<p>Hi, I'm a freshman at Syracuse University and am looking for some financial aid advice. I applied here originally while not fully expecting to go because of the outrageous cost of tuition, however I was given enough money in grants to reduce my annual payments to around $11,000 (not including room and board fees or other expenses). </p>
<p>However, my problem is that I am mostly paying for my college education by myself. My parents are divorced and my father does not have the money to assist me and my mother has very little. She has estimated that she will be able to pay around $10,000 at most. While that's a decent chunk of change, it will still leave me with a college debt of ~$70,000. My mom kept telling me to go because it's a good school and to not worry about the money, but now I realize (a little too late) that if I were to graduate from here my monthly payments would leave me in a ridiculous hole. </p>
<p>My question is just how important is it that I should remain here? There is a division of Penn State around 15 minutes from my house that I could commute to and save ~$30,000 if I were to transfer. There is also another smaller university even closer to my house that would cost me only ~$5,000 a year. As of right now I am most likely headed towards a degree in finance (although that is not set in stone) to lead towards something in either banking or stocks. I have read that it is a huge advantage and to some degree a necessity to come from a major university with a great business school if I plan to get started in this field, but is it really worth 30k - 50k (depending on which college I transfered to) just to get the Syracuse degree? I don't know what to do my dad seems to insist that it would be a huge mistake to leave such a school but I feel like I will be in so much debt that it isn't worth it. </p>
<p>Any advice is greatly appreciated!!</p>