I'm Ashley, a 36 year old disabled mom in the middle of a divorce who finally managed to get to university... just in time for the federal government to utterly decimate the higher education funding system. This fundraiser is to assist in completing my payments toward tuition, room & board, and childcare associated with being a student parent.

In the name of transparency, at the bottom of this post will be a more detailed account of what things cost, the aid I've received, and where there are discrepancies between what is estimated and what is actual.

The immediate need:

Rent is $2680/month and is due on the 15th of every month. I am short about $1k of this month's rent and the entirety of next month (November).

Childcare is $5141/quarter and is due at the end of October. I did receive a local grant of $2k/quarter to go towards this, however the other grant that would usually cover the rest of this was not granted to my institution this year. The CCAMPIS grant was only give to 40 programs this year, when it was supposed to be awarded to 148. These federal funds were essential to a lot of student parents like me who need support in funding their childcare programs.

Due to these two bills coming due within the month I'm putting an initial goal of 8.5k which will cover 2 months of rent and the remaining balance of the childcare bill for this quarter.

Upon completion of that goal, I will post stretch goals for the other expenses outlined below.

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GIANT BREAKDOWN OF ESTIMATED COSTS VS ACTUAL COSTS

This is a long breakdown, with numbers pulled directly from UC Davis Tuition Rates. I will give a comparison of the different amounts they post vs the reality of the situation, as well as list of the aid I have received so far.

According to the UC Davis Financial Aid Dept. the Estimated Cost of Attendance is listed as the following:

Tuition $15,588.00

Campus Fees $2,490.00

Books and Supplies $1,240.00

Housing and Food $20,054.00

Personal Expenses $2,733.00

Health Insurance $3,924.00

Transportation $1,589.00

Other $185.00

Total Estimated Cost of Attendance $47,803.00

However, this is based on a regular student who lives in a dorm and has a meal plan. This is not the case for a Student Parent.

According to the UC Davis Financial Aid Dept. the Estimated Cost of Attendance for a Student Parent is listed as the following:

Direct costs:

Tuition $15,588

Campus Fees $2,490

Books and supplies $1,240

Housing & Food $32,995

Personal Expenses $2,848

Health insurance $3,924

Transportation $4,067

Other $185

Total Estimated Cost for Student Parents $63,337

That's a little bit closer to the truth, it adds $15.5k to the "budget" (which would have to be covered by loans, if any are even available) but it's still not quite right.

Let's break it down bit by bit of what costs I'm actively spending:

Tuition $15,588

Campus Fees $2,490

Books and supplies $1,240

Health insurance $3,924

Other $185

These one's I'll give them. The books and supplies can vary, so I'll let them keep that amount. So that's $23,427 so far.

Housing: $32,160 (Family housing on campus is $2,680/month)

According to their budget that leaves me with... $835/year to feed myself and my 3 year old. Let's change that to a more realistic (but lean) number given the state of grocery store prices today.

Food $1,800 ($150/month)

This brings us up to $57,387.

With gas in my area upwards of $6+ on a good day right now (which means my fill ups cost at minimum $78 once a week), and taking into account filling up my fluids, occasional oil changes, etc. Transportation looks more like $100/week.

Transportation $5,200

Now it's hard to determine personal expenses - that's a loosey goosey number. I'll let the university keep this arbitrary number. It's not accurate as I have, you know, personal bills to pay - but let's ignore that for now.

Personal Expenses $2,848

And then... there's a big piece missing that the school doesn't take into account for student parents.

Childcare.

There used to be grants that would cover this, however my school did not get selected for the funding that would have normally covered his tuition.

Childcare Tuition at the Early Childhood Lab School attached to UC Davis: $5,141

Let's add this all up, shall we?

Tuition $15,588

Campus Fees $2,490

Books and supplies $1,240

Health insurance $3,924

Other $185

Housing $32,160

Food $1,800

Transportation $5,200

Personal Expenses $2,848

Childcare $5141

Actual Cost for Student Parent: $70,756

Comparison

Estimated Student: $47,803

Estimated Student Parent: $63,337

Actual Student Parent: $70,756

Those are all pretty different numbers.

So my actual Student Parent Cost of Attendance is $70,756, but I did get some aid. Here is a list of the aid (Loans, Grants & Scholarships) I have received toward this amount so far:

Crankstart Foundation Student Award $2,032.00

Federal Direct Subsidized Loan $5,500.00

Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan $422.00

Federal Pell Grant Program $6,975.00

Middle Class Scholarship Estimate $1,958.00

SHDS Need Based Rent Subsidy Grant $1,500.00

UC Davis Grant for Undergraduate Students $1,074.00

University Grant $22,830.00

University Grant for SHIP $2,997.00

University Student Loan for SHIP $927.00

Total Aid: $46,215

This leaves me with a total of $24,361/year I am short in order to continue this course of education.