you can go to your community college and ask for one of those loans wherein you pay for one course then take it, then sign up for another course and pay for that….like pay as you go. that way you can work and school at the same time. All federal loans are tougher to get these days. The community colleges (and if you can prove residency) are less expensive than a four year college or university. Get your AA first and then transfer it to the senior college. The schools have some grants but you can go to the library and look up their grant book and apply for anything that seems to fit you. Sure it takes a lot of work to get a grant, and a lot of times the grants are very small, like for just a few hundred dollars so you may need several grants.