Currently, I am accepted to Rutgers University. I was offered $0 in financial aid, as my efc was quite high. However, my parents do not have the means to cover anywhere close to my efc. Tuition is estimated at 14k a year, and I can commute. If I take out loans for the 4 years, i will be graduating with close a little over 50k in debt. Does anyone have any advice on how I would go about paying this off. I will be majoring in finance on a pre-law track.
You will not be able to take out $50K in loans by yourself. Your freshman year you can take out $5,500 in Stafford loans. That increases to $6,500 your sophomore year, then $7,500 each your junior and senior years. Total is $27,000.
How much can your parents contribute? Are your parents willing to take out Parent Plus loans? Do you have any more affordable options?
My parents don’t really have any money to contribute to my education. They may be willing to take out Parent Plus loans, but currently, Rutgers is my most affordable option.
If your EFC is quite high…and your parents can’t help at all with even the tuition at Rutgers…it sounds like they already have debt.
Please don’t encourage them to take out more in loans.
You may have to start at a community college. You can pay the tuition and fees for a cc with the federal student loan.
If you work summers you can probably raise ~$3k. That would give you ~$9k going into junior year. That plus the $7500/year federal student will cover the tuition and fees for your junior year. You’ll be ~$5k or so short for your senior year. If your parents can’t save that much between now and then, it’s not a horrible amount to borrow. Your total debt would be ~$32k, and most of it would be federal loans.
Assuming no mistakes were made on the FAFSA that resulted in a higher-than-it-should-have-been EFC (perhaps doublecheck that), this is a straightforward situation. Rutgers will bill you $14K for 2018-19 tuition & fees. You can borrow $5500 of that, which will go straight to Rutgers. That leaves $8500. They will not let you register for classes in the fall unless that money is paid or promised to be paid.
Rutgers will (for a $60 fee) let you register if you promise to pay the $8500 in 8, 10, or 12 installments (https://studentabc.rutgers.edu/tuition-payment-plans). At 10 installments, that would be $850 a month for 10 months starting on June 15, with the last payment due on March 15.
If you work 20 hours a week at $10/hour, you will gross about $800 a month. To make that $850 payment each month, your parents will still need to contribute something (and you will still graduate with debt in your name) but nowhere near as much. Can you count on your parents to fill a small gap each month between your earnings and your bill? Keep in mind you will have other expenses such as books, commuting costs (both to school and to work), incidentals, etc.
You could also spend as much time as possible looking for and applying for outside/private scholarships.
Another option is going to community college (while also still working) for one or two years and then transferring. Good luck.
Are you in the top 10-15% of your junior or senior class? I know many schools don’t release class rank but they will tell you if you are in the top 15%.
If you are, this would make you eligible for NJ Stars. This is a tuition free program for community college. You would still have to pay fees, and you would need to keep up your GPA to continue receiving the free tuition. I would go this route. If you do well, you can qualify for NJ Stars II at Rutgers, which gives you some additional free money to help with the cost.
I know it is hard to stomach this and can feel like a big let down from your dream of going off to college. I’m sorry 
but please think long term - if you don’t acquire this huge debt burden, then going into debt for law school is a possibility, or if you change your mind and do some other career, you will have more flexibility because you aren’t hampered by inescapable monthly debt payments for a decade or more.
You can still have fun, go to parties etc. You will need to work a little harder, but in the long term, you’ll be so glad you did it this way. Best of luck!
NJ Roadie