Financial aid

@paulster69, If you can pay the net costs without borrowing, that’s great news for your daughter. If you can’t, don’t allow yourself to be swayed by your daughter’s tears. Kids bloom where they’re planted. The distress they feel now at not being able to attend their dream school is nothing to the distress of facing large loan payments as newly minted grads who were allowed to follow the dream. The career after graduation is the dream, not the short 4 years of college.

@austinmshauri: I would agree with you, but she has been wanting to go to this school since she was 10. That is all she talked about. Even her room is purple and gold. I have always taught her if you do good in this world and school, you will be blessed and achieved your dreams. She has gone beyond what we expected from her doing everything from being a church dance leader to volunteering at the local hospital. Because of those things, I cant bare see her cry and wanting to give up. If I have to sacrifice vacations, Christmas gifts, and other things to get her to JMU, I would do that for my daughter.

@paulster69, Do you have other children? Is your retirement secure? If my child wanted to “give up” because the residential college I could comfortably afford wasn’t the school of her dreams I’d have serious concerns about her ability to bounce back from the major disappointments life is going to throw at her.

@austinmshauri: Yes I have another daughter who is working and her co paying her education. My retirement is secured. Don’t get me wrong she has been disappointed a lot. The difference is she knew JMU is going to be tough in getting a merit scholarship. That is why she wanted to take the toughest classes pushing herself to get close to 4.4 GPA hoping for merit scholarship. But I told her a lot of kids have her stats. Not everyone is going to get a scholarship, part of life. Believe me she did say she is willing to go to another school if we cant afford it. So she did accept disappointment and ready to move on, but I refuse to let her dreams die.

No merit scholarship offered for my daughter either…just $5,500 loan and the EFC they gave is about $15,000 more than the EFC given on our FAFSA application. Thanks but no thanks…plenty of other schools offering nice scholarships.

@paulster69 I completely understand your position. If you and your daughter can swing it by maybe splitting the loans after graduation, I would go for it. I’ve spent 30 years in banking so I know the pitfalls of debt, but if you are responsible and don’t take on too much you can do it. $20K in debt is like a car loan. Based on your previous comments, you are smart and have thought this through. Best of luck. Your daughter sounds great and determined.

@lastone03: Thank you for that great advice. It will work out because we have fail that it will. Faith has not fell us yet.