Help Lauren Pay Tuition to Continue College

Hi, my name is Lauren and I'm a sophomore illustration student at Moore College of Art & Design. I'm in the Visionary Woman Honors Scholar program, and work two jobs between my 18 credits worth of classes each semester.

I work so hard day and night to maintain my academic standing (3.96 GPA) and keep my scholarship, but even with my financial aid package, it's not enough to cover my yearly tuition.

Just getting into college was already a financial struggle for me. Right now, I live with my single mom and my little sister, and over the years we have overcome a lot, including finally being released from an unsafe household. Unfortunately, due to circumstances in my parents' divorce while I was in high school, I was unable to fill out a FAFSA and apply for financial aid to go to college, and we had no money to pay out of pocket since we had just escaped our situation. I was devastated, but I didn't give up on my goals and dreams. I spent a year working full time to save up money for school supplies, and worked hard to build a scholarship-worthy portfolio. After a year of delays, the divorce was finalized and I was finally able to fill out a FAFSA and receive financial aid and a scholarship to attend school for illustration.

Even with the financial aid help, I still have an outstanding balance. For my first three semesters, I was able to pay the remaining balance with funds left to us by my grandfather after he passed. But unfortunately, those funds have run out. My plan for this spring was to take out my first private student loan (I've already maximized all federal loans and aid), but this past week I was hit with the harsh reality that all loans I apply to will reject me due to two factors. 1) My length of credit history is too short because I'm only 20, and 2) my mom can't cosign for me due to a scar on her credit report leftover from when our family was taken advantage of by my father, and we have no living family members that are able to cosign in her place.

Over this past week I have searched for every possible funding solution or lender that could possibly help me, only to be turned away over and over again for the same reasons. If I can't come up with the outstanding balance for my Spring 2022 bill before the semester starts on January 15, I won't be able to return at all.

I've worked so hard to make it this far and prove that I deserve to be here just as much as the kids with financially stable families, and losing it all due to something that is out of my control that happened years ago is beyond heart shattering.

I dream about the day I get to walk across the stage and receive my degree, and my future working in a field that I love. And I'm not ready to give that dream up yet, no matter how dire the financial circumstances may be. That's why I'm asking for any kind of support you can offer, every little bit helps me get closer to graduation, and I will be forever grateful for your support.

Thank you so much for everything,

Lauren B.