<p>I am a little confused by your posts. </p>
<p>In another post you stated:</p>
<p>“Now for UT. If I go to UT, I would collectively have 24k of debt upon graduation.”</p>
<p>That sounds like you got some FA form UT and they are nor covering around 6k a year.</p>
<p>For this year and after all the ongoing budget cuts all around Texas, UT is struggling to offer FA at all since Federal and State resources are being cut seriously. So what UT is doing is trying to cover whatever they can with University funds and waiting to see if they are going to get any from state and federal sources. And they are offering loans to cover the portion they can not cover otherwise and you seem to be of the lucky ones to got aid at all.<br>
UT is not promising anything but they said that if funds are available at a later time they would be disbursed to those who need them more, so there is that little hope that you may not need to borrow as much.
I another note I would suggest that you try to cut your expenses in the living costs. They calculate you COA on UT dorms costs, but if you live outside campus you can save some $. My D is living at CollegeHouses (coop) and she saves around 2.5k a year.
So don’t be discouraged, UT is a great school and is definitely worth the 24k of debt, but maybe if things get better, you’ll receive more aid in the future and if you spend wisely, you’ll incur in less debt.<br>
Good luck!</p>