Help Tabitha Graduate!

Hi, my name is Tabitha and you probably know me! If you do, you know that I am in my very last semester of my very last year of college.

If you don't know me, I'll just say that this has been a long time coming - I started community college in my junior year of high school (in 2016!) and have gone to Portland State University, Xavier University, and (finally) the University of Cincinnati. At UC, I found a degree program that I love and a college that I will be proud to call my alma mater.

Unfortunately, life has been difficult recently. Due to external circumstances and the pandemic, I have struggled to find stable housing, find and keep a job, stay mentally and physically healthy, and keep my grades up. Despite all this, I am now in a rental property with a steady job and am still enrolled in school. I have even managed to keep my GPA above a 3.0.

However, in the process of all of that, I ran out of financial aid due to an unanticipated fifth year (which is the maximum for federal funding, which I am entirely reliant upon). I have also maxed out all federally available loans, which means that I am not eligible for any personal loans, either.

After fighting my university for fair tuition rates and residency classifications, I have managed to cut a $12,600 bill to just $5,641.75. This is the sum after my remaining federal financial aid, external scholarships, and even emergency funding grants have been applied. Alas, this is still too much for me to pay on my own.

For a low-income girl raised by a single mother who is burdened with her own student debt, graduating from a four-year university can be a life changer. Not to mention that I have been completely financially independent since 2018 and have paid my way through school on my own since 2017.

Asking for help has never been a strong suit of mine, but I am asking this of my community now - please help me graduate. I am just two months away from a bachelor's degree that will greatly increase my chances of a working career, where I am able to support myself. My only other option is to drop out, postpone this last semester until I have saved up enough to retake my last 6 courses, and someday repeat them and graduate.

Sincerely, thank you for reading this and please donate whatever you can. Even if spreading the word is all you can do, I will gladly accept it. I will use however much I am able to raise to pay down the rest of the tuition that I owe.

Love,

Tabitha