<p>In picking the schools to apply for, we checked the financial aid calculators to make sure we could afford them. Son picked the schools, but we ran the numbers before signing off on applying anywhere. We ran the numbers last year. In the fall, I noticed the financial aid calculators had not been updated. They even had statements that said warning, this is subject to change with the next school year.</p>
<p>When they updated the calculators, sometime in the fall, it showed that excessive student loans were expected. Now we have the packages and literally, both schools are giving $18,000 in student loans. Son did earn an outside scholarship which lowers that. And we have savings to cover a portion of that too. So, we CAN make it work. Then he can just take out the guaranteed loan portion. We will not be taking out the $12,500 PLUS loan. We have saved up the EFC and said we would pay the EFC and we are not willing to budge on that when there are other options.</p>
<p>I am just starting to rethink that maybe we should not make it work. Maybe we should scrap the entire thing and tell him to change gears and go for state university. He is too late to apply this year really, but he can do community college the first year. I just know that we, the parents, are paying off our own student loans now, 20+ years later, and I don't want him in that situation. We were never irresponsible about finances. But it is not as easy to make those payments when you are fresh out of college, trying to get a job and getting settled in a new life. If the financial aid calculators said originally that there were going to be that much in student loans, then he never would have applied there. In addition to the parent loans were unguaranteed loans (even though the EFC had not been met). Both schools say that they are given limited funds. One of the schools tells us that if they get more funds in areas before fall, son can possibly get them.</p>
<p>What do you think would be the best course of action here?</p>
<p>My vote is with your Plan B (CC and then state school). I don’t believe in excessive borrowing when you have good alternatives. It sounds like you also feel that way. Go with your gut.</p>
<p>Our 1st child graduated with Engineering degree, she only took out federal loans year 3 and 4, so came out with fairly low debt. At the time she went and we said we would give her the cost of our instate public and the difference would be met with outside scholarships. Well little did we know the schools idea of tuition increases from year one till senior year amounted to almost 13K. So wiped out scholarship benefit, left her having to take out 15K in loans. This school tuition has increased from 18K to (projected this coming fall) 30K since 2007-2008 the year she applied. </p>
<p>Ten months later she is still looking for her first job, we are paying the loan, and regret not saying no in the first place.
Her younger sister has decided she will NOT make the same mistake, is joyfully going to our instate public and we are breathing a sigh of relief we can handle her tuition without stressing about paying for it.</p>
<p>I’d be concerned that his aid will be much worse as a transfer student. He may not get any merit or grants at all as a transfer student. You might end up with larger net gaps. </p>
<p>Maybe take a gap year and apply to schools where aid or merit will be better? </p>
<p>(Did any of these schools include mentions of merit awards without asking for stats? I really dislike those schools. 
)</p>
<p>Have you asked the schools why the NPC results are so different from actual awards?</p>
<p>Well little did we know the schools idea of tuition increases from year one till senior year amounted to almost 13K. So wiped out scholarship benefit, left her having to take out 15K in loans. This school tuition has increased from 18K to (projected this coming fall)</p>
<p>Yes this happens when scholarships are for a set amount…like $10k per year, rather than an amount that is increased when tuition increases. Another problem is that decisions are made when the tuition that is known is the HS senior year’s amount. By the time the student is a frosh, the first increase has likely gone into affect. So four increases (not just 3) by the time the student is a senior in college.</p>
<p>*Now we have the packages and literally, both schools are giving $18,000 in student loans. Son did earn an outside scholarship which lowers that. *</p>
<p>Is that a one time outside merit or multi-year?</p>
<p>It is frustrating when those NPCs are off. I keep warning people that they are most accurate for those schools that guarantee to meet 100% of need and do not have merit awards built into them. A lot of schools that give out a lot of merit money and that do not meet everyone’s needs will use averages and there is no telling how accurately an average will be for any individual. Also, these NPCs are a relatively new thing, and one just can’t be sure that they are all accurate. </p>
<p>Your son is eligible to take out $5500 in Stafford loans freshman year in his own name to put towards any school he chooses, as long as the COA of the school warrents it. Unless he is awarded Perkins loans, state student loans if available in your state, or if the school lends him the money from their funds, he can’t get any more loans in his name alone, unless a parent is turned down by PLUS, which would then entitle him to another $4K freshman year. So the school isn’t giving him anything when it is suggesting you borrow money from PLUS, as it is not a sure thing. That is something you need to think about. You well know how long and painful loan repayment can be, and the interest rates for PLUS are no great deals. </p>
<p>I do suggest talking to those schools and asking about why the NPC results are so different from what your son was awarded, but my guess is that they will say that the calculators are estimates and use averages. </p>
<p>If your state school is affordable to you, and it’s just a matter of it being too late to apply, the CC route might work out. Also see if your son can apply for the spring semester, or if they just might be taking some apps late. Sometimes things do open up. It’s not as though he were rejected and trying again.
What’s nice, if he starts in the spring semester is that if he does not use his Staffords at all in the Fall in Community College, maybe taking a course or two and working as well, he could use the full amount in the spring term. With scholarships and a little part time work, that first year could be very affordable.</p>
<p>I am sorry it turned out like this. You seem to know the risks and ramifications of borrowing, and what you feel comfortable in terms of affording, which is a big plus in making these decisions rationally. Too many parents get too emotionally charged and make decisions about college that are not affordable and hurt the family finances terribly.</p>
<p>I don’t know what state you’re in, but maybe it would still be possible to get into a state school for the fall. I’m in NY, and I believe our state schools are continuing to accept applications at this point, though at certain ones it might be more difficult to get accepted this late. The SUNYs at least don’t have a set application deadline. </p>
<p>You might want to make some calls to either your state’s system headquarters (if it has one) and ask to talk to someone from admissions and/or enrollment management to see what schools may be the best bets or directly to the schools you and S may be interested in.</p>
<p>Yes, Samiamy, even when the economy was at a crawl and very few people were getting any pay increases, the colleges were increasing their costs to students by a nice 3-5%. When you are talking about private schools that cost $40-50K that is not chump change And times 3 , as you have that many more years, makes it a costly proposition. Not to mention the fact that most every school expects a student to pick up more of the costs each year, and that student housing in upper class years can cost more as they tend to be suites and apartments, most markedly at schools in areas where off campus alternatives are pricey as well. </p>
<p>Also, things happen. We set a budget, made plans and our son duly did what he should, and things did not work out the way the budget was set. Teeth can lose fillings, glasses can need to be replaced, a part time job may not be possible, the room lottery results may not be good. And those are the non disasterous things. Change a major and need a summer course to stay on track. Parental issues like job loss or business is slow. It’s not a good idea to make the budget too tight.</p>
<p>In direct answer to your question, I think, yes, depending on NPCs for non full need guarantted to be met schools was a mistake, and not having some schools that were definitely affordable on the list was also one. But given that you seem able to swing with the situation, it’s not a disaster. Good luck and let us know how it works out.</p>
<p>It is too late to apply to the flag ship. He probably would not have gotten in there, so we did not look closely at it. As far as the other state universities, he did not like them and did not want to apply. We warned him that at the private schools, things could end up unaffordable. The outside scholarship is iffy. It was partially need based. Our income was on the border for it. So, we have a meeting to re-certify it in a couple weeks and we will see if he still qualifies. So that is not a guarantee. </p>
<p>Since he said he did not want to apply to the local state U, it was agreed by everyone, back in the applying period of time, that he would attend community college if the privates did not work out.</p>
<p>So basically, the problem is, the privates sort of worked out, but not as well as we had expected. If the outside scholarship does not come through, he will absolutely not be able to attend either private school, so there is no question there. If the outside scholarship does come through, he will still be able to attend the private school, but the student loans are still higher than we had expected. </p>
<p>To be honest, I am a little miffed over something. The Financial Aid calculators were still wrong, even if it changed. Originally, we had been left to believe that he would get a certain amount in grant aid that he never got. Plus, both colleges sent him notice of qualifying for scholarships from their school. In one case, the scholarship actually ended up being less. In the other case, the scholarship came through, but then they took away the grant aid. With the scholarship and grant, need would have been met with a regular, normal sized student loan and us paying our EFC. Now we are looking at huge loans. Regardless, as I said before, we will NOT be taking out parent loans. We said we would pay the EFC, and we are standing by that.</p>
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<p>This is not at all unusual. Many schools will lower the grant aid by the amount of any outside scholarships, as well.</p>
<p>Eightisgreat, if a school does not guarantee to meet 100% of need, say it meets on average 70% of need, that doesn’t mean that it meets 70% of each and every student’s need. Some kids at that school will get 100% of need met, some will get nothing other than federal entitlements. But it averaged out to 70% the year the data was reported, and not even necessarily that for future years. The NPC will use averages. </p>
<p>Do talk to them and see what could be worked out. THat is the problem with so many things when one is not very specific in defining what “works out” is. Things tend to sort of work out, and drawing that line is so difficult. I’ve discussed this in terms of ED when families say they will turn down the acceptance unless the aid makes it affordable without defining what that is exactly in dollar amounts. It tends to be sort of affordable, or affordable under certain circumstances that one may not want to be in.</p>
<p>
RIT will increase their 2013-2014 COA by 3.5%. They claim 3.5% is the smallest increase in 12 years.</p>
<p>My son had his friend over the house–the young man goes to NYU. At 5% and less increase, tuition, fees, room and board for that school will be over $72K, double what I can uncomfortably manage to pay, in 4 years. I never believed it would go this far.</p>
<p>Id suggest a gap year. Both my kids did that & this was before the NPC.
I generally recommend that regardless!
;)</p>
<p>Just to throw this out there but Roger Williams Univ in Bristol RI put a policy in place to freeze tuition at the freshman year rate for the 4 yrs you are in school. would be nice if other school did the same. would make planning alot easier!</p>
<p>[Value</a> | Roger Williams University](<a href=“http://www.rwu.edu/admission-financial-aid/financial-aid/value]Value”>http://www.rwu.edu/admission-financial-aid/financial-aid/value)</p>
<p>If you are still paying off your own student loans I think you should seriously caution your child about taking on student debt! It sounds to me like you are over-extended as it is. Maybe you don’t think about it that way, but if you are repaying old debt, funding college for kids and trying to save for retirement… Yikes! If I’ve learned anything on this forum it’s to keep to a very modest, comfortable starting cost for college, whatever that is for you, because things happen.</p>
<p>What if you qualify for the outside scholarship the first year, but your income increases and you are not eligible in later years? </p>
<p>S was warned. Looks like a decision for CC to me. And don’t look back. You should have no regrets about making a sane financial decision for your family.</p>
<p>The situation with schools costs, increases, NPC’s that are misleading/inaccurate, etc. is shameful. Personally I think we should each cause a row and complain to the financial aid offices about misleading info. Let them know we’re saying ‘no’ to “financial aid” that is nothing but a huge package of loans. We got one of those, and it was rejected in less time than it took to open the link to the offer.</p>
<p>Cpt said she didn’t ever think it would go this far. Me, too! But here we are, and I think the only thing we can do is to refuse to stretch, stay conservative, live within our means even with regard to our children’s educations. So stay strong & keep to your EFC, or less, and leave room for stuff to happen.</p>
<p>The fact of the matter is some schools do not care if you attend or not. They have other people who are willing to go.</p>
<p>You need to do what makes sense for your situation, not someone else’s. I recommend sticking below budget and not over extending yourself because things do happen as other posters have said. </p>
<p>I attended a school for a year because I qualified for some grants because my income was lower than normal so I had the false hope that I would be able to afford it later on. The next year I qualified for nothing and the tuition increased. I never finished my degree and this was over a year ago. I am now finding a new school to transfer to.</p>
<p>Eightisgreat…the community college idea is a good one, but I caution you about assuming he can do that for a year and then transfer. Check the state college policies. Our state flagship gives priority to cc transfers who’ve completed 90 credits and they take very very few cc students who have less than that. </p>
<p>But, some state schools will take new freshman (those with no college credits earned after graduation from high school) mid year. How about a gap quarter/semester?</p>
<p>$18,000 in STUDENT loans?? Is this for ONE year or all four? If it is for one year, what STUDENT loans add up to that amount? The Direct loan limit is $5500 for a freshman. The only other “student loan” I know of is the Perkins and I’m quite sure schools do not give Perkins loans of $12,500 for one year.</p>