<p>I just had a question about the parent contribution policy of what seems to be every decent college out there.
My parents aren't exactly keen on my top choice of college (Brown) because of the cost, so I wanted to know if there ws anyway that private loans or something that i did myself, not them, could cover the parent contribution.
Any Ideas?</p>
<p>In reality the college does not care where the parent contribution is coming from as long as they get it. Having said that need based financial aid is going to be largely based on your parents income and assets (whether they are willing to contribute or not) and there is no way around that. If there is no 'need' and your parents are not willing to contribute you are unlikely to find private lenders that would lend you such large amounts without a cosigner. Which, however disappointing that may be to you now, is really a good thing because it is a really bad idea to saddle yourself with that much debt at this point in your life.</p>
<p>So is it possible to take out a private loan for the parental contribution,
then cover it with merit aid?
(just looking for loopholes, here)</p>
<p>Brown doesn't give merit aid, so you won't be able to do that at Brown. Yes, you can take out loans for almost anything these days...but you have to think about the amount of debt you will have after four years of college. It is unlikely that YOU (the student) will be able to get a loan for this without a cosigner.</p>
<p>I know about Brown merit-aid (and I was cursing under my breath for 20 minutes after I found out)
I was thinking more with outside aid.
Oh, who cosigns? How does that work?</p>
<p>You might get a great FA package from Brown; it's worth the application fee if you think you have a chance. But be very careful about taking on debt; there are way too many college graduates who graduate with $40,000 plus in college loans and can't think about graduate school, buying a car, buying a house, starting a family....if your parents are willing to cover the whole cost of another university, that might be the way to go!</p>
<p>Someone with a good credit history has to cosign...most people would only do this for an extremely close relative!!</p>
<p>Trust me, I'm definately qualifying for FA at Brown
The problem is, even that isn't likely to be enough.
My parents are in the 60-80k per year range, and college over 5,000 is pretty much out of the question with our savings
(and if my parents knew I posted that online, they would not be happy)</p>
<p>Whoever cosigns is responsible for the debt if you do not pay it. So mostly that would be someone very very close - in most cases I would think it would be parents. If your parents are not willing to pay for the school I would be surprised if they would cosign the loan. </p>
<p>We would be willing to cosign some loans for my D if she goes to med school (her current plan). But we would not cosign for more than we would feel able to pay should the need arise. For her bachelors we told her that if she went to a school we could not afford she had to find the difference. She came to the conclusion that debt for undergrad was a bad idea so is going to the State U on an almost full ride (a large chunk of merit plus some financial aid). We will use the money she has saved us to help with med school so she will not have too much debt.</p>
<p>Please think seriously about the impact taking on large amounts of debt will have on your future. You would be so much better off finding a school where you are in the top few percentiles and getting some good merit money.</p>
<p>my recommendation is that you sit down with your parents and run your number through a financial aid calculator. You can find one on the college board website. Since Brown uses the CSS profile, do a calculation using the inistitutional methodology .</p>
<p>then think of ways that you can help 'ease" the burden on your parents, if you really want to attend brown. This may include getting a part time job (if you don't have one) saving and possibly working a full time summer job.</p>
<p>If your parents do make 60k (or 80k); you will have substantial financial need. Many elite schools provide full(almost) need based scholarship to anyone from a family earning less than 60k. You will still get substantial amount of aid due to your income (as long as your parents don't own a million dollar home or couple hundred thousands in bond or sticks)</p>
<p>If your parents are 60-80K, you'll probably get aid at any school, and it is possible that Brown will be cheaper than a state school when you compare FA packages.</p>
<p>No, schools do not encourage self sufficiency when it comes to tuition payments. They want the surest source of income and 18 year olds tend not to be as reliable or as able to cough up the money. If they can, they'll take it, but lenders are not as willing to take a student's word that they can repay large amounts of money. The chances that you will be making as much money per year as you need to pay to go to a school like Brown is very small. Particularly after taxes. </p>
<p>The whole college payment system, in my opinion, is a scam of sorts. You're 18, even 21, an adult under most every situation except for college bills. You cannot be considered independent for financial aid purposes unless you fit a rather narrow range of circumstance until you are about 24 years old. How they get away with that arbitrary age, I do not know. If your parents refuse to pay when they can, then your options are limited you will have a more difficult time coming up with the expense money. If your parents refuse to fill out the forms, you are equally in trouble.</p>
<p>"If your parents do make 60k (or 80k); you will have substantial financial need. Many elite schools provide full(almost) need based scholarship to anyone from a family earning less than 60k. You will still get substantial amount of aid due to your income (as long as your parents don't own a million dollar home or couple hundred thousands in bond or sticks)"</p>
<p>Relatively FEW elite schools guarantee full grant FA for families earning less than 60k and Brown is not one of them. That said, Brown does provide 100% of need, but the amount in grants, loans and work study is not that easy to predict (except that they exempt WS freshman year).</p>