Amount to save, how to borrow

Paying for College
1

<p>I have three children who are rising seniors, so a year from now we are looking at college X 3. We live in Georgia, and all three should be eligible for HOPE covering most of the in-state tuition. We have agreed to pay half of room and board for each of them for all four years, providing they keep HOPE. We estimate this to be roughly $5000 per child per year, or $60,000 total. Any scholarship money they receive will go toward their half of room & board.</p>

<p>Two of my children are looking at out of state private schools that have generous merit aid packages, with the full understanding that if their package doesn’t match HOPE, we’re not going to support taking out loans to cover the difference. One of those two is also trying to get his stats up to what University of Alabama would give full tuition plus expenses for, making it so he comes out of college owing less. We’re all trying to be as dispassionate as we can and just get the best college match for the lowest price. </p>

<p>Here are my financial aid questions:</p>

<p>1) Should we be calculating in fees aside from room & board? I have no idea what is actually included in that COA figure at each school and what would be covered by our state's HOPE program, merit aid, etc.</p>

<p>2) Do kids generally rustle up more than about $1000 in the specialty scholarships they apply for (DAR, local women’s clubs, etc.)? We’re trying to figure out how much they need to be saving between now and August 2014, aside from “as much as you possibly can.”</p>

<p>3) If we don’t have our half of the room & board each semester it’s needed, is it usually accepted to borrow against our house or 401K, or is it better to find actual college loans for that? </p>

<p>Thanks for any help you can give. My husband retired unexpectedly this year with health issues, and while we have a pension for him, we’re not quite in the place we were hoping to be as we look at colleges.</p>

2

<p>Schools sometimes charge two different types of fees. </p>

<p>Many charge “course fees”. These are “by the class” and are similar to “lab fees” or “art fees”. These fees cover supplies that are used in class like lab chemicals, special technology, etc. </p>

<p>Many charge “university wide fees”. These may be line-item listed as health fees, rec center fees, technology fees, etc. </p>

<p>Some schools charge both “university fees” and “course fees”. These can add a couple thousand per year. </p>

<p>FYI…Alabama doesn’t charge “university fees”. It does charge “course fees”. For a STEM major, course fees can be about $350 per semester. </p>

<p>What is your child’s likely major at Bama? What score is he trying to get?</p>

3

<p>Do kids generally rustle up more than about $1000 in the specialty scholarships they apply for (DAR, local women’s clubs, etc.)? We’re trying to figure out how much they need to be saving between now and August 2014, aside from “as much as you possibly can.”</p>

<p>maybe for the first year, but not for any other year. Those are “frosh only” kinds of scholarships. And, I wouldn’t count on getting $1k per kid.</p>

4

<p>With 3 in college at the same time, have you looked to see what each child’s FAFSA EFC would be? Would they be eligible for Pell?</p>

5

<p>Have you explored the GA 411 website? It is helpful.</p>

<p>Here is the chart telling you what HOPE pays by college:</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.gsfc.org/main/publishing/pdf/2012/hope_award_amounts.pdf[/url]”>http://www.gsfc.org/main/publishing/pdf/2012/hope_award_amounts.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>And for Zell Miller, here</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.gsfc.org/main/publishing/pdf/2012/Zell_Miller_Award_Amounts.pdf[/url]”>http://www.gsfc.org/main/publishing/pdf/2012/Zell_Miller_Award_Amounts.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

6

<p>Thanks for your response, mom2collegekids. I think you’re right about those random frosh scholarships, but my kids think there are more out there than I think there are. My #2 kid’s major is going to be Actuarial Science, which I am not sure whether falls in the STEM area or not. It’s Mathematics, but it’s often in the business school/risk management. They have a major for it at Bama and GSU, and a certificate at UGA, which is not really a problem. That field is more about passing the tests than getting a specific major, but he certainly wants a school with a track record of courses that help students pass the exams. He’s at 1370 (I think–I should remember but get the kids’ scores confused) on the SAT and thinks because he did no preparation his first time through that he can bump it up his next time. I think he’s hoping for 1400, but honestly I haven’t looked at Bama to even know what their levels are for different awards. He’s also looking at St. Joseph University in Philadelphia, where they also have an Actuarial program and access to many insurance companies for internships. He knows that Jesuit school appeals to his parents and has gotten great responses from them, but he’s pragmatic and is trying to weigh his options. He would have to get a full tuition scholarship to even put it in the running. </p>

<p>About FAFSA and Pell, I’m not even sure what our income is going to be since my husband hasn’t gotten his first pension check, so I haven’t tried any of the cost estimate programs. </p>

<p>Our school system does averages on a 100 point scale, so it’s really hard for me to figure out whether he will be eligible for plain HOPE or Zell, but I’m going to try to figure it out once I get the transcript from this year. I will check out those websites, lastminutemom196 and see if they make sense to me.</p>

7

<p>Don’t forget that scholarship money used for room and board is being used for non-educational reasons and thus will be taxable…</p>

8

<p>Nancy, in addition to looking at all of the alternatives that have contingencies, make sure your kids apply to some local schools or places where you know they will get accepted and that you know they can afford Better to have them there upfront instead of having to scramble and being at the tail end of the list for them if things don’t work out with the wish list.</p>

<p>1) Yes. College costs more than the required tuition, fees, room and board. The kids has to get there and back home, so you have transportation costs. Books and supplies are needed. They have to have a cell phone these days, and though schools won’t generally require a computer, they are pretty much necessary. They need laundry money, funds for toiletries and sundries, and really, they are going to want to “live a little” and go out for a pizza or burger or just where ever, whatever. For many families, and we are one one of them those costs we leave these costup to the kid pretty much and use the listed COA for the school as a guide. If they can beat it, and they often can, if the transportation costs are lower than average, and the kid is intrepid about getting inexpensive books, frugal about spending, good for them. But our kids use their own savings, summer earnings and jobs during the school year towards this cost. But don’t misunderstand, there are always additional costs. Emergencies like broken glasses, dental issues, medical issues, lost cell phone, computer breaks down or is stolen, yeah, things happen Also if you want to visit them, if they are where you have to pay for a ticket or a lot of gasoline, and need to stay the night, plus the meals plus the treats, that is going to cost money Plus when they come home, they’ll cost you too, though you may save some money having them out of the house. My water, electric bill goes down for sure, and there is gas in my car when I need to go somewhere, if you know what I mean.</p>

<p>2) Unless they are truly super stars, or you/your spouse’s job have a nice award, NO. One of mine was a national athlete–got some $100 awards. The other was a talented performing arts kid, got a lot of awards, the most was for $5K and he had to go to a specific high priced school to get it. My nearly perfect SAT kid, got only one outside award and it was for a kid with cancer or a cancer suvivor. Yeah, he had to have cancer to get the award. And it was for about $3K total. They shut down the program after giving him the award and decided to give him all of the money left in it.</p>

<p>3) Each kid will be permitted to take out up to $5500 in loans in his own name, some of this possibly subsidized. If you don’t have past due account 90-180 days late on your credit report, you or your spouse can borrow from PLUS. Though borrowing can be dangerous for those irresponsible, to do so deliberatley and with a plan can work well. With three kids in college at the same time, it is sometimes the best thing to do as most folks will NOT get their need met at most schools, even though your EFC will reflect that you are getting a triple hit. I see nothing wrong with stretching out the payments over a time period in such a case, as most people would naturally doing this with kids spaced out over more years. </p>

<p>Don;t discourage the applications for awards and scholarships. Just don’t count on them. It’s tough to get a whole lot of money. </p>

<p>Do take a look at the Loyola in Baltimore Actuarlal program too. They have given nice merit money.</p>

9

<p>My #2 kid’s major is going to be Actuarial Science, which I am not sure whether falls in the STEM area or not. It’s Mathematics, but it’s often in the business school/risk management. They have a major for it at Bama and GSU, and a certificate at UGA, which is not really a problem. That field is more about passing the tests than getting a specific major, but he certainly wants a school with a track record of courses that help students pass the exams. He’s at 1370 (I think–I should remember but get the kids’ scores confused) on the SAT and thinks because he did no preparation his first time through that he can bump it up his next time. I think he’s hoping for 1400, but honestly I haven’t looked at Bama to even know what their levels are for different awards.</p>

<p>Right now (as long as next year’s award offers don’t change), he needs a 1400 for free tuition. He’s got a 2/3 tuition right now. If he’s in engineering, then he has full tuition plus 2500 per year. </p>

<p>Have him take the ACT as well as the SAT this fall. Bama only accepts the ACT up to Oct and the SAT up to Nov for senior year for scholarship consideration, so make sure he’s signed up for those.</p>

10

<p>* He knows that Jesuit school appeals to his parents *</p>

<p>Just to let you know, Bama has a Catholic Church right on campus grounds. St Francis of Assisi parish. Plus, the parish is building a larger church right next door to the existing one because of the growing Catholic community at Bama. The “old church” will become a larger Catholic Student Center named after Coach Saban who donated heavily. Coach Saban and his wife attend that parish.</p>

11

<p>The Fall 2012 bill of an actual UGA freshman. Spring 2013 numbers were the same:</p>

<p>IN STATE TUITION $ 3,823.00
TRANSPORTATION FEE $ 109.00
TECHNOLOGY FEE $ 120.00
ACTIVITY FEE/REC FEE $ 92.00
ATHLETIC FEE $ 53.00
STUDENT FACILITIES FEE $ 80.00
HEALTH CENTER FEE $ 191.00
INSTITUTIONAL FEE $ 450.00
GREEN FEE $ 3.00
CHEM FEE $ 35.00
FOOD SERVICE PLAN-7 DAY $ 1,941.00
MYERS HALL RENT $ 2,741.00
MYERS HALL COUNCIL FEE $ 20.00</p>

<p>The student had the Zell Miller scholarship, which paid the $3,823 in-state tuition. The other fees had to be paid by the student and family. The “Chem Fee” was for chemistry lab supplies, as a consequence of being enrolled in a chemistry course. All other fees above would be standard (and non-optional) for any freshman. The dorm fees of course vary by dorm. Myers is a little more expensive than some.</p>

<p>Total costs added up to $4,956 per semester tuition and fees, plus $4,702 room and board, totaling $9,658 of which the Zell Miller scholarship paid $3,823, leaving the student and family to pay $5,835 ($1,133 in fees plus the room and board), per semester. Above that you need to budget for textbooks (cost varies widely depending on courses, but can easily be as much as $500 per semester, or more), clothing, incidentals and transportation to and from campus. Hope this helps.</p>

12

<p>Thanks, Weatherga, that list is extremely helpful. I had no idea that there was that much of a difference between Zell Miller and the tuition/fee total. We’re both UGA alums and come from a very big Bulldog family, but if there is a significantly better deal at a neighboring flagship, we’re willing to take a look.</p>

13

<p>That’s great to know about the Catholic Church at Alabama. We both went to Georgia, but as young adults lived near GT and attended Mass there, and we saw how important a close church would be in encouraging students to keep up with their faith while at college.</p>

14

<p>You’re welcome, Nancy. The increase in fees in recent years is notorious. The institutional fee in particular is really a tuition hike under another name. It allows the state to hold the line on the state budget and claim to be holding down tuition, and the overtaxed HOPE program doesn’t have to cover any more, but the universities get the funds they need to balance their budgets. A win for all stakeholders except students and their families! This phenomenon is not unique to UGA nor to Georgia. I gather you really have to watch out for significant fees charged by public universities and colleges in other states, too.</p>