<p>Hey guys,
So I am really confused about how student loans work. Let's say I get a $10,000 grant to a school that costs $50,000 and my family is going to pay $10,000 a year. So that means I have a remaining cost of $30,000. Can I get $30,000 in student loans? Is there a maximum amount for student loans I should know about?
I guess what I am trying to ask is if I do not get enough financial aid from the university, then does that mean I will not be able to attend no matter what I do?</p>
<p>You cannot get $30,000 per year in student loans. For a U.S. citizen, who has filed the FAFSA, the max loan is generally $5500 for freshman year.</p>
<p>So does that mean there is no way I will be able to attend the school? Like if the max loan is $5500, why do people talk about going into >$100k debt. Like how do they get the money to pay? </p>
<p>Freshman $5500
Soph $6500
Junior $7500
Senior $7500</p>
<p>These are the max amounts you can take out in federal student loans. If your parents are turned down for Parent Plus loan, you can take a bit more.</p>
<p>Students with co-signers can get private loans.</p>
<p>So are private loans used to make up the difference between the COA and the financial aid(including federal and state loans) offered?
Like if I wanted I could get $30,000 in private loans if I had a cosigner right?</p>
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You would want to exhaust federal loans first before applying for private student loans. See <a href=“https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/federal-vs-private[quote]Federal”>https://studentaid.ed.gov/types/loans/federal-vs-private
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<p>It is stupid to borrow $30,000 per year in student loans</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I’m not saying I would borrow $30k a yr. I just wanted to know if I could if I felt like it was worth it it.</p>
<p>Well, it is NEVER worth it, and likely an 18 year old would have no idea how to truly make such an assessment.</p>
<p>Do you have any idea how hard it would be to pay back that much debt? Do you know what the monthly payments would be?</p>
<p>Do you have a (stupid) cosigner who could qualify EACH year for that debt (noting that each year that person’s FICO score takes a serious hit). </p>
<p>Do you realize that the cosigner is on the hook if you can’t pay, you become disabled or you die? </p>
<p>What school is this? What is your major?</p>
<p>What is your intended career and how much do you think you’d be earning upon graduation?</p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I won’t be making that assessment. My parents will and you’re right, there is no way I would take out a $30k loan every year. I just wanted to know if I could. This is just a hypothetical situation. Okay, instead of $30k a year, what if the difference between my COA and financial aid(including federal+state loans) was $5,000. I could get that $5000 by taking out a private loan right?</p>
<p>I’m definitely against student loans (and in this case the student needs to find a cheaper school) but a FICO score isn’t considered for PLUS loans, and just having a loan in one year doesn’t necessarily hurt a FICO score for private loans… Probably would lower it a tick or two because of the amount of debt, but it’s not automatically a prohibition on loans in future years.</p>
<p>Not smart to borrow that much though.</p>
<p>@twoinanddone What do you consider a maximum amount to borrow for loans? </p>
<p>Oh gag! You’re PRE-MED!!! and you’re thinking about taking out loans for undergrad??? and additional loans??? </p>
<p>do you realize that you’re going to have very large loans for med school? You do NOT want both undergrad and med school debt. </p>
<p>What the heck?? It looks like these are OOS publics (like UMich and UPitt). Neither of these schools are worth it as OOS premeds paying full or near-full cost. </p>
<p>what is your home state? </p>
<p>what other schools did you apply to? </p>
<p>It looks like you want to go to UMich as an OOS premed. WHY?? What good would that do you to pay $50k+ for an OOS public as a premed student?</p>
<p>That is a total waste of money…totally unnecessary. </p>
<p>If UMich gave you lots of aid it would be one thing, but if you’re having to borrow more than federal Direct loans to go there, that’s crazy.</p>
<p>What does the UMich NPC indicate? </p>
<p>@mom2collegekids I’m from NJ but tbh I really want to go away. And I’m undecided pre-med. I’m also really interested in business and economics you know so I don’t want to choose a school for pre-med solely. But you-re def right about not going to a school that is too expensive. Pitt has given me a really good scholarships to the point where my parents said they’re gonna pay for the remaining cost so as of right now, that is my top choice. I am still waiting on UMich’s financial aid offer(fingers crossed for a really good one haha). But I feel like you’ve misunderstood why I started this thread. The chance of me taking out private loans is like .00000000001% lol. I just started this thread so I could figure out if that is an option I had ya know. Just educating myself haha.</p>
<p>^For Pitt my parents would pay the remaining $5,000, so that’s why its my top choice rn.</p>
<p>UMich is my dream school haha so I would LOVE to go there but I do know that they have to give me enough money for it to be financially feasible first.</p>
<p>.>>>
Pitt has given me a really good scholarships to the point where my parents said they’re gonna pay for the remaining cost so as of right now, that is my top choice</p>
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<p>Very good! Great aid plus you’ll get to go away!</p>
<p>Which merit award did UPitt give you? How much per year?</p>
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<p>good</p>
<p>Did you get into Ross? If not, what’s the big deal? </p>
<p>UPitt is very good for business and premed. </p>
<p>@djays1997 </p>
<p>What award did UPitt give you? did they give you completely free tuition (including OOS)? If so, that is rare for someone with your GPA. Usually, UPitt requires a student be in the top 2% of class to get full tuition. </p>