So, my parents unfortunately have heaped a bunch of bad credit on their history and I’m stuck with it as I have no relatives who could also sign for me. Don’t most loans ask for a cosigner? I’m young and don’t even have a credit card (I actually hate the idea of credit and interest and all that as it’s just a way for money to flow to the top but never to the bottom).
I got $20,800 off Northeastern, but then there’s the rest…and it looks very scary to me. At least I can take off housing, but otherwise…
What are my chances of financing this with loans?
Federal direct loans (up to $5,500 frosh year, increasing slightly in later years) do not require a co-signer.
However, loans beyond that do require a co-signer, but taking such loans is generally not a good idea even if you have a qualified and willing co-signer. If your parents have bad credit, it is likely that you will not even be able to get such loans.
Is it correct that you committed to NEU, but you cannot really afford it?
What about UMass-Boston? Sounds like NEU isn’t going to work. $60K cost of attendance still leaves $40K to pay, and they are supposed to meet need.
@ucbalumnus Yes, and I will be transferring as a junior, so at least I only have two years. Why are those loans not recommended? Is the interest very high?
@“Erin’s Dad” I went to UMASS Boston my first semester but they do not have the program I am looking for, unfortunately. Also, I find the co-op a brilliant idea so I am trying to finance this somehow.
As a Junior you can borrow 7500. If your parents apply for a parent plus loan and are denied then you can borrow 4K more. After that you would need a private loan.
Why are loans bad. Simple, they need to be repaid. Since they are unsecured loans, the interest rates are high.
For your plan, you need 80K+ of loans not including the loans from the first two years. Most posters find that level of debt for undergraduate degree to be excessive.
@noname87 Wait, why so much? I already have $6,500 in loans offered to me in my package (Stafford unsub & sub, Perkins), and then work study of $2,000. So it amounts to $29,800 already taken care of, shall we say.
(Grant of $20,800)
The costs I have to pay are, according to my letter, $52,300 (I’m assuming they left out room and board?)
That leaves me with $22,500, which doubled is $45,000. I am a Sophomore so currently I only need two more years, I think.
Unless my math is way off?
What do you want to study that requires transferring? And why are you making a distinction between the 6,500 in loans and the 45,000 in loans? ALL the money needs to be paid back… All of it.
No one is going to lend you that extra money w/o a qualified co-signer.
I hope that you have NOT cut ties with your current school.
Since your parents will got turned down for Plus, your 6500 loan will become a 10,500 loan…but you still have the rest.
How much can your parents pay each year? $5k? more? zero??
Do not follow in your parents’ path of ending up with credit problems. Sadly, we see this a lot.
How much did you borrow for frosh and soph years?
Are you planning on commuting to NEU???
What is your desired major and career goal that can’t be had at your current school???
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$20,800 off Northeastern, but then there’s the rest…and it looks very scary to me. At least I can take off housing, but otherwise.
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how are you taking care of room and board? Are you commuting? If so, what about THOSE costs (car, gas, some food, etc)
<<< [at Northeastern} Accepted as an International Affairs major! So excited!! <<<
Ok…sorry but that major does NOT justify that sort of debt.
What does UMass-Boston have that is somewhat equivalent?
What is your career goal?
what major do you currently have at UMassB
Students often think that they have to have some “exact major’s name” in order to pursue some particular career. Not true. Very likely UMass-B has something that will adequately work.
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am also paying myself since my dad hasn't had an actual stable job in the last decade or so and my mom works as a cashier
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Ok…it looks like your parents can’t contribute.
@mom2collegekids I did not cut ties, no worries, I just left UMB for a local CC and will have my AA soon. At UMB I studied Communication. I will be commuting, so $275 a month for a monthly pass
@blossom I’m sorry, where are you getting 45,000 from? Maybe I’m just not seeing it. I do not have to pay back grant and aid money
? did you get into UMass-Boston? If so, what is the net cost there?
How will the $275 a month get paid for the pass? That’s nearly $3000 per year!
@mom2collegekids I know, the MBTA is ruthlessly expensive here. I would pay the same for UMB except it takes 2 hours to get there…killed me that first semester. NEU would be 1 hour.
I can send in a readmission form to UMB just before fall semester. I believe my monthly payments back at UMB were around $550-600 a month, but that was with aid I wouldn’t get as a transfer.
UMB honestly doesn’t care about transfers, that pretty much what FA implied when I called.
OP- can you post ALL the numbers, not just cherry picking? I have read your post carefully and still don’t understand your financial picture.
please let us know your total out of pocket costs- including ALL loans which you are taking.
So you have (or will soon have) a certificate in communications? or an associate degree? And you want a BA in International Affairs- what do you hope to do?
@blossom I wouldn’t say cherry picking, I just didn’t want to paste my entire letter. Those numbers I gave you are directly from NEU’s acceptance letter to me.
Alrighty well here goes
This is straight from my acceptance letter:
Estimated Cost of Attendance $ 52,300 /yr
Tuition and fees $47,250
Housing and meals $2,250
Books and Supplies $1,000
Transportation $900
Other Educational Costs $900
I will be commuting so that shifts a few things. Housing and meals will go down (is that price their dorm cost?? I’m confused). I will have to shell out $275 per month for commuting, but that includes limitless subway, which is nice I guess.
Total Grants and Scholarships $20,800 /yr
Northeastern Grants and Scholarships $20,800
Federal Work-Study $2,000 /yr (that looks low but ok)
Loans:
Federal Direct Subsidized Loan $3,500 /yr
Federal Direct Unsubsidized Loan $2,000 /yr
So there ya go, the entire situation. This is the one that won’t work whatsoever:
Family Contribution $24,914 /yr ( lol you can subtract $24,914 from that)
As you can see these numbers are also in my posts above.
A community college only offers two years, which means I’ll have an Associates Degree. This is the only degree offered by CCs, to my knowledge. If I go to UMB, I’d need two more years to get a BA in Communication, while NEU also offers co-ops so it would perhaps take longer, but that depends on the situation. Also, even though I’d be a student, I wouldn’t have to pay tuition while I take time off for co-op programs, which means I could work and save up money during that time without worrying about loan deferment.
I wrote most of this above as well (at least the relevant parts, now I also elaborated).
As most people my age, I don’t exactly know what I even want to do, but I know the field I’m interested in, which is International Relations and Affairs. I’m also very interested in co-op; students from NEU have high chances of getting employed by the companies/people that hired them through their co-op program. It’s experience, connections, and payment.
The $2,250 under “housing and meals” is probably their estimate of the cost of food and utilities at home.
It does look like their $900 cost of transportation is lower than the cost of your subway passes/tickets over the academic year.
In any case, it looks like the $24,914 per year is left over after accounting for federal direct loans and work study. Even if you work more to reduce that cost by a few thousand, that is an unrealistic amount to have to cover if your parents can contribute nothing other than the food and utilities for you at home. Even if you could borrow that amount for two years, the $50,000 or so of private loan debt in addition to $11,000 of federal loan debt is quite high. $61,000 of debt at graduation can severely restrict your options and force you to chase short term money even if some other choice would be better for long term career development.
@ucbalumnus That is very true. Thanks for the feedback! If I tried to get a loan for all of it would be about $50,000. However, I would be able to pay some of that in monthly installments. Without additional loans, it would currently cost $2,264 ( I believe there are 11 installments, so this is simply $24,914 divided by 11).
I really can not seem to find their dorm prices but that’s probably because I’m dumb with google sometimes =/
Semesters are 3 months, correct? So yearly I’d spend $1,650 on commuting
275 x 3