Best loan options for Simmons?

Paying for College
1

<p>First off I MUST say thank you for all the advice I got from the moms, dads, advisors, etc. here because it really helped me with my college decision (Reed <3)! Now I just need advice for my friend (let's call her Sheila for anonymity)</p>

<p>Sheila is going to Simmons (in Boston, Mass.) this fall as a freshman. I'm really confused about her financial aid award because it's much less straightforward than Reed's, so I'm not exactly sure how to help her despite how much I know about the application process for FA. It's a little late for that lol. Her payment for fall semester is due on August 1st, this upcoming Monday, and she has to come up with the $14,149 she does not currently have. </p>

<p>I keep reading about how loans are bad but don't have any ideas where to find the best non-federal loans. She only had to fill out the FAFSA for Simmons and her family's annual income is in the lower middle range, but still high nonetheless for someone who needs more financial aid than she was given. Here's the breakdown of the cost of Simmons and what FA she received:</p>

<p>Tuition for all students: $32,376
Room & Board $12,906</p>

<p>TOTAL: $45,282</p>

<p>Sheila's financial aid award:</p>

<p>Her letter says her budget is $51,182.</p>

<p>Her EFC on the letter says: $10,486</p>

<p>Her need says: $41,326</p>

<p>Her awards:</p>

<p>Achievement Scholarship: $5,000</p>

<p>UG Direct Stafford Subsidized Loan: $3,500</p>

<p>John Simmons Grant: $10,700</p>

<p>UG Direct Unsubsidized Stafford Loan: $2,000</p>

<p>Award Total (all these awards are for the whole year, fall and spring semester): $21,200</p>

<p>The cost for just fall semester, with added activity fees and health insurance from the school is $24,986, but with the FA she received she is supposed to pay $14,149 (ONLY for fall semester, she has to pay another bill with the same number come spring semester). She doesn't have this money, and her parents aren't helping much because they don't have much savings. </p>

<p>Here's her family situation: Her brother and sister are both in their late 20s but still live at home because it's a cultural thing. They don't pay rent and her parents just don't have the heart to kick them out. They leach off their parents' income by using utilities and eating food, but it's not too much for a family of five. They have their own money and jobs but do not contribute anything to the family income.</p>

<p>Her parents' income (by her estimates since her parents are reluctant to tell her) is roughly $72,000. They bought a house and moved just in the past year, and their mortgage is $1,450 a month. </p>

<p>Her mom is super secretive about their amount of savings, so she told Sheila they have $5,000 in savings, which is dangerously scarce imo for a family with three children still living at home. Sheila's personal savings is $3,000. </p>

<p>They spend $500/month on food, about $125/month on electricity, and $40/month for water. Her parents pay her brother's car payments, so that's another $160/month. </p>

<p>Phew sorry for the barrage of information but it's just for understanding's sake. Her parents are being uncooperative and arguing about this and just plain not being helpful, so I told her I'd post on CC about what she should do. They'll probably get the education tax credit back for her education, which is an extra $2500 coming in, but only for next year. I told her to look at Parent PLUS loans because if she had qualified for more loans and grants (like Perkins and Pell) she would have already received those, but she only has Stafford loans. </p>

<p>I know Parent PLUS loans aren't good but her last resort is private loans from the bank, which I told her to NOT get because the interest rates are killer and they always push for the parent to cosign, which is also NOT good. </p>

<p>What would be her best loan option? She is deadset on going to Simmons because she fell in love with the school emotionally, not fiscally, and she has everything ready to go except for the money. I know loans are bad, but they are basically her only option now since her parents don't have enough money saved up to pay the roughly $30K/year (hopefully she can appeal earlier next year). </p>

<p>I'm also confused as to why she received sooooooo little FA given that the FA award letter said her EFC is $10,486 and her need is $41,326, and she still has to pay about $30K a year? It doesn't make sense to me, or her.</p>

<p>So, Parent PLUS loans? Or is there another loan option that doesn't require signing 20 years of $500/month payments (and lousy interest rates) away?</p>

2

<p>She can’t afford this school. She already has $5500 in student loans and it looks like she needs another $25,000 - $30,000. Just for a year. That is much to much debt. And her parents don’t sound like they have the income to take on such high loans. Even if they did it for the first year, they probably would not be able to get that much for the full four years. And, to be honest, they shouldn’t. It is too much, relative to their income.</p>

<p>Your friend needs to get realistic. She can not afford this school. ANd she needs to get real now - if she starts school without the funds to pay, she will probably end up having to leave but will still have to pay the money owed.</p>

3

<p>This financial aid package has a big gap in it. Lots of aid packages do. It is a shame that she didn’t see that last spring before she got her heart set on Simmons, because it looks like this place is not affordable for her. </p>

<p>“Sheila” can’t get any more loans without a co-signer. If her parents won’t co-sign, they don’t have the money in savings, and they aren’t able and willing to pay this amount out of pocket, and Sheila doesn’t have this money herself, she can’t go to Simmons this fall. It is that simple.</p>

<p>She needs to contact Simmons and ask to defer enrollment for a year so that she can scrape up some money for her education. During that year off, she should also take a long hard look at her other options.</p>

4

<p>She received her financial aid awards in the middle of June (which was why she didn’t have too many options). I told her to transfer to a more affordable school after one year, or get married and become an file a joint tax return with her also penniless spouse so there is more financial aid for the next year. Selling her kidney/eggs is also another option for her, but none of them are really that viable to help for this year. I told her to write a letter asking if there is any more grant money they could give her, but they might not give her any more. </p>

<p>Deferring might be a good plan, but idk if she will actually take me up on that. Her parents are probably fine with cosigning. She knows she can’t afford it, but she is set on Simmons for her freshman year. She’s considering transferring out for the other years or asking for more financial aid so she could stay the next three years, but she’s definitely not going to pay that much for all four years. </p>

<p>Are Parent PLUS loans her only option now? She really, really will NOT change her mind about going to Simmons. She’s taking up work-study, and I told her to find outside employment opportunities and more on-campus jobs.</p>

5

<p>Did her parents fill out the FAFSA without her? If they are secretive about income, they are probably secretive about savings and assets as well, and that is probably why Simmons did not award her more money. In our experience, what your EFC is doesn’t mean much. Most schools expect families to pay anywhere from 1.5 to 3 times the EFC - at least that is why was happening for us when we got all our award packages. Simmons doesn’t meet need, and the $30,000 or so after the award money would be about 3 times the EFC, so that fits. It’s unfortunate, but it makes sense. Didn’t your friend’s parents tell her up front what they wanted to pay for school?
If they won’t help, your friend would be wise to take a gap year, or find a community college for this fall. It’s really sad that this is all happening so last minute. I started paying tuition payments for my D’s college on June first. We had to have everything figured out back in May. I am sorry your friend has to scramble now and change her plans.
Parent Plus loans are only for Parents. Are her parents willing to borrow this money and pay it back?</p>

6

<p>

Well the school did not anywhere near meet need this year. That will not change because need is higher.</p>

<p>Going into huge debt to do one year at a school when you know you will have to transfer is pretty foolish. What is the point? The degree comes from the school you finish at, not the one you start at.</p>

7

<p>Her parents didn’t help her much with the FA stuff, her sister filled out the FAFSA (she’s good at that). I don’t think her brother or sister went to a private college (her sister went to a career college I think), so her parents let her apply anywhere she wanted but never thought about the cost of it. They don’t really think abut finances too much, so unfortunately my friend is in this predicament. </p>

<p>My friend tends to procrastinate so she only started looking at her bills a week ago. Simmons kind of sent things a little late as well, so she couldn’t get everything together. I think her fiscally viable option was SF State, but it’s probably too late for that now. I don’t even know if the local community colleges even have room left in their classes because I live in the densely populated Bay Area, in CA, so even that might not work out.</p>

<p>I think her parents will help her with Parent PLUS loans because they know that Simmons is the perfect place for her and want the best college for her, so they might be willing to do that. I just don’t know where to direct her to get those loans and how long they’ll take because her tuition is due in less than a week! </p>

<p>I’m not sure if my friend is willing to listen and go to community college or another more affordable college for the first year. She wants to go to Simmons and transfer to Barnard, but that does make sense that she should go to a cheaper school first since it’s just gen. ed. for the first two years.</p>

8

<p>“She wants to go to Simmons and transfer to Barnard, but that does make sense that she should go to a cheaper school first since it’s just gen. ed. for the first two years.”</p>

<p>You are absolutely correct. She should go to her own local CC for the first two years, pull down the best grades possible, and then apply to transfer to Barnard. It makes no sense whatsoever for her and her family to borrow more than the Stafford loans just so that she can attend Simmons for one year.</p>

9

<p>I broke the news to her and read to her some of the responses, and she’s having a really hard time grappling with the reality of it all. </p>

<p>I don’t know how to comfort her because she’s experiencing grief over her dying dream of attending a great women’s college. She’s visited, and even written to her roommate, so she finds it embarrassing after telling everyone she’s going to Simmons that she can’t afford to attend her dream school. I feel really bad because I don’t know what to say to her now. She will either take a gap year and go to community college or just go to community college, but she still holds some of the same snobbery I used to have about not wanting to attend cc (but now I understand it’s actually a great option). She’s still considering parent PLUS loans but hates the idea of having to leave after a year. I’ll keep pushing the gap year and cc. </p>

<p>Thank you for all the informative advice. I think she needs to clear her head and sit and talk with her parents about what she’s going to do next. They’re not the most financially responsible people so it’s kind of a shame that she didn’t talk to them about how much they could afford before she stared applying.</p>

10

<p>I’m so happy to hear she is thinking about it. Even though she will feel some greif about it now, it is far better to face the reality before she saddles herself with a whole bunch of loans. Believe me, in 4 years she will be very thankful not to have to face the prospect of 10 years of payments of over $1000 a month in student loans.</p>

<p>yes, it is a shame she and her parents did not talk all this out earlier. But a lot of people don’t really understand the ins and outs of college and finances when they start on the journey.</p>

11

<p>Look, Simmons is a nice school, but it isn’t the greatest in terms of women’s colleges, and definitely not worth getting into huge debt over. One of the schools my D was considering was Emmanuel, right across the street from Simmons. It isn’t even that great of a school either, and my D had stats much better than their mid 50% for SAT’s etc, and they offered her the worst financial aid package of any school she was accepted to. I think for a lot of students at Emmanuel, Simmons, etc, it’s more the chance to be in Boston than the actual school that attracts the students. Encourage your friend to do cc and shoot for Barnard, if she is a great student. It’ll be much more worth the money in the long run!</p>

12

<p>Simmons does NOT guarantee to meet the full need of all of their accepted students. Your friend’s financial aid award shows that she got a decent amount of grant aid (for Simmons) but she still must come up with the balance of the cost of attending or she simply cannot go there.</p>

<p>To any others reading this thread…you should have a frank discussion with your family regarding how you will fund the college costs not covered by financial aid BEFORE you send in your deposit. As said in the past here…there is no “tuition” fairy who will come to your rescue. If you cannot pay the balance of the costs of attending the school…you should NOT send in a deposit to do so…you lose that deposit money in most cases.</p>