60K Debt for Duke?

Paying for College
1

<p>Hi!</p>

<p>So I got my financial aid package from Duke and it offers about 30,000 in grants. My parents are expected to contribute 24K/year, I'm expected to take out 5K/year in loans, and I have a 2K work-study allowance which amounts to Duke's COA. </p>

<p>My parents can pay the 24k/year - however, it will be a bit of a struggle and they might have to pass up some luxuries. I would prefer that not happen so I am willing to take an additional 7K-10K/year in loans. This means I would graduate with 40K-60K in debt. </p>

<p>Is this a reasonable amount for a Duke education? For reference, I'll be majoring in physics...not sure about a career yet. I plan on going to grad school in physics but I know that those are usually fully funded with stipends so cost shouldn't be a factor right?</p>

<p>Any advice?</p>

2

<p>Umm. Where are you getting that additional $7-10K in loans? I don’t see lenders offering that to 18 year olds these days? LIkely, your parents will have to cosign, and that means it 's on their credit record too, and it’s really their loan. The lenders get two suckers for the cost of one when people do that. And if something happens to you, like death, disability, or drop out, your parents still have to pay that loan. The same goes for you, if something happens to them. It’s a bond stronger than marriage where at death do you part. </p>

<p>I’m not sure what you think “fully funded” means. Grad students don’t exactly live a very rich life. Most of them defer their UG loans because the stipends don’t include repayment of school loans when they are budgeted. But the interest still keep on a ticking. And so the loans keep on growing on your credit report as well as your parents’. There might be a bit of a struggle now for the next 4 years to pay that $24K, but you know what? You are supposed to struggle somewhat when you have kids in college. Especially an expensive private college like Duke. You are supposed to struggle a bit, financially and your parents too and they’ll feel so good when ti’s all over in 4 years whereas if they borrow, it’ll be for a lot more and they[ll be paying a lot more too. I 'm sure as an aspiring physics major, you can do the math and figure out how the compound interest does that. You also just don’t know what the future holds as your parents get older. Nice not to have loans over your head. Paying for something when it’s a done deal, like college after the kid has hopefully gradauted is like eating old fish. Doesn’t smell or taste better over time. Not like wine, believe me.</p>

<p>Also, a lot of very talented kids I know who are going to grad school and getting stipends are finding that many of the stipends do not cover everything. Seems like the schools are cutting back somewhat. I have several friends who are helping out their kids in PHD programs who are on stipends and grants. Sometimes ti’s because finding the living quarters is a problem safety reasons, and paying back your own student loan is going to be an issue there too. </p>

<p>So where were you thinking of getting that extra $7-10K in loans this year?</p>

3

<p>

The majority of the debt will be unsubsidized loans, and if you don’t pay the interest until you finish school, the debt will be a lot higher than 60k.</p>

4

<p>" I plan on going to grad school in physics but I know that those are usually fully funded with stipends so cost shouldn’t be a factor right?"</p>

<p>If you get into grad school (and I know people who had to apply more than once to find a space in a Physics grad program), your stipend will be enough to live on in cheap off-campus housing and feed yourself ramen noodles. You will live like that for approximately seven years on your way to a PhD. After that you will get a small income boost if/when you land a post-Doc appointment which will mean that you can live in a slightly nicer neighborhood and can eat better food but you still won’t be raking it in, and that is when those loans will all land on your head because you probably won’t have been able to do more than defer them while working on the PhD. After three or four years as a post-Doc if you are lucky you will hang it up and go to industry and start making decent money. If you find yourself a faculty position you will get another upgrade in your housing and your diet, but it still won’t be comfortable and you still will be paying down all that debt when you’d rather be buying a decent car or a house or whatever. You will notice that on Big Bang, Dr. Cooper and Dr. Hofstadter are still in shared housing years after landing full-time work: part of that is because their salaries just aren’t that good.</p>

<p>So no, you do not want to do that to yourself. Try to like one of your more affordable options.</p>

5

<p>Happymom has it right. Remember the meter is still running on those loans and at those interest rates that unsub loans have, a taxi is cheap.</p>

6

<p>Agree with other parents. For for thoughts, from a physicist, no less [Don’t</a> Become a Scientist!](<a href=“http://wuphys.wustl.edu/~katz/scientist.html]Don’t”>http://wuphys.wustl.edu/~katz/scientist.html) ;)</p>

7

<p>I like the way you’re willing to take more of the burden off parents. Duke is ponying up, your parents are ponying and so are you. I say go for it. $60K is not unreasonable for a Duke education. Also who wants the nagging thoughts of what if?</p>

8

<p>Where would you go if not Duke for a cheaper option?</p>

9

<p>I think $31,000 is a reasonable amount to pay for a Duke education, especially since you say your parents can afford to pay their $24,000 contribution. The COA at our state flagship is just about that amount for certain majors and I’d choose Duke over our state flagship in a heartbeat. Depending on what state you’re in, you might not have a lot of options that are significantly less expensive than your net cost at Duke. You said your parents will just have to give up some luxuries to afford their contribution. Giving up luxuries for a child’s top notch education is reasonable. Let them do it if they’re willing. There’s no need to put yourself into debt.</p>

10

<p>Why don’t you let your parents pay and then when you are all older, if you can afford it, pay them back.</p>

<p>Some parents (like me) are happy to pay for college and forgo luxuries.</p>

11

<p>Wow thanks for all the responses! I recently talked to Duke and managed to get my financial aid package reviewed. The parent contribution has now dropped to 20K/year.</p>

<p>As a side question, I know that many financial aid packages include “Personal Costs” in their COA. When paying the college for tuition, housing, dining plan, etc. online, do we also have to pay for these “Personal Costs” or is that $$ that my parents give to me?</p>

<p>For example, my parents contribution for my Duke education is 20K right now. I have 2K work study, 2K student contribution, 5K in Perkins Loans, and Duke covers the rest in grants. When Duke is calculating EFC, they estimate personal expenses to be 4K/year. Does this mean my parents will pay 16K (of their 20k parent contribution) online and then Duke estimates I’ll use 4K over the course of the year?</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Duke is offering me 5,500 in Perkins Loans right now. I’m assuming I could get the Parent Plus Loan (or whatever it’s called). My parents are willing to co-sign and I’m fairly confident I’ll be able to pay off my loans without defaulting it onto them.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>Duke has offered me the Perkins loan so the government will pay off the debt while I’m in school. However, I’m not sure if this will be the same case for the extra loans that I want to take. </p>

<p>

</p>

<p>To be honest, I’m not sure. At this point, Duke is almost cheaper than my state school (UMD). UMD expects about 19K/year from my family. Duke expects 20K from my parents, 2K from me, 5K in loans. So maybe I’ll take a gap year or something. However, my parents have stated that they are willing to pay the 20K/year for Duke. I just want to make life easier for them so I’m wondering if it’s a good idea to take out more loans on my part. </p>

<p>So I think the general consensus seems to be that taking on the debt for Duke isn’t such a bad idea. However, reading about all the post-college life for physics majors really helped. I’m starting to re-think my career now…of course, this is the classic dilemma of “Doing what you love vs. Ensuring a comfortable life”. Regardless, thanks for all the help! If there’s any more advice, please let me know!</p>

12

<p>Are Parent Plus loans deferred while the student is in grad school?</p>

13

<p>The way that it USUALLY works, is that you get a bill for the school for the term (most schools are on a 2 semesters/terms per main academic year) and for those schools that have the fall and spring terms, that first bill will show 1/2 the tution, 1/2 the room/board, the full amount of fees, full amount of health insurance, offset by 1/2 the loans, grants, scholarships and the full amount of any deposits you paid. So things like your transportation to get there, your sundry costs, your toiletries and other necessities, a computer, any room and study supplies, your books extra pocket cash, laundry money do not show up on the bill and you have to pay for those out of pocket. Work study is just that you get access to the work study job listing and get paid out of that fund but you have to get the job, and get paid by paycheck usually bi weekly as you put in the hours. If your parents have you covered with health insurance, you send in that info and they will take that off the bill. The Bursar’s office does not distinguish or even see breakdowns of student contributions vs parents. They just spit out the charges as I related that are on record, and list the loans and awards as they come in. </p>

<p>Costs like the personal items, books, travel are variable from student to student and you have some control over them depending upon resources and resourcefulness. Some of my kids have carpooled during breaks, taken Megabus or the Chinatown buses which saved a lot over air fare, and we’ve also gone over when we waited too late to get decent airfare or some emergency occurred.</p>

14

<p>Taking out loans to pay for something that you can pay for without loans is not a good idea. It might be a stretch but you should let them pay for it now and later on you can maybe pay them back.</p>

15

<p>Congratulations on getting into Duke. However, I don’t think getting 60K in debt is worth it, especially if you want to attend graduate school.</p>