Denied Financial Aid Because of 182 Credits.

[Duneranger]

I understand the foreign country thing (especially with countries with poor exchange rates) but if a person is in the US and there is no possible way they can fund a payment plan, personal loan , CC, private scholarships (there are a million for people with low incomes/1st gen students), piggy bank money, or saving a bit from each paycheck and they aren’t objectively homeless then there is no excuse. They have either massively screwed up in life or aren’t looking/trying hard enough. I won’t budge on this.

People don’t know how easy they have it when the only option to get a 4 year degree not too long ago was taking moderate to massive debt, be a college athlete or join the military. I had to do all of these.

You're very judgmental about people's finances. Personal loans are not easy to get and they typically have high interest. Credit cards have very high interest. Private scholarships are almost impossible to get. I was low income and 1st gen college student back in the 90's and all we had were state and federal grants. Those state grants only apply to in state tuition. Piggy bank? You do realize that the vast majority of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, right? This doesn't mean that they aren't trying or aren't looking. It means they don't earn a great of money. 

To someone who is behind in rent, utilities, car payments, etc., the $1700 tuition would be a significant debt to take on for them. Many people on this forum are trying to make a better life for themselves because they have worked low paying jobs because they don't have the silly piece of paper that says they have some brains. Many people are struggling to keep a roof over the head and don't have many options in life. 

Many of us didn't have the opportunity (or desire) to be a college athlete or to join the military. I know more people who were discharged (some not honorably) from the military than who stayed in for 4 years. The military is not for everyone.

For undergrad there are literally thousands and thousands of scholarships for 500-1000 bucks that barely anyone applies for. Only when you to grad school it becomes more difficult. But by then you shouldn't expect free money. Everything you brought up is easily mitigated in most situations. I was borderline homeless at one point early on in my life and could make it work. 

These degrees are literally pennies and you are drumming up every possible way someone couldnt scrounge up 50-100 bucks here and there to afford a life changing degree. Even making minimum wage in the 00s I could pay CC tuition with proper budgeting. Personal and private school loan interest rates are THAT much higher than student loans unless your credit score is complete trash, a loan for 1500-1700 would not be much interest at all....

10 years ago a college degree at minimum was going to be in the 10s of thousands and now its less than the average paycheck.

I am not budging on this.

Honestly if you know more people who couldnt even last one contract, I would say thats pretty sad honestly.. Its not that difficult unless you make it difficult.  The people I met who couldnt adapt werent going to adapt to anything in life and the results were as predicted. You have to try to get a other than honorable discharge....that says a lot about a person.

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I know more people who were discharged (some not honorably) from the military than who stayed in for 4 years. The military is not for everyone.

Similarly the military is not a guaranteed employment program, though it's often treated as such in discussions of how young people should get ahead. Many people interested in serving are disqualified for medical conditions, often conditions that preclude few if any jobs outside the military.

Not really. I used to process medical waivers for the military. I even got one myself. Most people arent qualified because they are overweight or out of shape or actively on psychotropic medication (you can be on them while in).

There are TONS of waiver possibilities.