just would not transfer me. With the cost of gas & tolls, I wasn't coming out on top.

The entire time, I was also applying to other jobs in my hometown. (The few that there are.) I was lucky to obtain a part time job 2 days/week @ $9.50/hr. Just over HALF of what I was making. It has upset me beyond anything else in the world. I've been going door to door to businesses trying to get anything to just get the bills paid. It hasn't worked out in my favor.

Not to think highly of myself, but I'm a great employee! No criminal record, always work hard and beyond the scope of my duty, and retail experience since I graduated HS in '08.

Two days a week, 8 hours a day at $9.50 an hour sadly won't cover my costs. I'm still searching but can't find anything. So, in a sense, I think this is a sign for me to finally begin my life, begin my path to a career.

Without a loan that large, I'll be screwed. I won't be able to pay for my phone, my health insurance, car insurance, car, utilities, and most importantly, my education.

Unfortunately, I was raised with old fashioned parents and at 21, this is what I'm looking to without a degree. I won't even qualify for financial aid.. my EFC is just under 40,000. So, as of right now I'm at risk to lose everything if I cannot find a living expense loan. With the deferred payments, it fits perfectly. I can pay all my monthly bills, tuition, books, etc. While working that 2 days a week, I can put that money towards the interest gained on the loan.

And after graduating TESC, I hope to get the Scholarship for Service through the Feds for Information Assurance/Security. The $12,000/year stipend would go to pay off the loan plus whatever part time job I have at the time.

Unfortunately I'm in a bad situation regardless.

Thanks again,

Derek

As someone who graduated high school 20 years before you, my comments are more of a person-to-person nature than CLEP/TESC type, and that's probably not entirely any of my business, but since you posted I hope you'll just allow me to share some of my thoughts anyway.

You need to start your life, I agree, but debt is a step back. You're not in a "bad" situation, millions of people are in situations just like yours and worse. You can deliver pizza, mow lawns, walk dogs, run a cash register at Walmart. I'm not being sarcastic, I'm being 100% serious. (and much of that is cash only) In addition, you can find resources local to you for emergency stuff like food or housing so you an focus on the business of making a living. Swallow all pride, get your head in the game and get moving. There are 24 hours in a day, take out 10 for eating/sleeping/hygiene and you're left with 14 hours that you can be working. You need to shift your mentality and get into combat mode! You can do this!! Work work work. No social life, not anything. As soon as your bills are paid each month, your social life can be spent studying for a CLEP. Keep a coin jar, every $80 go take a test.

I know you think I'm kidding, but unless you tell me that someone specifically has said to you "Derek, Ihave a job WAITING for you, just get that degree..." you'll likely end up in worse situation than you are now. The USA is full of unemployed degree holders. This economy is tanking, your TESC degree is not likely to change your life significantly. Right now you're just broke- you're looking at becoming someone whose broke AND in debt. Being broke is easier than being broke and in debt.

From a personal point of view, it took us 13 years to pay off debt from our youth, I promise you that getting into debt is a lot easier than getting out of it. I never was late on a payment, and for 13 years we scrimped and pulled through it- it was HARD. But, we have come out on the other side with excellent credit and dignity intact- everypenny I have owed to someone I've payed (on time). Why was I in debt? Because I was willing to borrow money. Simple. $25k plus lost wages for a year will take you 20 years to recover. Sometime between now and 20 years you'll likely want a family, a house, another car, etc and you'll be lugging this debt with you. Throw in the occasional disaster per decade and...well...

I know, I sound preachy. You don't know me, and I'm too overbearing. My hope for you is that you have someone you trust in real life you an discuss this with first.

[FinancialWorld]

Derek, Cookderosa has some really good points. Your situation is going to be tough, but if you add debt to that, it just pushes that tough part down the road and make it harder. As Cookderosa said, it took her 13+ years to pay off her school debt. If you don't have that debt, think of all the extra time you'll have to put towards you career, less the stress of having that burden to payoff.

I live at home but I've paid for my whole degree with my own money. I didn't have the time to go get a full time job because I needed the flexible schedule, but I still needed a constant flow of money. I work part time for two elderly couples, a manufacturing company, and a lawn service. I made the situation work for me, without taking on debt. I have had family help me with a few expenses, but that was just because of a low cash flow at the time.

You can do it!! You have a whole support network here of people that are willing to help you succeed in the best way possible, but it all comes down to whether you want what is best for your life. As the Home Depot jingle says, "you can do it, we can help".

[Derek]

I appreciate everyone's comments. I wish I could find a way to make it work. Out of 127 applications to local Lowe's (From April until August 15th) back home, I didn't get an interview for ONE! That's with recommendations from my bosses and store manager. Believe me, even though the schedules sucked, the pay was good. I was living comfortably. Other stores just wouldn't pick me up. So, I had to leave. Meanwhile, I applied to at least 30 other places regardless of what they were a month before moving back home. I only got one interview (and job) at Target for part-time 10p-6a. It's ridiculous.

I've been applying everywhere to everything since I got the job, and have some how not been able to get one position. And trust me, I'm nice, kind, well-groomed, and very professional (I was a sales specialist: selling 75k+ per month with less than $1,000 returned.)

Now, I'm on the verge of next month's payments and bills and I can't afford half of it. It may not be the best option financially, but it's my only choice. Sure, I have debt from my vehicle and credit cards, but my credit score is in the top 15 percentile at the age of 21. I'm smart with my money and credit, but moving back, I over spent a little bit.

I'd prefer not to lose my credit score, and most importantly, my belongings.

I know it may not be the best choice financially, at least I can get everything taken care of so I can focus on school and graduate. (I've been working 40+ hours/week since I was 14. :roflol

However, as of right now it is my only choice unless I want to lose everything and even worse, not get an education.

[Ace_King]

Out of those 127 job applications did you try your local temp. agency's? Or unemployment/work agencies. Don't know what they call them out of Florida. I struggled finding for work as well until I went to a temp agency, sent my resume and they had a position for me the next day. It was like I was hired within the agency, however I worked some where else you could say I was under a "contract". After three months working at the place they decided to hire me. It's not great money, but it's decent to live on, full health insurance, paid vacation/sick days I mean I am not going to argue I am only 20.

[mrs.b]

Opinion stated, so if determined to go this route, have you looked into a traditional brick & mortar school with dorms? At 21, you should still be within the guidelines allowed, and they will already have everything related to room, board, and meal plans covered by financial aid without needing to seek additional outside loans. You can resolve the issue with needing living expenses covered, and get a quality education at the same time, for probably less (and lower interest rates) than you would with a private loan.

[burbuja0512]

Derek,

I agree with what has already said, but want to add a few more comments. I'm sorry that you're so young to see how difficult life is, but it is TOUGH. There are a few things to keep in mind. If you're applying to so many places and not getting a job, you may be doing something wrong. Yes the economy is tough right now, but you should be getting some sort of response. Most communities have non-profit organizations that will offer career coaching and resume advice. My personal advice would be to have people that you know and trust look over your resume. I've even seen a resume posted here on the forum for review.

When you apply for a job, don't just fill out an application and hand it to whoever happens to be around. Ask for the store manager. Make sure that you're wearing the nicest outfit you have. Wear a suit.. even if you're applying to wash dishes or clean toilets. Shake the manager's hand and ask if he/she has a moment to talk. If not, see if they'll set up an appointment with you or ask for their name and their permission to call them back in a few days to follow up. Make an impression. They will see a bunch of other applicants, but you should stand out and be the very most professional person they should see all month. If you don't have the money for nice clothing or a suit, you can check at your local goodwill, non-profit career center, or even the local church. If you speak to a pastor at a church in a nicer part of town, I bet you can find someone who is willing to donate an old suit.

If you still can't find work like this, you can go to companies that you want to work for and offer to work for free or intern until you can prove your skills. If you still can't find anything, then at the very least get a one-night-a-week volunteer job so that at least you have SOMETHING on your resume. Yes it is harder to get a job when you don't already have one. That's not fair, but it's true, however, there are tons of really interesting volunteer jobs that will look amazing on your resume. Go to VolunteerMatch - Where Volunteering Begins and find something really cool. Once you've got some great experience under your belt, even if it's working for free, getting a real job will be much easier.

Also please PLEASE don't make the mistake of thinking that a degree will ease all of your troubles. A degree won't do much for you other than check off the "degree required" box on the job description. Most decent jobs, even entry-level positions want to see that you have real experience in a related field before they'll hire you. Again, this is where volunteering comes in. I feel so strongly about this that I have done it myself and my older kids are also doing it. My year as a volunteer in a hospital ended up getting me a substantial raise because it set me apart from other people at my old company. No it wasn't glamorous or fun. I did it every single Friday night and believe me, I had a million other things to be doing, but it paid off and then some.

So... sorry for the "mom" type lecture. I do have 5 kids and tend to spend a fair amount of time trying to prepare them for the real world. It's hard for me to lose the mom hat Life seriously is tough as you know and it doesn't get much easier with a degree, so you'll need to prepare.

burbuja

P.S. Have you looked into telemarketing or cold-calling B2B jobs? There are tons of jobs out there where you have a product that businesses want. You may not even make an hourly wage, but you usually get decent commission. These jobs really suck, but it you get a B2B sales job, it's actually not bad for your resume if you're going to end up in business. Look for keywords like "hunter","new business development", "appointment setter," "cold calling," etc.. trust me, you will get hung up on a bunch and it's not fun, but as long as you're selling something that's halfway decent, you'll end up making money.