<p>I was in a similar situation. UIUC is not very generous in terms of need based aid, for those who are curious.</p>
<p>BTW, I borrowed 8k/year, and I find the payments manageable. In my head, I borrowed for school, instead of borrowing for a brand new car after graduation like some people do.</p>
<p>There are people who borrow for a car before they get a job? How is that even possible? Who gives loans to unemployed college graduates?</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>I think that person means that many new graduates buy a new car after they get their first “real job.” Some need to buy a car (because they don’t have one already), and some just splurge and buy a better one than they already had.</p>
<p>$8k per year might be fine for someone who isn’t going to med/dental/law school after graduation and won’t need to be buying a car. The problem with borrowing that much ($32k) is that a student can run out of “borrowing power” to pay for med/dental/law school since Stafford puts an overall cap on loans for combined undergrad and professional schools.</p>
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<p>I’m guessing it’s often the Bank of Mom & Dad. At least, that’s what we’re anticipating.</p>
<p>Is one of your parents’ a military veteran that may have served in a wartime period? The University of Illinois has a tuition waiver as follows:</p>
<p>Waivers Awarded by the University of Illinois
Children of Veterans Tuition Waiver
The Children of Veterans Tuition Waiver is a four-year consecutive in-state tuition waiver at the University of Illinois given to natural or legally adopted children of service members who were veterans of World War II, the Korean Conflict, the Vietnam Conflict, the Southwest Asia Conflict, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom.</p>
<p>Waiver Limitations
•One tuition waiver will be given per county, per war.
•A candidate must be a permanent resident of the Illinois county from which he/she applies.
•The tuition waiver covers in-state tuition for undergraduate, graduate, and professional students at the University of Illinois (Urbana, Chicago (including Medical Sciences Center), Springfield, and Global Campus.)
•We must receive copies of your ACT/SAT scores each year you apply, as we do not review past applications. •Please see application for more information.
Important Dates
•Applications will be available on December 1.
•The application deadline is March 1.
•Applicants will be notified by April 1. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, my military service was between Vietnam and the Gulf War, so my children won’t be able to take advantage of this waiver. Good luck trying to find money at UIUC. The staff is all required to take 4 furlough days (unpaid) this semester to try to cope with budget woes and the University has already stated that the minimum tuition increase for next year will be 9%. That being said, at least the school guarantees that tuition for the next four years for the class entering in Fall 2010.</p>
<p>Wow. That’s a very nice waiver. Sorry it did not apply to you RadDad.</p>
<p>The state of Illinois is very good to its veterans. I am eligible under the Illinois Veteran’s Grant program for four years of tuition if I would want to go to school. I suppose that is an option for the OP, do a couple of years service for the country and get four years tuition from the state of Illinois to go along with whatever educational benefits are now provided under the GI bill. Veteran status for their purposes is defined as 180 days continuous active duty, so whatever the minimum active duty enlistment is would qualify.</p>