<p>I am totally confused about financial aid. What is the average debt that most students have to take on per year?</p>
<p>I want to go to a school that costs 62k, and they are willing to give me 40k in financial aid (only like 3% loans). It is a really good school. Is this doable, because people keep telling me that this would be too much debt to take on! In that case, how would anyone other than rich people afford to go?? I would be able to get at least 5k in scholarships, and would work every summer (making at least 5k as well). I would go to grad school for one year after college (I am an engineering major and the college I want to go to has a five year program for that). This is a school that I really want to go to, and I currently only have about 3k saved up for college, but I really want to make this work. In you all's opinion, does this sound feasible?</p>
<p>Can your parents pay the $22,000 that is NOT in your financial aid package? If not, the school is not affordable.</p>
<p>Just curious…how do you know you’ve been accepted AND have a financial aid package at this point? The Profile JUST went live a couple of weeks ago, and the FAFSA for next year won’t be up and running until January 1. Deadlines for ED and EA applications have not yet passed…let alone acceptance letters.</p>
<p>I’m a parent, not a student. Also a college professor. So that’s my perspective.</p>
<p>You’re talking about a lot of debt. Going to a really famous master’s program might make a difference, but your state flagship university probably has an excellent engineering program too. I’d look into it. If it’s not really good, your state might have tuition agreements with neighboring states that might have a better engineering school. Look at that too.</p>
<p>Also, be sure you have realistic expectations for yourself. If you still haven’t finished a full year of calculus, you may not know if you’re really cut out for engineering. You would hate to invest big $$ in a program and not be right for it. If you did take calc as a junior and scored 4-5 on the AP test, that’s a different story. But it’s still a lot of debt.</p>
<p>If it were me, I would want a guarantee on that estimate. What happens if your actual award is $10,000 less? I’m speaking from experience. DD got accepted EA to several schools. All gave her estimated awards based on a priority filing of the Profile. After the FAFSA was completed, one school,reduced her estimated grant by $9000. Our estimated income was only $3000 less than our actual income.</p>
<p>At this point, you have no guarantee of that aid. If the remaining $22,000 a year is all going to be loans, I think that is too much debt.</p>
<p>Did you get any work-study? Did you get any athletic aid? Do peer schools also recruit you? Can you to get a better offer from a peer school and use it to negotiate a better deal at your first choice? Can you tell the coach that money is an issue and see if he can talk to finaid (provided you are a very desirable recruit)? Even if everything above is not feasible you can still ask finaid if they can improve your package as it seems your parents cannot meet their EFC. At least they may offer you a work-study award.</p>
<p>Something is not clear… How much are you planning to borrow EACH year to pay for college?</p>
<p>I would be able to get at least 5k in scholarships, and would work every summer (making at least 5k as well</p>
<p>You will not likely get $5k per year in outside scholarships. Outside scholarships are mostly for freshman year only. You might be able to cobble together $5k for your first year (if super lucky), but not for the later years.</p>
<p>If you’re a student athlete, how will you have time to earn $5k every summer? Won’t you have conditioning, etc, going on in the summer? Many student athletes can’t work that much during the summer. They might be able to work some, but with a shortened summer, they’re lucky to work/save a couple thousand.</p>
<p>I still don’t think that you can earn $5k each summer. Both of my kids worked internships and other jobs during the summer, and they never “netted” that much each summer that they could have put towards college costs (net after taxes, paying for gas to/from job, misc expenses, some entertainment, clothes, etc).</p>
<p>Plus, even if practices don’t start towards the end of summer, it still will cut the summer short. You’ll be lucky to work 8-10 weeks over the summer.</p>
<p>What will you be doing next summer (after HS graduation) to “net” that $5k to put towards college?</p>
<p>I think you’re being too optimistic about getting $5k in scholarships each year. And, even if you do get those scholarship, that would replace any “need” grants that the school gives you. You wouldn’t get to put that towards the amount that you owe. You may not have realized that since it sounds like you’ve subtracted that $5k from the amount that you’d have to pay.</p>
<p>I think you need to figure that you’re going to have to borrow about $7-8k more each year.</p>
<p>What are your parents saying about co-signing all those loans? Will they happily do so? Will they qualify each year? (each year, their credit score will take a hit from each co-signed loan).</p>
<p>To build on OP’s question, what’s the max amount you would recommend loaning if you got accepted into a top school, assuming parents were willing and able to co-sign all four years?</p>
<p>Let’s imagine you graduate and get a good job that is the first step of a career. It would be reasonable to buy a new car worth roughly $30,000, paying it off in 5 years. Therefore it is reasonable to borrow the same $30,000 for school and pay off that debt within the same 5 years. Drive to work in decent used car during that time. Your parents might even give you their old one, especially if you make the plan now.</p>
<p>what’s the max amount you would recommend loaning if you got accepted into a top school, assuming parents were willing and able to co-sign all four years?</p>
<p>Hey if you’ve got enough money to loan, then loan as much as you want. I think you meant to ask how much would we recommend BORROWING…</p>
<p>Those who attend “top schools” aren’t more likely going to be paid more, so that shouldn’t be much of a consideration.</p>
<p>Borrowing more than the federal amounts is unwise.</p>
<p>An important thing to remember is that students change their majors and career plans all the time. They end up in a job that pays far less than they had expected. They end up with a temp job while waiting for something in their field to open up. The unexpected happens. You need to keep that in mind when planning to borrow money.</p>