What is the best way to pay for college?

Your main problem here is that you waited so long to fill out a FAFSA. But I took a similar route. I did a FAFSA to go to a Community College when I was 24. And I had dreadful credit. I got a full ride. Bad credit wasn’t a issue if the loans are issued through the government. I got money from Bank of America but I don’t ever remember filling out any paperwork from BofA. The government gave me the BofA money.

80% of the money was free from grants. But tuition and books were covered and I got about 700 a month for living and spending money. And I also did work study so that was another 400 a month.

For me the process was was fill out a FAFSA. Wait a couple months and the school will send you a letter telling you what they will give you. Go into the school and sign your name in about ten places. Pretty much it.

The answer above looks like it answers the question very well. I don’t have experience with student loans.

I would comb through scholarships to see if you fit any of the parameters. There might be scholarships for older students (I don’t remember how old you are) or women, or your major, or something random you haven’t thought of. There are websites full of scholarship offerings.

If you must take loans, I don’t think it matters much where the loan is from, what matters is the interest rate, pay back criteria, and ramifications if you don’t pay. From the answer above it sounds like the government loan is pretty easy to deal with, even though it came through a bank.

If I were you I would do my best to save up money so you borrow less. Start right now “paying” your loan to yourself. You might be doing this already, I’m not assuming you aren’t. If you feel you can afford the payments for the loan then do the payments, put it in the bank every month (or deposit weekly, however you prefer) and you will save money in the long run. Every loan you take puts you deeper in the hole.

Whatever you do, stay the hell away from Gov’t student loans. You can only pay them in cash or death. Depending on your age you may opt to “cash flow” school. AKA work your way through. It sucks and will take you longer to get out but you’ll avoid coming out of school with a mortgage payment and no house to show for it. I worked through and it took twice as long but I came out with zero debt. If you can afford the crappy wages many universities will give you a tuition waiver if you work for them. It’s worth looking into those opportunities in addition to any scholarships or grants you may qualify for. Just don’t do debt if you can help it. If you can’t, make sure you don’t exceed the cost of a reasonable car. If you go beyond that you’re in serious trouble.

Now… if I could do it all over and would not feel worthless for doing so I could have done this:
1. own next to nothing
2. take out private loans, credit cards, unsecured debt and finance all of my education
3. Pay the absolute minimums while in school. <—this builds enough credit to make you employable and able to rent.
4. Get a job and an apartment.
5. File for bankruptcy before the job starts to pay much
6. Save every penny for the next seven years or so
7. Pay for my house with cash.

And just for the record. FAFSA is first come first serve. The Colleges have a limited amount of money and you want to be first in line.

Even if you don’t have your tax info on Jan 1st you can estimate and then revise later. That way you keep your place at the head of the queue. (learned that the hard way)

Cash is the best way. Not very many can simply write a check for tuition and all related expenses. So realistically the best alternative is to work until you have money a semester and then go for a semester. You can also find a job with a company that pays tuition as part of its benefit package. Borrowing money is not something I would ever advise. There is no rush. If may take six years to work/school/work/school, but so what? You get educated with no debt. It’s a win win.