In the beginning of August, me and my mom started talking about the fall semester of college and how to pay for it. We looked at the cost and my mom was worried because it was over $8,000. I told her that the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) would cover the costs associated with college, but not everything.

Then we drove to the college and we spoke with one of the representatives at the financial aid office. She told us “The financial aid would not cover everything”. My mom then asked “How am I supposed to pay it” and the lady said “I don’t know.” When I got home that day, my mom and I had a talk about what to do and we decided to take out loans.  The problem about that is I won’t be able to work on my career because I have to find a job ASAP and work for who knows how long to pay off the loans.  My career will be on hold for weeks, months, or even years.

I use financial aid to pay my tuition in college. I qualify for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP). However, the TAP award is too low.  It should be more.   I have to buy books, food, and pay for transportation costs and housing.

This semester, my textbooks cost almost $300 and  my metrocard costs $120 per month. Because I am a full-time student in college, it is not possible to work.  I hope I am going to graduate on time so that I do not run out of TAP money.

I am currently relying on my parents’ income to support me, but to be honest, a lower-middle class family supporting two children in college is hard. So I am forced to work in order to pay for school.

My schedule is so tight because I must work until 12 or 1 AM for a restaurant and still take a full-time course load to qualify for the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP).  I am also paying for my own textbooks. As a student who majoring in biology, textbooks are a major burden on my wallet.   I am also paying for my own transportation.

I’m a student at Queensborough Community College. I work in a pet store as a full time employee. It’s hard for me to maintain my job and study,  but I believe hard work will gift me a brighter future. I get a little help from the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and  some monetary help from my mom. My mom said that she will soon stop helping me because she wants me to be self-sufficient. She does not make that much money and is also raising my half sister on her own.

I will be in a horrible situation if the tuition increases or if I get less financial aid. I wish to see an America that treats all of her children equally regardless of social status or economic level.

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.

I pay for my tuition entirely out of pocket with no financial support from my family. I was forced to drop out of my four year public college because my family fell on hard financial times and TAP didn’t cover enough of my outstanding tuition costs. I worked for four years in order to afford to send myself back to school.

Even now, I am constantly at risk of having to leave school again because of financial reasons. I’ve had to choose between buying textbooks and buying groceries, and I’ve frequently gone hungry in order to make timely payments towards my education. Because of my independent status and other factors, I don’t qualify for any financial aid, state or federal. I will be transferring to a four year public college next semester, but without financial assistance from the state, my future at that school is uncertain.

Part of my tuition is covered through the Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) and the rest of my costs are paid out of pocket. This includes textbooks, transportation and additional online fees to access homework assignments for certain courses. I’m a 25 year old mother of a 1 year old son. Gratefully, I managed to find a job on campus, through the COPE program (now called CUNY EDGE, Educate, Develop, Graduate, and Empower) which also pays for his daycare. This allows me to maintain some financial stability for my growing family.

Just like many other students, I cannot afford to pay for all of these costs. Last semester, before I was enrolled in EDGE, I had trouble registering for classes because I had a hold on my account from the Bursar’s office. The balance was $1,050 and I hadn’t gotten any notification that my financial aid wasn’t covering my full tuition. I was required to pay the entire balance before the first day of class. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place! I had to find a way to be able to pay this full amount in such a short amount of time. Eventually I had to ask my family, who were experiencing their own financial burdens. The stress had become overwhelming and it was very hard to stay focused during finals week! I needed help and there was no one to help me. Luckily, now I have a job through the EDGE program which allows me to pay for my tuition, and all other expenses.

I went off to college immediately after high-school and I did not have any idea of what I was getting myself into financially. In the first weeks of my first semester I found out that I had to take out loans because I didn’t have enough with my scholarship money, Tuition Assistance Program (TAP) award, and Pell Grant. I also needed money to pay for my books. A worker in the financial aid office told me I had to take out loans in order to pay my bill. I had already moved away from home, settled into the dorms and attended a few classes before I even found out that I didn’t have enough to pay for it. I kind of felt like it was a trap.

And I still had other expenses to pay. I spend most of my extra money on food because the on campus meal plan (financial aid covers this food option) doesn’t have healthy options. There are hardly any vegetarian options and since I’m a vegetarian I am always forced to find food at outside food stores. In order to pay for this, I work every school break there is, summer break, winter break, and even spring break. For me, finding affordable, healthy food adds more stress and anxiety than having to take a mid-term or a final exam.

My undergraduate days are coming to an end and I’m filled with anxiety because I’m already $30,000 in debt. It is estimated that I could pay that off in 10 years, meanwhile, it only took 4 years to obtain. I don’t think getting accepted into graduate school would be a problem because my grades are really good. However, paying for the GRE test, application fees and the cost to attend has lead me to pause. The price of one application fee is enough to buy food for 2 weeks and the cost of the GRE exam is enough to buy me food for an entire month! Sometimes I feel that eventually I will have to sacrifice my nutritional health in order to afford an education.