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How can I make this work? (re: financial aid)?

I am 25 years old with an apartment, van, a lot of bills, and a full time job. I want to start Massage Therapy school next month, which will be $13,000. I qualify for government loans, but they only cover half. I'm a single, straight white adult with no children...if I wasn't single, if I was gay, not white, or had a kid I would qualify for more. But I don't. I don't have to start repaying my government loans until 6 months after I graduate. But I'm going to have to take out a personal loan to cover the rest of school. The problem: I totally can't afford any more monthly bills until I graduate & get a better job! People are telling me that a personal loan means I'll have to start repaying immediately. The reason I'm going back to school to begin with is because I need to have a job that I can earn money to help out with bills. This is going to take another year, & i can't afford any more bills. Does anyone have any suggestions please?! Sunshine_today, since you'd like to know, as I was filling out the forms there were checkboxes by all of those options with fine print that basically read that I could qualify for more money if any apply to me. I hope you're a nicer person in real life, but no, I am not feeling sorry for my "poor white self" as I am trying to better my life. When I start complaining about my life & not actually doing anything to change it, then feel free to use that sarcasm on me.

Public Comments

1. 1. make sure that you have found all the loans you qualify for (I paid for my entire schooling with loans and grants) 2. Get a roomate for your apartment, it will cut your bills in half, so that you can afford to pay ona personal loan.
2. Yes, I have an idea--going to a $13,000 massage school is a luxury you can't afford. Realistically, how much do you think you are going to make as a masseuse? Those schools are proprietary schools, they want your money. Proprietary basically means "for profit". Go back to school for something like getting your real estate license or go to a community college for culinary or beauty school. Those are short, cheap career path programs. Oh, and I'd really like to know how you'd qualify for more money if you were gay. Sounds like you are making some really broad generalizations about financial aid and feeling sorry for your poor white self. Wah wah...
3. Rather than contacting a bank for a "personal" loan, you need to look for a private educational loan (sometimes called an "alternative" educational loan). Most of the major education lenders offer grace periods to keep their private loan terms more in line with the federal loan terms. Examples of good loans with post-graduation grace periods include: Sallie Mae Signature Loan: htttp://www.salliemae.com/signature Citibank CitiAssist Loan: http://studentloan.citibank.com/slcsite/fr_ccund.asp TERI: http://www.teri.org/loan-center/loan-programs/undergraduate/repayment-examples.asp Bank of America Private Loan: http://www.bankofamerica.com/studentbanking/index.cfm?template=stb_bac_loans Nelnet Private Loan: https://www.nelnet.net/nterchange.aspx?Page=PrivateFAQ&lang=en#Q11 College Loan Corporation: http://www.collegeloan.com/content.aspx?cb=194 ... and there are plenty of others. Here's a list of popular private loans (most of which, I would wager, offer grace periods): http://www.finaid.org/loans/privatestudentloans.phtml Note: Before you apply, you might also want to check with your school to see if they have any "preferred" lenders that they like their students to work with. (Some schools might have a pre-existing relationship with a lender that could net you some additional benefits.) Your race and sexuality has nothing to do with how much *federal* aid you do or don't receive. [And not all married students get more money -- some receive less.] A good rule of thumb: if they don't ask about it on the FAFSA, it probably isn't a factor. It's most likely your full-time job that's restricting your eligibility.
4. There are many personal school loans you can get out there that you don't have to pay until your are out of school. Check with your personal bank and other institutions. Also, being married and having children does increase the amount of financial aid you get.
5. Are you sure you can't take out private student loans instead fo a personal loan for the program? Also, check to see if you can defer payments of your existing student loans while you are in this program.