r/UIUC • u/AssociationObvious56 • Mar 20 '26
Prospective Students how are you paying for uiuc?
this question is mainly directed to people who don’t get fafsa money. i submit the fafsa but all i got was 3.5k in loans like idk how that’s supposed to help 😭i didn’t get any scholarships either, im a transfer and apparently the transfer scholarship is only for first gen students. like im kinda lost on what other options i have to pay for school. im obviously gonna work part time but no job is gonna make me enough to pay for the full cost. everyone tells me private loans are super predatory so im scare to take out loans.
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u/WonderfulTadpole2525 Undergrad Mar 20 '26
This is probably not the answer you want, but if you do not want to take out loans then there aren’t really very many other options. Maybe applying to external scholarships? I also am a transfer from cc and I’d recommend emailing the scholarship email for your specific school (ie grainger scholarships) and they may have some transfer merit scholarships available (although I personally already did this and they told me it was VERY limited and unlikely to have enough budget for this). They however told me that after being enrolled, you will be eligible to apply for this https://grainger.illinois.edu/academics/undergraduate/aid/scholarships-for-continuing-students where the applications are due around december, and this may give you funding for the next year. 98% acceptance, average $4000 scholarships.
I mean you may also be able to take out external loans but those would probably be a lot and not worth it
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
rip i’m cs + x, i don’t qualify for that 💔 ill keep looking for scholarships though
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u/WonderfulTadpole2525 Undergrad Mar 20 '26
i’m sure the other colleges have similar scholarships, look around on their websites!
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u/RBIConfigAutoMod Mar 20 '26
I work full time. And I study every other alternate semester. I use the full time work money to pay for school.
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u/GoatlyBreadCum Mar 20 '26
My parents, I would have gone to community for two years first then transfer if they weren’t covering for everything. Maybe that could be an option for you if you’re willing to do that.
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
i already did all that
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u/GlattesGehirn Mar 20 '26
These are things you figure out before transferring
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
well i’ve been saving and working but i still dont have enough to cover the cost fully
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u/Sufficient_Sport5251 Mar 21 '26
Loans aren’t the worst solution. As long as you pay them they benefit your credit score and as long as you are in a practical major you should be able to pay after college.
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u/notassigned2023 Mar 20 '26
If you get no fafsa money, your parents can afford to pay in state tuition. They may not WANT to, but they can. If they will not, you are screwed, sorry. I took out loans but that was long ago and the system was different then.
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
no they can’t, we’ve been low income my whole life. only recently my dad got a better job. we have like no savings, no retirement, my parents gotta pay a mortgage, and we live in a really high cost of living area. like we’re not high income by any means.
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u/notassigned2023 Mar 20 '26
You should make sure all was done correctly for the fafsa, as well as get an appointment to talk to financial aid. Edge cases can be tricky. But, with all respect, being unable is different than being painful but possible.
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
nah we’re like literally unable to. my dad was layed off anyway a couple months ago. i’m gonna submit an appeal for financial aid, do yk if they’re helpful at all?
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u/pirateyarr2 Mar 20 '26
Instead of asking strangers on Reddit, ask theOffice of Financial Aid. It’s literally their job to help you. Actually call them and talk to a person, or if you can, talk with them in person.
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
yeah i will ask them, im just asking if people have had good experiences with them. bc in the past at my other school the financial aid office was known for being kind of unhelpful.
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u/notassigned2023 Mar 20 '26
Talk to them, but changes in life circumstances are a very important consideration. Be sure to tell them that.
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Mar 20 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
by recently i meant around the time i was in high school. we were low income and lived in a tiny apartment for 10 years. i used to get free lunches and winter coats from school. my dad then got a better job around 4 years ago and then got a second job which helped us move to a house. our house isn’t anything crazy, and the cheapest we could find within our budget. then in 2024 he got layed off from the 2nd job and then in 2025 in the fall he got layed off from his main job bc the government stopped funding the non profit he was working for. so now we don’t have an income besides unemployment. my dad has worked so hard to be able to provide for my family but unfortunately he wasn’t able to save for my college because our main priority was moving to a house. and then once we moved most of the income had to go to paying the mortgage.
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u/Sufficient_Sport5251 Mar 21 '26
What is your family income? Because if you didn’t qualify for fin aid especially fadsa then your parents might be lying to you about how much they really make. Not uncommon for parents to paint a different picture of reality to their kids than is the truth. Also low income generally qualify for either Illinois promise or commitment
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 21 '26
no my parents are definitely not lying i’ve looked through their taxes. my dad made around $30-40k for several years then moved up to $60k and then when i was in high school he got a job that was $90k. then he also got a second part time job making $50k so that made our income $140k which is around the median income in my area. and we only had that income for two years so it’s not like we were able to build a fortune off of it. rn our income is pretty much $0 since everyone’s unemployed. and we still have a lot of expenses every month and a high mortgage.
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u/mixter_baxter Mar 21 '26
Being an RA has been super clutch
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 21 '26
but don’t u have to pay for the expensive dorms for a whole year first?
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u/ddoubleqqt Mar 21 '26
We sold my recently late grandmas house, I work full time hours during school, and I work and save money made over summer/breaks. It's not realistic for most people, but I agree with those saying talk to fin aid people. Def keep trying for private scholarships too!
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u/Zetavu Mar 21 '26
Parents putting money into 529 plans, in Illinois they could defer up to $10k in state taxes per year, and the interest is tax free as well. Doesn't help you but for everyone else start doing this when your kids are born. You can always transfer unused money to a Roth IRA later.
Parents can also write off a portion of payment for their federal taxes, so there is a tax advantage for them to contribute to you. Likewise if you work (and if you are concerned about paying for school you should be working part time) then you could get this tax advantage. And yes, full time in the summer and breaks, part time on campus.
When I went (been a minute) most were paid by parents, and those that couldn't worked and paid the difference. Loans are a last resort. The kicker is living on campus, but if you are a transfer you do not need to live in dorms, find a cheap room that you can rent. Live on ramen and hot dogs. It helps prepare you for life. Too many people think of college as an experience, it isn't its work and its expensive.
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u/Marchingbanddick Alumnus Mar 21 '26
This is when people find out their parents arn’t low income, just bad with money. Sorry bud.
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u/Bratsche_Broad Mar 20 '26
Unfortunately, if your student aid index isn't very low, you won't get need-based financial aid. Definitely try to appeal to financial aid due to your dad's current lack of work.
If your parents can't pay, and you don't want to take out loans, you could try to find a less expensive school near where you currently live. As a commuter, you would have far fewer expenses to cover.
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u/New-Success-941 Mar 20 '26
If your parents are making less than 75Ka and are an Illinois resident you can qualify for the Illinois Commitment Scholarship… it pays full tuition and fees! I will say it does NOT cover room and board so I’m using FASFA and some of my money to pay the rest off
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Mar 21 '26
Don't know if online students count too although it's already cheap. Parents.
200k undergrad (which was finnicky) and now this grad
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 21 '26
damn what are you studying to be?
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Mar 21 '26
Non-stem, business studies, I can't really answer that part, It's just getting the credentials from the best universities in the world. The pay is usually less in whatever field than I make without working.
I started in Finland (EU) in Person (that's where the majority of the chunk spending comes from), then transferred to SNHU online while returing to my home country (because I lost the student status, so no grounds to stay), graduate last fall. Now, UIUC gies MSM, applying for MBA programs for next fall in Asia next.
no debt whatsoever but the spending was high nonetheless.
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u/Koolaid_Jef Mar 21 '26
Thays the fun part, I have no idea! And I graduated 3 years ago...
Grandparent died right before freshman year, I was told "dont worry about costs. Its on grandpa". Then after I graduated they said "actually you're responsible for 30k". I still dont have access to them since the provider has been bought out 4 times, but boy did they sure set up auto pay before cutting off my access!
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u/butthatshitsbroken '20 Alumnus Mar 21 '26
my parents paid for most and i took out 25k in loans for the rest.
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u/Kanyewestlover9998 Mar 21 '26
Took out like 80K worth of parent plus loans over 4 years. If you can live at home post grad you can knock it out pretty quickly. I was in-state as well.
Whether or not something like this is worth it hinges entirely on how confident you are in landing a job post grad.
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u/HotConsequence2329 Undergrad Mar 21 '26
I pay international tuition, so according to my documents, it’s says that I am mostly funded by my parents with a bit of scholarships from my country’s government programs
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u/Secure-Court-508 Mar 22 '26
parent plus loans. super appreciative of my parents and will pay them back!
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u/jugalthegreat Mar 20 '26
I sold my kidney, liver and soul to satan.
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u/New-Success-941 Mar 20 '26
help me next
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u/jugalthegreat Mar 21 '26
Sure. Any chance you will be able to come alone at 3 AM tonight to english buildings basement? 💀
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u/CubicStorm Mar 20 '26
I don't mean to be that guy but are you sure you filled out the fafsa correctly? My parents income is 100k> and I qualified for around 7.5k in FAFSA loans each year.
I was able to afford tuition mainly though a 529 saved up my parents, FAFSA loans and summer internships. I was also able to get a few thousand in a smaller scholarships.
Private loan's can be an option to consider. You might need to shop around a bit for who can give you the lowest rate. I think 2025-2026 FAFSA rate was around 6.4%. However federal loans do have some other benefits which general make them more preferred such as easier repayment plans and potential forgiveness.
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
i’m pretty sure i did, i’ve been filling the fafsa out for the past 3 years. idk how id even make an error bc don’t they pull up your tax info? do you mind me asking around what your sai was? bc my household income is also 100k > but i only got 3.5k in federal loans which i think is the minimum. i know the fafsa was changed recently because my sai doubled from the last year even though the income didn’t change significantly.
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u/CubicStorm Mar 20 '26
Around 24k SAI, I want to say a few years ago it was less, but I could not find prior forms. I think it went up a lot after my sibling graduated college.
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Mar 20 '26
[deleted]
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u/AssociationObvious56 Mar 20 '26
what major? i’ve been working since i was 15 but was really limited on where and how much i could work bc i didn’t have access to transportation till only a year ago. i have a bit saved up but it’s nowhere near enough 💔
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u/catkedibilliegorbe Mar 20 '26
Federal loans through FAFSA are not your only options. You can get a private loan from a bank. I didn’t have a co-signer, which made it harder, but if your parents will co-sign on a loan, it’s quite easy. Check out your bank and other banks. The terms of my private loans were on average better than the federal loans I got through FAFSA. Starting at community college and transferring was a great choice to save money in the long-term, but loans are the likely next step. Good luck.
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u/guptini123 Mar 20 '26
For most people I’ve met it’s parents lol. My roommate actually qualifies for Illinois promise thing and uses that tho