Posts Tagged ‘job’
As a dual enrollment student taking high school classes and college classes at the same time, I felt prepared for college, but not for the debt that would come with it. I am a full time junior who works part time and tries to chip in for tuition as I see my parents struggle to make ends meet.
I applied to the Excelsior Scholarship looking for some financial relief and was denied because I only completed 24 credits my first two semesters instead of 30 at Hunter College. This was because I had already accumulated college credit in high school, so it wasn’t necessary to overload my schedule. New York should have affordable education for everyone so that students can focus on school and being able to buy health meals, instead of having to juggle work, travel expenses and school.
I was a General Education major at Bronx Community College. I wasn’t able to graduate and needed to get a full time job. I couldn’t do both. I had participated in the workstudy program but I wasn’t making enough. I had to pay rent, food, cable, and utilities. I was awarded a partial Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award and the Pell Grant.
I found out about ASAP too late, but if I had known about it, I would have applied to it for the tutoring to bring my grades up! I wanted it for the tutoring. Everyone should have ASAP. While I was at BCC I received SNAP assistance. The transition from high school to college was really horrible. Textbooks were the biggest cost. I couldn’t keep up with my studies because I couldn’t afford the materials, and this is when I was receiving TAP and Pell. Pell helped for some but I also had to pay for all of my living expenses it was way too much.
My name is Stephanie Almodovar and I am a freshman at CUNY City College. I am currently looking to go into Civil Engineering. Right now, I work as a group leader at a local YMCA and this job allows me to save a little for school. Unfortunately, I do not receive Pell Grants and I do not qualify for the Excelsior Scholarship because my mother’s income is just above the cut off level. Often times I struggle with paying tuition and buying the necessary textbooks for school.
I do not qualify for work-study so most weeks I have to choose between saving money towards school or buying lunch. I usually only eat lunch 2-3 times a week but sometimes that’s too much because buying snacks will deplete my savings and I would not be able to eat for the rest of that week. Thankfully, with the help of outside scholarships, I am now able to pay tuition without worry. However, at any time, that could change. I try my hardest to not let these troubles overcome my college experience but sometimes it all becomes too much. In all honesty, I dream of tuition-free CUNY so that one day I will no longer have to worry about paying for school and just enjoy learning.
I am a freshman studying liberal arts. I receive TAP and the Pell Grant and I am part of ASAP. I use Pell to help pay for the bills since I live with my mom. I would like to go to Brooklyn Institute to be a sonographer. I think I am going to have to take out loans for my bachelors. I used to work, but I am taking 17 credits this semester. I used to work on weekends when I took 12 credits which would be the maximum amount of credits I’d want to take while having a job. If I didn’t receive financial aid I’d have to take out a loan.
I am a freshman psychology major. I would like to eventually work at a school and work with teenagers or do social work. I receive the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and the Pell Grant and I am looking for a job to pay for the bus, food and clothes. I didn’t qualify for ASAP because they said I had too many remedial courses. But I had taken those classes in the summer already. When I went to try again to appeal, the spots in ASAP were already filled up. If I was able to get into ASAP I would get my metrocard covered which would be a huge help. I am the first person in my family to go to college. My family and I are from the Dominican Republic. If I didn’t get financial aid I’d have to take out loans. I am trying to work to save money in case there is a semester that I don’t get enough financial aid.
I am a 4th year computer science major at Queens College. I am 21 years old and work full time at JFK airport. I am also in school full time and commute from Canarsie, Brooklyn. Even though it is taking me a year longer to graduate and I have sacrificed extra time just commuting, Queens has a strong computer program.
Thankfully, I live with my parents but the space is tight and the prospects of me ever moving out are dim. Work study would help me tremendously, as would SNAP. My 3 siblings get just what they need but the future is always scary. The pressure is on for me to move out but it just isn’t possible.
It is a hard choice to either give up my full time job or work part time on campus and help pay for school. Most of my money goes to transportation and food. School supplies are actually a large percentage since I pay for computer programs and equipment. I’m just trying to save as much money as possible and one day work for a tech company.
I had to give up being in school full time because I got offered a job through the Department of Education as a paraprofessional. I am beyond grateful for this job, but financially I am so far behind. Student debt is my major expense next to food. I do receive SNAP benefits but it is barely enough. I am a big guy. They should give me a little more based on my dietary needs, but obviously I will take anything. For over a year, I was applying for Work Study so I could finish my degree in dietetics, get school over with and begin to work full time. Luck just wasn’t on my side with finding an on campus position and I did not have time to wait around. For now, I am living with family and paying rent, hoping to save enough to live more comfortably. Until then, I will use my SNAP and keep studying.
I used to work construction before deciding to go back to school. Although I had saved up some money before this transition, school tuition is not cheap at all, combined with rent. I soon had to move back in with my mother but that did not work out, so nowadays I stay with my sister and brother in law. I help out around the house and take care of my nieces, and I work part time but really all I can do is make enough money to pay some bills, and also pay a little rent money to my sister. I borrow money from my mother for school tuition, and the expensive books.
When I first went back to school in 2016, I was told it was too close to my last W2 where I made full time income from construction. So unfortunately, I did not qualify for financial aid. I may qualify this September but, even then, it won’t be enough to subsidize my total educational costs. It may alleviate a bit of the money I borrow from my mother.
I believe an individual such as myself would benefit from SNAP. It could help me afford food while not adding to my stress and financial burden overall.
My parents pay for my college tuition in two ways. My mother works for a college, so I am eligible for their tuition exchange program. This covers a little more than half of my tuition per year. I also have scholarships but they remain unused because my school does not accept both the tuition exchange and the scholarship at once. The remainder of tuition comes from my parent’s savings. They have been saving small amounts of income since I was born. They also pay for my on campus housing.
The other expenses associated with college such as art supplies, textbooks, transit and food are paid for with my own savings. I work 10 hours a week at the library. I used to work more hours but unfortunately, the school has a limit on how many hours you can work while having an internship. I find that spending money on food, transit, supplies, and textbooks leaves me with little to no money for the other expenses in life. I would love to explore New York more, but the majority of activities require funding that I don’t have. But, getting a college degree is more important at the moment. Thankfully, I won’t have debt from loans after I graduate, but I do plan to pay my parents back. That totals to about $300,000, if not more. So I will have an informal debt on my hands after I graduate. I’m glad that there will not be interest developing because that is A LOT of money that I do not have.
After losing my father in high school, I didn’t realize I’d have to lean so heavily on my mother for assistance. No one in my family has been able to achieve a four-year degree yet. That has been my motivation to work hard to make them proud. My mother wisely invested in a savings account for my education, unfortunately the funds only partially cover the costs for the first two years of SUNY Cortland and the costs only seem to be going up.
I work full-time over the summers at an assisted living center and was fortunate enough to secure one of the limited spots in the Work Study Program to put towards the costs of living at Cortland. While it is difficult to keep up with the expense of food, transportation and other unavoidable essentials, I am thankful to have been accepted into work-study because it helps reduce my tuition costs and enables me to have some extra cash during the semester.
