<p>Alright,I know some people may find this a terribly dumb thing to even ask, but If I attend the University of Illinois in Champaign for the business program, I'll have to pay like $26 grand/ year. Our estimated EFC was around 5500, but I only got $7 grand in aid....UIUC doesnt give much money. So I'm going to be payingtt $26 grand for 4 years...putting me in over $100K debt after I graduate. Is this even a reasonable amount for a college debt for a business degree? UIUC has a very well-known name for accounting, though, and I also liked the campus. The debt and loans are throwing me off, though. Do a lot of people come out of a public school w/ this much debt?</p>
<p>My other option was DePaul, where I have to pay $14 grand a year considering scholarship and aid. However, I really did not like the campus or the idea of attending school at DePaul, but it's still known as a business school, and 10x cheaper....</p>
<p>Am I being unreasonable in even considering UIUC?</p>
<p>Wow. $100K in loans is going to be a monthly payment of approximately $1100 which with an entry level salary (estimate 40K) could be slightly more than HALF of your take home pay. That leaves you very little for anything else unless you’re going to live at home with your parents for the next 10 years.</p>
<p>Oh my…way too much debt.</p>
<p>Tell us more about DePaul…that might not work out either. Who is going to co-sign and qualify for those loans? What are your parents saying about co-signing loans? Most parents won’t do this.</p>
<p>Would you be borrowing $14k in addition to the loans in the FA pkg?</p>
<p>What exactly is in the DePaul pkg??? It sounds like some free money, but a lot of loans.</p>
<p>Your EFC is about 5400 per year. Are your parents going to pay that? More? Less? what???</p>
<p>Give us the breakdown of your pkg from dePaul.</p>
<p>FIrst business school lesson right here: $100K is way to much debt to take when your family has an EFC of $5400. You are not going to even be able to borrow that much, and should your parents be taking that kind of a loan with their financial situation as it is? Really, though you might get a private loan, you will need a co signer, and your parents will be stuck with that amount on their credit record until it is paid off, possibly impeding them in any ventures they may want to try. ALso, both your parents and you will be on the hook for that loan. They will go after your parents if you cannot pay or if something happens to you. </p>
<p>Even the Depaul package is really more debt than an UG should take. Are there already loans in your aid package? IF so, adding the additional amount to pay makes it a tough go. Remember, you can only borrow about $5500 on your own under most circumstances. If there are no loans in your package, by taking the Stafford, seeing if you parents qualify for PLUS for the remainder might be an option. If they are denied, you can then get an additional $4K in Stffords. If you work summers and during the year, you might be able to make a go of it. But it will be tight. Any state schools around where you can commute?</p>
<p>You degree is from the college you graduate…this is a perfect situation to minimize your costs as much as possible (local college where you can commute) and transfer to UIUC junior year.</p>
<p>Unfortunately UIUC (particularly for business, with its upcharge) isn’t an affordable option for many in-state kids. $100,000 is way too much debt. I second the idea of commuting to the local CC for two years and then transferring. If you’re within commuting distance of Northern, its business school is respectable, particularly in accounting, although I’d choose CC followed by a transfer to UIUC as I’d rather have the UIUC degree.</p>
<p>Thanks guys for the replies. The 14,000 at depaul is taking scholarship money I received out of it…so this is what the total per year comes to. Ive applied to God knows how many scholarships. If I get some good news, I might consider uiuc again, otherwise you guys have convinced me that 100k is not worth it :).
Another question I have is though, and don’t look at me like I’m crazy, but I talked to a Depaul study abroad rep, and I asked them about attending college in India, an amazing experience I’d love to have. They said that if I sat down with my counselor, I could discuss classes I could take there while studying for a year and earn DePaul credit. I would most likely be paying the Indian tuition since im not going through a DePaul program. Do you guys think this is a decent option, since I was interested in studying abroad, anyway?</p>
<p>How would you afford to travel to India and live there?</p>
<p>I have family that work for the airlines, so flying would not be nearly as expensive as it normally is, and also, I have family that live in India, alrhought I’d rather set up a host family to live with while there.
Does this seem really unreasonable…it’s just not a traditional thing to do in regards to college.</p>
<p>Not unreasonable at all. THere are a number of study abroad programs out there. I don’t know if there are any in India. If the school is willing to help you set up something, it would be great.</p>
<p>Thanks everyone for all the great input. I’m still hoping I see some good news from private scholarships I applied for to make uiuc affordable…if not, I would still be more than happy to gain experience studying abroad, if possible. I guess I’ll take whatever comes to me 
thanks everyone!!</p>