$100,000+ debt for LMU?

Paying for College
1

<p>I plan on going into the Computer Information Systems field, I would like to be a Computer Information Systems Manager. I know that starting out my pay would vary, but according to bls.gov the lowest amount reported in the average was somewhere around $80,000 but it can go as high as $130,000 as reported on the website. Loyola Marymount University is my dream school. I fell in love with it on Preview Day and my Asian Pacific American Scholar program. But being in debt that much after college is what scares me from its huge burden. I was offered almost $28,000 in aid, leaving me with $25,550 to pay for myself (which students at LMU deem as "good financial aid"). I was actually expecting something a little more because of my financial situation, but I had my hopes up too high. I have written a financial aid appeal letter and sent it to the financial aid office. I have yet to hear back from them although I should by the end of next week.
I got accepted into the University of the Pacific a little school up on Stockton, CA which offers me $41,000 in financial aid, leaving me with $4,500 to pay every year which is absolutely manageable. It's just that it is far from home (a little too far for me) and the fact that it is in Stockton. I do not know if I want to go to graduate school after to get a MBA. I would like some advice/thoughts on this. I am the first in my family to go to college so this is like a little scary for me.</p>

<p>I used the collegeboard calculator and this is what I got for LMU.</p>

<p>Consolidated Borrowing Summary $ 129150<br>
$ 46955 Total interest to be repaid
$ 176105 Total amount of principal and interest to be repaid
$ 1468 Combined monthly repayment </p>

<p>Are Your Projected Student Loan Payments "Manageable"?</p>

<p>Is your projected monthly payment of $ 1468 manageable in relation to your estimated starting salary of $ 100000 when you graduate from college? There is no single, easy answer to this question, but some advisers suggest that your monthly student loan repayments should not exceed 10-15 percent of your first year starting income. If student loan repayments exceed 15 percent of your starting income, they could be burdensome and you may experience difficulty meeting your student loan repayments and other expenses. You estimated that your starting income could be approximately: $100000 per year, or $ 8333 per month in today's dollars. You also indicated that you expect to receive your degree in 2014, in about 4 years. Assuming starting incomes increase by 3 percent per year between now and 2014, we estimate your starting income could be approximately $9379 per month. Based on this information, your estimated montly student loan repayments — $ 1468 — would represent about 16 percent of your projected monthly income —$ 9379.</p>

<p>My parents want me to go to LMU because its closer to home. They are willing to help me get loans to go to LMU but the debt is a lot, but I think with my career (I want to go to the IT field in general) it's not a bad investment but I'm not completely sure. So please any sort of advice and general thoughts will be helpful. Thank you.</p>

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<p>*
Is your projected monthly payment of $ 1468 manageable in relation to your estimated starting salary of $ 100000 when you graduate from college? *</p>

<p>Ha ha…</p>

<p>It is VERY UNLIKELY that you would be starting at $100k when you graduate. The MOST you’d be likely starting is about $65k…and you’d be very lucky to start at that. With that major, you’d more likely be starting at $50-70k. And, it will be awhile before you are making 6 figures. </p>

<p>NO…absolutely not should you borrow that much for ANY school - even an ivy. I like LMU, but in NO WAY is it worth $100k in debt…absolutely not!</p>

<p>That info you’ve been given is not very accurate. To repay that amount without difficulty, you’d have to be making about $175k per year (actually nearly $200k). </p>

<p>*
Consolidated Borrowing Summary $ 129150
$ 46955 Total interest to be repaid
$ 176105 Total amount of principal and interest to be repaid
$ 1468 Combined monthly repayment *</p>

<p>My parents want me to go to LMU because its closer to home. They are willing to help me get loans to go to LMU but the debt is a lot,</p>

<p>I’m concerned that your parents aren’t really thinking of your best interests. They are willing to “help you” drown (yes, DROWN) in debt and have a miserable young adult life so you can go to school closer to home. Sorry, that’s not responsible. I know that’s harsh, but it is what it is.</p>

<p>Since it sounds like your parents aren’t going to paying for these loans, their desire for you to stay close by is irrelevant. Sorry parents, but when you don’t pay, you don’t get much of a say. </p>

<p>What are all the schools you’ve been accepted to and how much would you have to pay at each school?</p>

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<p>BTW…if you’re parents are low to modest income, it’s doubtful that they would even qualify to “help you” get loans for 4 straight years. </p>

<p>They might qualify for the first year or two, but after that, they could get declined because their debt load is too high for their income.</p>

<p>That would be disastrous because you’d end up graduating from a cheaper state school, but you’d still have big debt from your private school. And, your degree wouldn’t be from your private school.</p>

<p>Either way, this level of debt is ridiculous. Undergrads shouldn’t be borrowing more than $30k-40k at most (and paying that much back can be painful).</p>

<p>Did you apply to any UCs or Cal States?</p>

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<p>Mom2College is correct, your starting salary will be most likely in the $40,000 - $60,000 range and $100,000 is too much debt. And actually according to NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) starting salaries are not rising 3% per year the last couple years. Some majors are stable, some are down a percent and just a couple are up less than 2%. No one can project out how the economy would be in 2014 but it is highly unlikely you would have a starting salary of six figures regardless of what happens in the economy. Please find a college or uni that you can afford without astronomical loans.</p>

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<p>Wow. That was rather disappointing for a college kid to hear, I can speak as one going into 100,000 plus at USC.
Look, debt is going to be terrible no matter which way you cut it–but with rising tuition prices (including at private universities), how do you go to a well respected school without taking on debt?
I can understand the parents’ perspective, moms of college kids, but at least offer a valid solution before you rail on the kid like its their fault for getting into a great university.
I’ve seen LMU and its fantastic, my vote is that it is a personal decision. I could understand this argument that its near blasphemy to go to a school like that if every single kid who is going into a school of that caliber were not scratching their heads too.
One last thing to consider: with this major economic downturn and so many kids either going to JUCO or state schools on state-funded scholerships, who do you think is going to get the great jobs come 2014-2020? The kids who took the safe way out or the kids with LMU on their resume?
I’m not saying it will be easy at all, but its still feasible.</p>

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<p>I can speak as one going into 100,000 plus at USC.
Look, debt is going to be terrible no matter which way you cut it–but with rising tuition prices (including at private universities), how do you go to a well respected school without taking on debt?</p>

<p>USC meets need without big loans, right? So, if you are having to borrow that much, that suggests that your parents aren’t paying their expected contribution. So, to answer your question…a student can go to a respected institution without big debt if his parents pay their expected contribution. If that’s not possible, then OTHER options should be sought. The answer is not $100k in undergrad debt.</p>

<p>You could have a miserable young adult life if you borrow that much. Your salary as a newly minted grad will not justify that debt. Nope. Borrowing $100k for USC undergrad will likely be the biggest mistake of your life. What other options do you have? Where else did you apply?</p>

<p>I can understand the parents’ perspective, moms of college kids, but at least offer a valid solution before you rail on the kid like its their fault for getting into a great university.</p>

<p>My valid solution depends on the answer to the question I asked…I asked where else the student applied and what FA packages were offered. The student mentions UoP would give him a better package, but what other options does the student have.</p>

<p>I’ve seen LMU and its fantastic, my vote is that it is a personal decision…
One last thing to consider: with this major economic downturn and so many kids either going to JUCO or state schools on state-funded scholarships, who do you think is going to get the great jobs come 2014-2020? The kids who took the safe way out or the kids with LMU on their resume?</p>

<p>As someone who graduated from UCI and who had siblings who graduated from Cal States and UCs for undergrad (and went to USC for grad school), I can say that you do NOT have to go into big debt for a school like USC for undergrad to make big bucks. Absolutely not. My family is living proof of that. </p>

<p>So, no, the student who graduates from LMU (or USC) is not likely going to get more money (at least not enough to justify big debt) than the student who graduates from - say - UCI, CSULB, CSUF, etc, in a comp sci major. Nope, not going to happen. Sorry.</p>

<p>I posted a couple of weeks ago that I asked my brothers and my H if they take undergrad school into account for salary when they hire new grads…the answer was largely, “no.” </p>

<p>My older bro (VP for DirecTV), my younger bro (Director at CanonUSA, my H upper level engineering manager for a large aerospace company all said that only a unique situation (like a top grad from MIT) would get bigger bucks at hiring. Sorry. That’s the truth.</p>

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<p>^^She’s correct. Starting pay ranges for all jobs are actually much tighter than many kids realize. At the very top of a pay range will be a few schools that are particularly known for a specific major but even then the spread between the top and the bottom is rarely significantly different. Companies work very hard to maintain pay equity between companies in a specific industry with the primary adjustment for the cost of living in an area. As an example starting mechanical engineers from Michigan Tech (COA in-state @ $23,000) and Carnegie Mellon ($55,000) are virtuallly identical at our company. Now clearly maybe a student doesn’t want to live in the UP, or a kid wants CMU on their resume but if cost is a factor the best “value” and the “least debt” is going to be Michigan Tech. Cost is only one variable…but for some people it is the most important variable.</p>

<p>There is also a gigantic difference between parents taking on a large debt – if they have a decent credit record and many years into that credit record and a basic understanding of what they will need to do to pay off that debt – and a 21 or 22 year old trying to manage life starting with a credit record that shows $100,000 of debt. It will hurt them from a debt to asset ratio for years and years and years. Sorry Logan that you don’t agree with the advice. People ultimately make their own decisions but may perhaps appreciate the differing points of view.</p>

<p>If a student is trying to decide if “debt” is “worth it” they really need to look at factual information about where a particular graduate is working right after college and what those starting salaries actually are. Not the “one” example of the kid in the glossy college marketing materials. It is not wise to make assumption about brand value in the absence of facts. Conversely if debt is not an issue, if future finances are not an issue, if parents have an open wallet, all of this is moot. The OP is implying that he/she will be taking on the entire debt himself/herself and solicited opinions.</p>

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<p>*If a student is trying to decide if “debt” is “worth it” they really need to look at factual information about where a particular graduate is working right after college and what those starting salaries actually are. *</p>

<p>Very true. </p>

<p>Logan…when you are working in your first job and your peers are making the same as you, how are you going to feel knowing that $1400/month of your TAKE HOME salary is going to debt for 10 years, while they do not have the similar burden? </p>

<p>How are you going to feel when they are buying homes and moving on with their lives, while you’re struggling under that stifling debt? Is the framed diploma from USC going to give you THAT much comfort over a degree from - UC or Cal Elsewhere? I think not. </p>

<p>I think you’ll spend that 10 years regretting every moment of taking on that debt.</p>

<p>BTW…you’ll even feel worse if your Cal State and UC colleagues then go to USC on the company dollar for grad school. You’ll have your undergrad debt from USC, but they’ll have a grad degree from USC and no/little debt. </p>

<p>Young friend…I’m just telling you the hard facts. :)</p>

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<p>$120,000 is am appalling amount of undergrad debt to start your life with. $1400-1500 a month in payments every month for ten years will be crippling and will affect every decision you make. Even if you love the school is 4 years of dream school really worth 10 nightmare years of paying a huge debt equivalent to 2-3 car payments a month or a mortgage? Several nice vacations a year? And this will be on top of any actual mortgage payments, car payments etc.</p>

<p>Also you mention you are surprised you did not get more aid given your financial situation. Is your family low income? If so you may find it difficult to actually borrow this much. Even if your parents are willing to cosign they may be eligible to cosign for so much. We have had lowish income parents on CC cosign for or take out loans the 1st or 2nd years then find they cannot get them in subsequent years because the outstanding debt is too high relative to their income. Then the student cannot afford to remain in the school. Plus if you parents are cosigning or taking out that debt can they afford to pay it if you can not? Cosigning for a loan means that if you do not pay it the lender will go after the cosigner including taking their assets.</p>

<p>You will quickly get over your dream school dreams once you make an alternative choice. You will probably regret that debt for years if you take it on. Do you have any affordable options closed to home?</p>

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<p>There is NO school worth this much in debt. Not one. And your first job will not be as a Computer Information Systems Manager. You’ll start as a programmer or business anlyst or programmer/analyst at best. You’ll have at least several years of employment at $45K-60K, and the top end is unlikely. You’ll probably be paying some of the highest taxes of your next twenty years, because you will take the standard deduction and have only yourself as an exemption to claim. If you earn $55K gross income, and live in California, you’ll pay $4207 in social security & medicare taxes, $7200 in federal taxes, and $5500 to California for state taxes. That’s $16,907 in deductions. Maybe your employer is generous, and you don’t have to pay for medical insurance, but you’ll probably have at least $500 a year in out-of-pocket medical and dental costs – more if you wear contacts. That leaves you $3,132/month for all of your other expenses - rent, transportation, food, entertainment – and your loan payments would soak up half of that. </p>

<p>Bad idea. Add to that – IT jobs are in flux, companies shut down, jobs are sent off-shore, and you’ve got to expect that your employment may not be as stable as you’d like. </p>

<p>Find an alternative. LMU isn’t your school.</p>

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<p>*If you earn $55K gross income, and live in California, you’ll pay $4207 in social security & medicare taxes, $7200 in federal taxes, and $5500 to California for state taxes. </p>

<p>That’s $16,907 in deductions. </p>

<p>Maybe your employer is generous, and you don’t have to pay for medical insurance, but you’ll probably have at least $500 a year in out-of-pocket medical and dental costs – more if you wear contacts. </p>

<p>That leaves you $3,132/month for all of your other expenses - rent, transportation, food, entertainment – and your loan payments would soak up half of that. *</p>

<p>So, true… </p>

<p>Plus, clothing, car payment, cell phone bill, utilities, cable/satellite bill, internet bill, car insurance, gasoline, car repairs, and savings (and, hopefully a vacation or two over a 10 year period!..maybe a wedding!)</p>

<p>I think too many kids can’t imagine all those expenses because their parents have been paying for them themselves…</p>

<p>**
xCHELLy and Logan.**…Do this…ask people you know that are earning what you think you’ll be earning when you graduate. Ask them, "In addition to all your home expenses, living expenses, car expenses, bills, etc, could you also afford to pay for 4 additional car payments every month (about $1400) for 10 years? I doubt even ONE would say, “yes.”</p>

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<p>The schools that I had got accepted into are: UC Riverside, Cal State East Bay, University of San Francisco, University of the Pacific, and Loyola Marymount University. I got waistlisted to Chapman University. I have yet to hear form San Jose State University and Cal Poly Pomona.</p>

<p>I think at this point I’m going to go with University of the Pacific, with my $4,500 loans a year. Go work for maybe around 5 years or so and then go get my MBA. Thanks for your guys’ advice.</p>

<p>The reason I don’t want to go to UCR is because I dislike the UC system. I don’t like the huge classes, that’s a big problem for me. So I am looking for privates because I like smaller class sizes and with the problem in CA, it’s harder to find classes at public universities :confused: Some are being capped to how many credits they can get a semester/quarter.</p>

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<p>Sounds like a wise choice to me. You will be so glad in 4 years time that you are not saddled with those enormous debts.</p>

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<p>Wow! There are folks STILL waiting on Cal Poly SLO?</p>

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<p>This is from a Midwesterner’s perspective, for what it’s worth…</p>

<p>I’ve heard of the University of the Pacific, University of San Francisco, LMU, and UC Riverside. I would regard them all in the same tier. The CSUs on your list - a little bit lower.</p>