<p>One school S is considering gave $7500 in loans for Freshmen year . I thought the new federal limit was $3500 in federal subsidized loans ?? The school is quite expensive ( RPI ) and gave him a lot of grants and scholarships as well . Is this a typical loan amount for a school of this caliber ??? There's no Plus or unsubsidized but at the rate that it continues with this loan pattern , what kind of loan debt are we looking at by graduation ????</p>
<p>EDIMom, with $7500 in loans freshman year he will be looking at a debt of $35,000+ by the time he graduates. That is relatively hefty even if he is planning to be an engineering major with job offers probably in the $65,000+ range by the time he graduates in 2012.</p>
<p>Our son is a junior at RPI, loves the college and is doing very good academically but that is still a lot of debt to graduate with. I suggest that you call the finaid office to see if they would be willing to reduce the loans by at least $2500. If your son has other college options which he likes reasonably well, offers his major and includes loans of less than $4000/yr, it is something he should consider.</p>
<p>Good luck.</p>
<p>Our son was offered one package like that, and we did not give that school a second thought once the package arrived. My son had other offers, and no other school asked our son to take on that much debt. If my son had been offered something that we felt comfortable with, then he very well might have attended. He liked that school very much, and visited twice. He even spent a day attending a few classes.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that just because a student has been offered a certain amount in loans, there is no requirement that they take the full awarded amount. Just be sure to contact the school to find out their policy on requesting a lesser amount. For our students, we have made it simple: they just right the actual amount they wish to borrow, up to their maximum amount, on their award letter. We only process what is requested.</p>
<p>easydoesit, the $3500 limit is for the STAFFORD loan -- your son probably had a $4000 Perkins loan tacked on to that. A Perkins loan is also subsidized, and actually has an even lower interest rate than the Stafford - and may be up to $4000 annually. The difference is that the lender is a school, whereas the Stafford lender is usually a bank or other lending agency --so while Stafford loans are available to all qualifying students, the Perkins loans are limited and vary depending on the school's own policies.</p>
<p>I believe that the interest rate on a Perkins is 5%, and on Stafford 6.8%</p>
<p>I agree that it is a very high level of loans for a financial aid package. </p>
<p>I suggest making a spread sheet to compare financial aid offers and after entering numbers do two separate analyses:</p>
<p>1) Your out-of-pocket costs: What you have to pay after subtracting out grants and loans. </p>
<p>2) Your total COA: What you have to pay subtracting grants only -- treating both loans and work study as payments you make rather than financial aid, since in fact you will have to pay back all loans and your kid will have to work to earn the work study money. </p>
<p>In the short run, the college that comes out lowest for #1 will look like the best deal; in the long run the college that comes out lowest for #2 is in fact offering the strongest aid package.</p>
<p>Contact the FA office (I suggest by email, so you have the answer in writing) and ask them if they cap student loan amounts, and, if so, to how much; if not, what is the average student loan amount at graduation for those students who have student loans. Ask them how much he can expect to be offered in loans. Very important!</p>
<p>My D whittled her list to 3, but after she received an award letter from one it quickly fell off the list. They packaged her aid with a Stafford & a Perkins, and the freshman loan totaled somewhere around $5000-5500. It was easy to decide right then & there to drop the school from consideration. It is misleading, IMO, to tell people you meet 100% of need & then meet it with such a high loan amount (very high work study amount, too). If that is how they want to package, and if it works for them, fine. But for me & mine, we will concentrate on the schools that help keep debt to a more manageable amount. I can't complain, though ... it has actually assisted D's decision making process. At this point, anything to reduce stress is a good thing!</p>
<p>I felt that it would just esculate ( the debt ) too by the time he graduates . Our EFC was quite low. They gapped by about $7500 ( which we can do with cash & his summer earnings) but that loan is high. Luckily , he got a no loans deal at a State Honor University as well as much lower Perkin loans at two smaller colleges for Freshmen year . He does have back-ups ; I think we will let this one go ( as much as I was impressed by RPI ) .</p>
<p>I want to thank everyone again for contributing to my question . It's so hard to think clearly when one is so near the deadline and one really liked the college . Luckily , S is happy with other choices .</p>
<p>My D at Hiram ( a Senior next year ) only has $7500 in loans total but that's after three years in college !</p>