So a graduate student in my department at work has hit the loan limit for federal student loans. Her scholarship award won’t cover all of the tuition, so it looks like she will probably have to drop out because she can’t pay the remainder of the tuition.
We’re exploring all college- and university-specific options, but are there outside options that I’m missing? @anomalily do you happen to know? I believe she has declared bankruptcy in the past, don’t know if that would make her ineligible for some things.
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What about private student loans? I don’t know much about the financing terms though.
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Does she have access to any guarantors/co-signers? The credit score for PLUS and private is a factor here, likely if they have had a past bankruptcy.
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I don’t know about guarantors/co-signers - I know she is a single mom, so no spousal support, don’t know about parents or other relatives. I do know she was not approved for a PLUS loan and she can’t appeal that decision for another 2 years
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I don’t know the current politics of these organizations, but:
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I have a flannel shirt from LL Bean that has survived for nearly 30 years.
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I have a hoodie I love from Eddie Bauer (the actual store, not the outlets - which I understand source differently) that has taken near daily wear (including around dogs) for 9+ months of the year. I bought it about 6 years ago.
Strangely and of no help to you, I have my camp t-shirt from 1989 that is a Men’s Medium (it was pretty oversized at the time). This t-shirt is STILL in decent condition after occasional/moderate wear and washing. Soft, no holes, a bit thin in fabric by now. I wish I could figure out who made this shirt, because not only would I order a bunch more, I would make all of the things out of these shirts.
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Can she get a TAship outside the department (or inside it) that would cover tuition? You don’t have to be in a department to TA in it, and mostly you just need to know the material better than the students do (not necessarily difficult). There may also be other non-teaching positions at the uni that would offer tuition remission and a stipend (I knew someone who worked at the Asia-Pacific Student Center as a coordinator and that gave her tuition + stipend, for example).
Extra scholarships she could apply for – though maybe not at short notice?
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Maybe reach out to the university’s alumni association. I know a lot of them give scholarships and maybe have some special funds that are available if a department asks for them.
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@diapasoun I believe all TA/TA-equivalent positions have already been filled, as most started on September 1, but definitely worth checking. Same with scholarships, but definitely checking those as well.
@Rhubarbsoda Alumni associations sometimes have money for current students? Interesting…
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If she can’t get set up for this semester, can she work on getting set up for next semester so she can complete the degree instead of fully dropping out?
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Oh yeah, I think that’s definitely a possibility - the department chair is meeting with her on Friday to see what she wants to do. I know she does want to continue, the question is just how long the gap will be. Many of our university positions are set for the entire year, but it’s possible some could open up in the next quarter (we’re on the quarter system, lol).
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Ours does a bunch of scholarships that are administered through the general university scholarship process. It seems like one of the big things they raise money for.
Does your department do it’s own fundraising for scholarships? This probably is a terrible/difficult time to start this if you don’t, but maybe you could set up a department scholarship fund and raise enough on Giving Tuesday and then make her the first recipient?
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Good to know - I will investigate if our alumni association does anything similar!
Honestly I don’t know about the department fundraising (the college lost our main financial aid person, so everything is chaos…), but I will have to check!
How much is she short?
$4807
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Legit question: GoFundMe?
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It may well come to that…which is super frustrating, sigh
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I want to make cheddar beer oull-apart bread.
Cheddar beer bread is best when warm. We don’t have a microwave, which means that to take real advantage of it, we need to eat it shortly after baking it. (Heating it back up in the oven/toaster oven would toast it, which… is also not quite what I want.)
Do I make it now, possibly giving Wizard and myself an impossible eating task, or do I wake up at 6a on Saturday morning to make it so that it’s warm for 10a D&D in a friend’s backyard, where other people can also eat the bread, but also I have to wake up an hour early?
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I hate waking up early but I would do the second, because I miss hosting brunches and making things for potlucks. 
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Are there any proofing steps that could be done overnight in the fridge?
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Very likely – which would definitely help on the morning timeline. It’s an enriched dough, so it can’t be too different from breakfast buns, right?