<p>Depends on the comparable in state school. Not too many have flagships that might be considered peers of Cornell.</p>
<p>If someone went to UT Austin which is comparable to Cornell for engineering, they have no defined merit scholarships and in state is about 25k per year.</p>
<p>It this point comparison is not even a question of selecting one school over the other. OP would need to transfer to a cheaper option in order to save money and there are not a lot of schools offering money to transfers.</p>
<p>$11K a year in loans for a Cornell education is a good value …but maybe you can turn that into an even smaller loan amount. Are you working over winter break and during the summer? You ought to be able to accumulate $3.5-5K with that. Are you working eight - ten hours a week at school next year? That would bring in another $2500. You might get down to the point where all you need is the Direct (Stafford) loan. That would be a very good thing. </p>
<p>But, even at a full $11K in loans, I doubt you could find any other solution as likely to cost so little unless you live at home, and perhaps not even then.</p>
<p>“I did qualify for $4,000 in unsubsidized Stafford loans but that was turned into grant money by a Cornell scholarship program. So originally, it would have cost $4,000 more per year in unsubsidized loans.”</p>
<p>This worries me. Could it be that the U already is assuming loans for the student (as part of ‘financial aid’) and the money the student is discussing borrowing is on top of that?</p>
<p>A university cannot “assume loans” for a student. When you take out a loan, you know it - there’s paperwork, and you have to sign it.</p>
<p>Cornell is one of several schools that offers grants to low income students so that the students don’t have to take out federal student loans. Loans simple aren’t included in those students’ financial aid packages.</p>
<p>The Stafford money was not “turned” into the grant money. Cornell limits the amount of loans that low income students have to take and will replace them on paper with grant money from their own coffers. OP can still take out that money but it is then on the unsubsidized basis since the need is no longer there.</p>
<p>Basically, Cornell has a self help component in their financial aid formula that includes the subsidized Stafford for finanical aid students. But they then will replace that loan component with grants for high need students. So the student is now borrowing the full Stafford loan amounts on an unsubsized basis.</p>