Paying for culinary school?

I actually applied for FAFSA myself a few years back, but since I don't make anywhere near minimum wage they'd give me nothing...at all.  Have you picked a school?  Are you IN school? Talk their financial aid officer, they can point you in the right direction and tell you your options.  Beyond that, Federal loans suck...but they're an option.

You can get subsidized or unsubsidized federal loans (yourself, as long as you're 18), regardless of your parents' history.  The money will get there on time.  You'll have to look them up however, as the unsubsidized loans (I believe) start to accrue interest as soon as they're issued, whereas the subsidized only begins to accrue after you've finished school.  Seriously, talk to the FA officer and ask about them.  He/she will have more info about it (and more accurately inform you) than I do.

Are you sure you will be able to pay the loans back? If you get a co-signer are you sure they are willing to pay your loan back should you start missing payments? Honestly, if you have bad credit then you should not be taking out so many loans. If you fixed your bad credit situation already and are trying to re-establish credit that's another thing. If you know you can pay it back then great. If you can get a federal loan then that's your best bet but culinary schools don't usually qualify for the amounts that a regular college would. Otherwise work and save your cash or find a cheaper school because with bad credit you are going to have a ridiculous interest rate with any other lender. If your credit is still messed up and you get a co-signer...well that just means that your co-signer probably really does not realize what they are getting into.

Sorry to sound harsh but your FA will tell you whatever you want to hear because that is how they make money. Anyone with bad credit who is trying to take out a significant amount of money in loans is really setting themselves up for things like no car, no house and no money (because it all goes to payments).

Have you applied for a Pell grant? It will never make up the disparity but every bit helps. Federal loans should do just fine for you and I'd certainly tip my hat to you for trying so hard to cover your expenses. That's a good bit more motivation than I see from a lot of potential students right from the start. Part of me wants to say never give up on your dream. You only loose when you quit. Any one that reads my posts will know I am all in favor of the major culinary schools as long as you are getting a degree.

However it's always wise to be realistic about finances. Don't over look the cost of living while going to school. There's nothing wrong with Community College if that's where you need to start to make your finances work. There's no reason you can't go to another school to further your education in the future after you bank some coin. Most culinary schools do suck about transferring credit though.

IIR Charlie Trotter used to have a scholarship foundation so you may want to look into that as well as the culinary trust, state restaurant associations, The National restaurant association and even the ACF. Your financial counselor should be able to help you with any program available.

Best of luck!

 

 

Dave