Final cost of college for me

Paying for College
1

<p>We post alot about how we plan to pay for college, but almost never about how we DID pay for college. I thought I'd make a quick post here to let everyone know how much college costed me, since I just graduated and tallied up the total costs incurred by myself. This might give students a good idea about how much they will be spending (at a public uni, that is).</p>

<p>School: 3 years at a public Uni, comparably low tuition of about 10k/year. Attended 2 years of CC at negligible tuition.
Student: Pretty so-so. Was in a program that let me get some scholarhips I might not otherwise have gotten
Spending: Much higher when I worked than when I didn't. Strangely, it seems I could have knocked off the whole work thing and made it through on loans for much cheaper due to the reduced spending when I wasn't working.</p>

<p>Income used:
Work 33,103
Scholarships 16,886
Federal aid: Zero
Loans: 40,502
Parents: ~6,000 (better keep that 401k fed you cheapskates :p. Expected family contribution of 64k!!!!)
Total: About 90k</p>

<p>This is about 20% higher than the 'projected' expenses for my alma mater. Bear in mind, I had alot of automotive expenses that certainly didn't help.</p>

<p>I think a smart student could make it through school on about 50k or so. One thing I noticed is that you can really cut costs by lowering stress. Working seems to increase stress level and would drive me to spend money on stuff I didn't need. Also, hanging out with rich kids seems to make you spend more as well.</p>

<p>How much did you spend on yours or your child's education? Was tuition comparable?</p>

2

<p>Thanks for the info.!</p>

<p>Two things that you learned that you can put to good use in the future are:</p>

<p>“Working seems to increase stress level and would drive me to spend money on stuff I didn’t need.”</p>

<p>and</p>

<p>“Hanging out with rich kids seems to make you spend more”</p>

<p>If you can take control of your emotions so that they don’t cause you to spend money, you will be far ahead of almost everyone else in the class of 2010! One of the fastest ways out of the debt you have shouldered is to look at every single expense and ask yourself, “Is this a need, or is this a want?”</p>

<p>Wishing you all the best.</p>

3

<p>Spending: Much higher when I worked than when I didn’t. Strangely, it seems I could have knocked off the whole work thing and made it through on loans for much cheaper due to the reduced spending when I wasn’t working.</p>

<p>This is not likely true. If you hadn’t worked, you would have had more time on your hands to socialize. That would likely have caused MORE spending. </p>

<p>It sounds like you had a lot of expensive car issues. Those would have occurred if you had been working or not.</p>

<p>You borrowed a LOT considering you went to a CC for two years.</p>

4

<p>I think you may be right about the work thing, but I’m not entirely sure.</p>

<p>Yes, it does ‘feel’ a bit high. However, after tuition (35k uni, 5k CC) I’m left with 50k spread over 5 years.</p>

<p>Therefore, I was living on 10k yearly for the five years, which isn’t so bad now that I think about it.</p>

<p>Those scholarships really were a godsend. I couldn’t have made it without.</p>

<p>My main concern is for students like myself who have no financial aid, and little parental assistance. I don’t know how they could pull it off.</p>

5

<p>Were you a commuter student? Did you live at home or in an apartment? It seems like alot of debt to me…why were your expenses so much higher than the COA every year?</p>

6

<p>The COA is 22k/year. I saved about 18k in tuition for those two years at the comm college. 3 years were spent at the uni.</p>

<p>That equates to 110k-18k = 92k COA.</p>

<p>Actually I pretty much hit it spot on.</p>

<p>Bear in mind, I received only 6k from my parents. I mean total. My rent was self-paid, my salvaged ford escort that I bought from a junkyard cost me an extra 5k in repairs, so that didn’t help - but it was a cheap car.</p>

<p>I DID beat the COA though.</p>

<p>It’s strange that I have alot more debt - yet I was somewhat frugal, worked, and drove a crummy car. I never went on spring break or anything - opting to work through vacation instead. It might be the difference that occurs from receiving almost no parent help when compared to normal students. It would be interesting to see the numbers for other students.</p>

<p>I was always confused by kids who did not work, but claimed to never take out student loans. Where does all that cheddar come from? Parents? Federal aid? Some of these folks were ‘paying as they go’ out of state tuition which has a COA of 39k at my school.</p>

7

<p>I think for a student who is in the situation of high EFC-- so no federal aid eligibility, but parents unwilling to contribute – the best options really are:</p>

<ol>
<li> If possible, forget the rankings and go for merit money wherever you can find it.
or</li>
<li>Military, via ROTC
or</li>
<li> Delay college and work a few years first to earn some money. Under #3, a good plan might be to join Americorps for the work experience & tuition benefit, then spend 2 years working and living as frugally as possible – and then aim for a public u. and continue with a part time job.</li>
</ol>

<p>My suggestion would be different for a kid who qualifies for need-based aid. When you are under age 23 and qualify for aid, income from work can be a problem, because it reduces federal aid eligibility.</p>

<p>By the way, I think the US government has it set it up this way because they WANT to create an incentive for young people to join the military.</p>

8

<p>^ I have to disagree with Calmom’s last conclusion. The US gov’t doesn’t set the cost for colleges. There ARE affordable ways to get degrees (the OP followed one approach). There are limits to federal grants because this country already has difficulty funding the programs required by law. There are limits to loans because this country already has too many people with too much school debt. There are limits on ROTC scholarships, too.</p>

9

<p>Taking an extra year to get the degree also added to debt.</p>

10

<p>Yes, taking an extra year did cost me more money. Probably 20% more debt in the end.</p>

<p>I just want other people to understand the cost of college. Many people look at the COA for more schools, which can vary from 15k-30k, then plan on spending no more than 50k.</p>

<p>It is very prohibitive for kids who cannot get federal or parent aid. If you’re getting a business or liberal arts degree, you might want to take the military option. However, if you’re going into something more lucrative, it might be better to take the debt.</p>

<p>For me, it works out ; the debt will likely be almost paid off in a year if I budget 20k for expenses and 10k for rent over the next year. I’ve been blessed with very good luck in the salary department, like other engineers, but not all students can count on a high salary right out of school - and need to consider that if they can’t afford college.</p>

11

<p>Yes, taking an extra year did cost me more money. Probably 20% more debt in the end.</p>

<p>If your debt was from your 3 university years, then doing that extra year cost you more a lot more than 20% more in debt.</p>

<p>For instance, if your $40k in debt was divided amongst 3 years (about $13k/yr). If you had graduated after your 2nd year at the univ, you would have borrowed only $26k. So, you would have borrowed a lot less ($13k less) if you had not taken that extra year.</p>

12

<p>No the debt was in total. I was actually dual-enrolled in the university during my CC years, but in reality was only taking the CC classes to save tuition.</p>

<p>I used the debt mostly to pay for living expenses. I covered college tuition with scholarships and work. I guess money is the same from whatever source, however.</p>

<p>EDIT: Actually, the CC does not make you eligible for loans if you aren’t dual-enrolled. So I now I REALLY wonder how the next kid in my situation is going to make it.</p>

13

<p>

The US Government set up a system that requires that financial aid eligibility be determined by the parents income and assets until age 23, unless the individual is married or a veteran. This really does stand in the way of young people from middle class backgrounds getting an education if their parents can’t and won’t pay. If you are 20 and your parents make, say $75K per year, but aren’t willing to pay for your college… then you aren’t going to qualify for Pell grants or other support.</p>

<p>There are many young people, particularly in the 20-23 age group, who do not live with their parents, have been employed and self-supporting, but do not qualify for any federal aid - no Pell grants, no subsidized loans – because of the requirement that their parents income be factored in, and disproportionate counting of their own income and savings.</p>

<p>It’s very unfortunate that TG has his current level of debt. The OP’s approach was NOT “affordable” in my view if he had to take out $40K in loans – that is a HUGE debt for him to shoulder. Apparently he has been fortunate enough to get a job with a generous salary – but he could be struggling if he were not in that situation.</p>

14

<p>22k x 4=88k, not 92k, so more than what COA would be for four years at the state U.</p>

<p>Depending on how your transfer credits worked, going to CC might have slowed you down or maybe working did… unless it changes if you take out the car expenses. </p>

<p>As for me,</p>

<p>Base cost for all four years combined: ~$108k (OOS public, high estimate, includes sorority dues and some summer courses, books)
Cost after scholarships: ~$36k
Money I paid to COA from campus job: ~$6k
Money paid from college fund (bequethment only to be used for post-secondary school, so not really liquifiable): ~$4k
Parent contribution (thank you, parents!): ~$26k</p>

<p>Total costs to family: ~$36k
Total costs to parents: ~$26k</p>

<p>Additionally, grad school app costs:
App, transcript, and test fees: ~$2.5k (I paid these)
Interview expenses: ~$6k (parents paid these–again thanks! :slight_smile: )</p>

<p>Total cost, including grad school apps ~$44.5k
Total cost to parents, including grad school apps: ~$36k</p>

<p>Bottom line: </p>

<p>Not counting grad school costs, my undergrad education cost my family and I around $37k. It cost my parents around $27k (the college fund was a bequethment specifically to be used only for my educational expenses, so it wasn’t really liquifiable).</p>

<p>Factoring in grad school apps, my undergrad education cost my family and I around $45.5k. It cost my parents around $32k. I’ll come out with roughly $5k in extra earnings as well.</p>

<p>So, not factoring in grad school app costs, which most people don’t, my parents paid roughly what a semester at a private U would cost (about what two years at an in-state school would cost). Even factoring in grad school costs, my family is a whole paid just under what 1 year of a private U would cost. Not too bad, and debt-free, too!</p>