<p>"I’m going to be a freshman in the fall at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and have to take out about $23,000 just for my first year. State school and Illinois is in debt so they barely give out any financial aid. I seriously don’t know how I am going to manage this, not to mention the next 3 years…'</p>
<p>At that rate you are NOT going to be able to manage it. Really - do you know what monthly payments over 10 years on $100,000 (at 8.5%, if you could get it) really are? (It’s $1,240 a month - every month - and that’s if you are lucky.) If this is where you are headed, you should SERIOUSLY consider starting at the community college instead.</p>
<p>Student posting here because I think for some it’s just not the parents worried about loan debt. My parents had already explained to me that taking a lot of loans out could hurt me in my future. We actually had money troubles growing up so I think that is what really opened my eyes about it. I will be taking out the max federal loans I can, and a perkins loan the rest is covered in grants. I tried to get work study instead of a perkins loan, but according to the school their work study program was cut by 25%. I was then told to apply for non work study job. I’m in the process of a applying. I have no idea what my sister’s loan debt is. My parents won’t tell me. I’m a little nervous about loan debt seeing how I’m entering as a undeclared major. I’ve been going back and fourth between genetic counseling, psychology (specializing in pediatrics when I can in the masters or ph.d program) and health care administration. I’m leaning towards administration because I want to be able to start paying back the loans right away, and I’ve been reading that before you can get into the master’s program for it you need to have work experience. No where to start, but the bottom it sounds like, and work your way up. I feel good though that I’m still somewhat in the guidelines for federal loan debt. On the other hand I have received numerous compliments from family members that I’m actually thinking with my head unlike another relative. I posted that story in the vent section.</p>
<p>Both of our kids will have have the subsidized max in Staffords (just under $20k) each). Skin in the game, but not so much debt that it will seriously impact their lives.</p>
<p>We have been skimping and saving so we can avoid taking out anything from our HELOC. So far, so good, but suspect this year we’ll need to borrow some. This is our last year with two in school, but S1 has been able to contribute a sizable chunk through scholarships and well-paying summer jobs. S2 doesn’t have the same skill set and career-related internships tend to be unpaid.</p>
<p>Well, both kids will have SubStafford and/or Perkins loans. DS graduated from Cal with <$15,000 subsidized loans. He’s now going for a PhD on full fellowship so luckily doesn’t add more to his debt. DD will start at UC-Santa Cruz in the fall. Her debt starts at $4,200 for the first year. I don’t know if she’ll be as fortunate as her brother but I can only hope she is <$20,000 by the time she graduates.</p>
<p>Wheww… thanks to good financial aid (Rice U.) and frugal living and merit aid (DD), DD graduated with no student loans and is able to work for a nonprofit organization without having to worry about loan payments, and DS graduated with only $7400 in subsidized student loans. He is employed in a good paying job and will be able to pay it back within a year or two. We made it through the 7 years of their college education without taking out any loans by being pretty frugal. But now that they are out - WEEEEHHHAAAAAAA!!! We are going through a home refinance (new rate is only 3.125%), and we are pulling a little money out of the house to do some remodeling. YEAH!!! We are ready to play a little now!</p>
<p>Agree with you there. D1 is out of college and we were able to get through with no loans for either her or us. D2 is half way through college and we have a plan that will get her through school without debt (No, it is not “rob a bank.” With the increase in tuition and the low amount of cash on hand in banks…not a good place for big money). </p>
<p>But we were honest with her–IF something goes very wrong, we may need that money and we may need you to transfer to XXX University to finish up. We wouldn’t do it unless we were in a really bad spot. Would you be OK with that? </p>
<p>Hooray for anxiousmom! That is the first thing we are going to do when we are through with college tuition…remodel. We’ve put off a lot of maintenance and updating (hey, I think 1980s popcorn ceilings are going to come back someday) and it is past time to get things done.</p>
<p>None of our kids have loans. If either of our older ones did, they would be in default. They have barely made enough to meet their own expenses and have some debt problems as it is. Our gift to them was an UG education paid. That said, we owe more than we like for PLUS that we took out for our first one. </p>
<p>It looks like the two that will be in college will dodge the loan bullet next year, which is going to be a tough one for us. We are trying to get by without a loan. We’ve really overcommitted for their college, so it’s going to be a squeeze, but after this year, it will be much easier as one big PLUS payment will start diminishing and we’ll only have the one in college. </p>
<p>I don’t know how anyone expects Performing arts majors to repay sizable loans My son pays his rent, utilities and transportation expenses but has hardly a dime left after that and he has been in the enviable situation of having work all of the time. The same with any other major that does not assure a living wage. </p>
<p>To the student who has taken out $23K for UI: Find another state school, community college to which you can commute. DH and I make what is considered a high income and we are pounding salt to repay loans. My kids have always been employed but having enough for basic living expenses and job search money has been a struggle and they live close enough that we have given hand outs and help as we could. $100K in debt is outrageous.</p>
<p>Must agree about the loans to UI… too much debt for undergrad. Our daughter is starting 4th year at a state university and our son will be a freshman at a different state university in Michigan in the fall. Thankfully, we have been able to cover tuition for our daughter to date(she commutes and has a small scholarship), and we will be thrilled for her to graduate with no debt. Son will live on campus and study engineering, but thanks to some nice scholarships and in-state tuition, we are able to cover his balance. It is our goal to help our kids (and ourselves!) get their undergrads with no debt. We will NOT take loans for their education or touch our retirement plans - thankfully we’re gainfully employed and have the means to help them. If our situation changes, we’ll have to re-evaluate. But right now we give a big exhale every semester we all get past with no debt!</p>
<p>aklauss17 - that is too much debt for freshman year. You need to quickly revisit your options. If this is your dream school, go there for graduate work not undergrad with such a financial burden.</p>
<p>A rule of thumb that I heard concerning student loan debt is that you should not take out more than what you expect to make as annual salary in your first year out of school. I think that is a very good rule and that is what we plan to stick with.</p>
<p>Our 3 had the basic unsub Stafford for their ‘skin in the game’.
We decided to pay accruing interest while they were in school.
If you make those interest payments within 120 days of disbursement, the amount paid comes off the principal.
It was a great tactic to reduce their debt loads.</p>
<p>I once believed that taking on debt in college was fine and than things changed with the economy. Any student taking on large debt (more than $25,000) for an undergraduate degree is making a huge mistake. Even the kids at highly selective schools with the most lucrative potential degrees are suffering right now. I am grateful that son 1 paid off his loans in the first year and sons two and three have already started paying off their loans and they just graduated. However, it is extremely difficult to have that weight hanging over your head and not be able to do the things you want to do because of loans. Son1 was on a mission to get his paid off and lived at home in order to do so. He is excellent with managing his finances and will be able to support himself while in grad school but he has given up many things in order to do this…welcome to the new real world!!</p>
<p>The thing is, almost everyone that I know is in the same situation as I am in. Re university of Illinois doesn’t really give out financial aid because of the current economic situation and because it’s such a big school with so many students. Whether their parents are paying for the tuition or they aren’t I don’t know, but most of the people I know are in the same situation as I am…</p>
<p>I still think kids taking on some student debt is fine but it really depends on the family situation and what the kid is planning to do after college. The young lady I know who took on this huge debt was a Philosophy major with no real idea of what she wanted to do after college, and now is thinking vaguely of Architechture or Law (more debt) but really wants to kind of take it easy till she decides. Plus her family is in no position to help her out, but her friends and crowd tend to be from well to do families who can afford this sort of ambivalence. </p>
<p>I think the government loans are structured so that kids have a lot of flexibility and can work off some of the amounts, so the way I look at it is that ugs should try to stick with just those. Where the problem comes is when kids start taking outside co-signed loans that may not be so generous in repayment terms and will go after the co-signers. Once you go over those Stafford limits, it’s getting dicey as to how any student can pay them off in a 10 year period by him/herself anyways.</p>
<p>By the time my son graduates after this coming year, he’ll have something over $20,000 in subsidized Stafford loans, which will be his responsibility to pay off eventually (although if I’m financially able to, I would always help him if necessary – not that I’ve told him that!).</p>
<p>I’ve taken out no loans myself. I have more than enough in the way of financial obligations over the next 9 years.</p>
<p>If he goes to grad school for a Ph.D., he won’t be taking out any loans at all; his professors have all told him that there’s no reason he should settle for anything less than guaranteed funding at one of the top programs in the country. And that he shouldn’t go if he doesn’t get it. Not for a Ph.D. in Art History, with future income obviously uncertain.</p>
<p>“The thing is, almost everyone that I know is in the same situation as I am in. Re university of Illinois doesn’t really give out financial aid because of the current economic situation and because it’s such a big school with so many students. Whether their parents are paying for the tuition or they aren’t I don’t know, but most of the people I know are in the same situation as I am…”</p>
<p>Then they are ALL screwed. You can’t afford $100,000 in debt for your undergraduate degree. You just can’t. And, by the way, who is going to be crazy enough to co-sign your loans? Or loan you that kind of money (after your first year)? No bank is going to give it to you, without your parents (or a rich uncle) signing for it. They are not stupid. </p>
<p>Don’t do it. (Frankly, I don’t think you can - you’ll be leaving after your first year, because no one will loan you the money.)</p>
<p>mominva can you explain that a little more? Are you saying that if you pay interest in advance, you not only don’t increase your principal by the amount of the interest, but you decrease the principal? How much interest do you have to pay (a year’s worth? more?)</p>
<p>Also, once you get to the university, they have scholarships for returning students. A junior that u know at Illinois received nothing his freshman year but received a full tuition scholarship his sophomore year. All of these kids are doing it; it has to be possible :)</p>
We are going through a home refinance (new rate is only 3.125%), and we are pulling a little money out of the house to do some remodeling.