Well, I posted a plea for help on craigslist.com, and wouldn't you know it....someone resonded and signed me up at Upromise. Apparently it took her 9 years to finish her PhD, so she knows all about struggling with financial aid. Her daughter is only 2 months old, so she figured she'd start saving for me! How kind of her! How compassionate to help a complete stranger.
However...during this whole fiasco, I learned that if you mistakenly type in craiglist.com - without the "S", you get a hardcore porn site. So be careful of your spelling - especially if you're using a computer at the public library, or work, etc. Yick!