I’ve paid for college through a combination of loans, both public and private, tuition assistance, and money out of pocket.  The first three years of school I really struggled. I’d been living on my own since I was 17, and had little to no help with bills and regular living expenses. Starting college made everything 100 times harder. My father has substance abuse problems and been in and out of rehab for the past ten years so although he makes money on paper, my family doesn’t see any of it. Because of this, I couldn’t qualify for TAP. I work part time throughout the year and full time over the summers, and I put every penny towards paying for off campus housing.

I paid for tuition, books, transportation, and food with loans that I took out. In the past, I’ve even had to take out private loans, because financial aid alone didn’t cover my needs. In the last year however, my mother was finally able to claim me on her taxes, so I got the tuition assistance that I really needed all along. Even though my aid doesn’t cover everything, it is such a big help to not to pay for everything out of pocket and through loans. I can finally focus on my coursework and extracurricular activities. I could only imagine how different college would have been for me if I had had this assistance throughout.