Im in a bit of a crunch...

[notpaul]

My point about taking time off isn't really about the money. It sounds like this is a bigger issue. Federal aid usually requires a C average to maintain it. A lot of graduate schools won't even award a degree to someone with a graduate GPA below a B-. Even undergraduate schools often require a C average to award a degree. Have you discussed this with your advisors? I would be sure I consulted with them, the financial aid office, and the registrar. Or else you make complete all the course requirements and paid all your fees only to find that you do not qualify for a degree due to unsatisfactory academic progress.

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

You got me there....uhh... Discover IT (5k) Amazon (2.5k) Citi platinum (5k) BOA cash rewards (5k), Chase freedom (9.1k), TD cash rewards (4k), captial 1 venture (10k), Barclay (7.5k), I guess thats 8. But only BOA and Citi have the 0% balance transfer offers and capital 1 has the debt on it for 15 months

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That's fine. Consider charging the tuition on the Freedom card, then doing a BT over to either the BofA or the Citi card. You will pay a BT Fee of 3% or 4%, but then the funds are in a 0% APR mode. I am getting BofA offers now that run out to May 2017 with 0% for a 4% fee. Tough to beat that, and it's a known source of low cost funds. Either of the Citi or BofA card can handle the $3k in tuition (you should pay a bit of it, and this reduces the BT fee).

You can even call Discover to see if they have a "reduced APR" for you. I called them in late September looking to get my permanent APR reduced by another 1%-2% in an ongoing effort to reduce that, and they countered with 12-months at 0% Purchase APR. Ok, sign me up, combined with a 0% BT offer, not bad. But you often have to call Discover to raise these offers up.

[tntexans72]

The house you just bought can help out with tuition. Maybe rent a room out to someone you know at school etc...explore all options and choose the best direct course. Good luck. 

[Anonymous]

I second the idea of talking to the school directly. My university offered a payment plan. It wasn't a loan (no hit on your credit) and they didn't charge any interest. You had to pay it back by the end of the semester - they wanted 1/3rd up front, 1/3rd by mid-marks, and 1/3rd at the end of the semester. 

[Anonymous]

Wow thanks for the support! A little bit more about my academic history seems people want to know...my undergrad was fully paid for (scholarship) most of my grad degree I paid for with...you guessed it..credit cards! My gpa is actually very close to 3.0 and with the current grades (B+ and A) I should be back in the black before graduating. I have only put 9,000 of it to student loans (I despise sallie mae making money off me). Ive been doing it so with the 0% 12 month intro offers I get which has been working great for the most part. Job is decent but obviously with a house...expenses get a little crazy so I cant have this extra debt right now.

I will speak with the school (who coincidentally would pay for the PhD but not MS earlier) about my situation. But I dont think another 3.5k would hurt my util too much?

[icyhot]

I know people who would kill for $9,000 in student loan debt, myself included. You already have a house, I say knock out next semester with a private loan, and take out enough to pay off the CC that you put the tuition on. Yes you'll pay a tad more in interest, but $16,000 in installment debt beats $7000 in revolving debt any day IMO

[NRB525]

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@Anonymous wrote:

.

  I dont think another 3.5k would hurt my util too much?

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No, it would not. The thing about moving it to an existing card is, they already have some history of your payment performance. The $3.5k will be a sizeable lump on one of the cards, it will probably bring your score down some, but your main objective with this transaction is not FICO score, it's getting that tuition paid and then paying the bill with low interest. The FICO score will recover. You already are in your house, so there's obviously no mortgage app on the horizon. You have adequate other credit for PIF daily spend, so there's no need to apply for any other credit, thus no CCC is going to be looking at your credit report anyway.

[Anonymous]

I like the idea of taking on a roommate. The rent doesn't have to be that high to cover your tuition, and it only has to be for the one year. However, if you like the roommate, they can subsidize your mortgage for years.

[Anonymous]

Best of luck to you. 

[Anonymous]

Im already 50% on my mortgage, rented the basement. As you all can tell, I am good with money management, its just this caught me off guard.

Thanks for the help peeps, I will choose my option wisely.