<p>I was accepted to Chapman University for Computer Science with a $15k merit scholarship. The Cal Grant gave me $9k, PELL $1.7k, and Chapman $7.5k -- Totaling to $33k in aid I don't have to repay.</p>
<p>However, with room and board, Chapmans total cost is $56k per year which puts me approx $100k in debt by the time I graduate (4 years). I feel like this is an incredibly unreasonable debt to be placed upon somebody just coming out of school attempting to live on their own. However, my entire family insists that the ends justify the means for spending such a large amount of money for a 6 figure income occupation (best case scenario, compsci jobs start at around $60k/yr). The debt includes 4 years of room and board (~$13k/yr) because even if I chose to "save" money by not living on campus, I'd still have to pay rent + gas + food + wear&tear on my car (I live 40miles away) which would probably end up costing around the same amount; I don't think I could save a large amount of money by living off campus especially since my financial aid package would be reduced since room and board is techically included in that (how much it would be reduced, I'm not sure). </p>
<p>Do you feel like this is a reasonable debt to accrue before I'm even able to make any major financial decisions (buying a house/apt, car, family)?</p>
<p>Yes they are. I think it’s safe to make the assumption they would cover about 15%-25% of my debts because I’m the first person in my family to attend college and they’re outrageously supportive of me.</p>
<p>I applied for CSU Pomona and SLO, UCI and UCSD. So far, I’ve only gotten an acceptance letter from Pomona so far. However, I was offered $12k by the Cal Grant for UCI and UCSD. For some reason, Cal Grant didn’t list my CSU award, so I need to call them about that. Over the next 2 weeks, I’ll know all other financial information about those schools. Chapman has been my #1 since the beginning so I’m only focusing on if $100k is so unreasonable that I should throw it away completely and either get a better deal from the other schools or go to a JC for 2 years.</p>
<p>NO! Unequivocally no! It is not a reasonable amount of debt…depending on the interest rates of the various loans, you are looking at $800 at a minimum of payments 6 months after graduation. One quarter of your after tax salary will be lopped off every month to pay off these loans, severely limiting your future options. It’s not worth it…do whatever you can to avoid this situation.</p>
<p>$100k is a lot of debt for an UG degree. Don’t assume you will get a full time job right after graduation. I am sure Chapman is a fine school, but it is no Harvard or Harvey Mudd.</p>
<p>Chapman’s a good school but not a well known CS school. Be grateful for what is offered but if you have a chance at at a UC school like UCD. Then I think you should go for the bigger name school in CS. Also consider internships where you could earn some money along the way. GL.</p>
<p>I’m kind of confused. With Chapman you would be paying $23k/year. That’s about the cost of a state flagship. How much can your family afford to pay per year? How much can you contribute through summer earnings and/or PT work during school? You then have to compare this to the offers you get from other schools so you are looking apples to apples.</p>
<p>I don’t think you’re talking about anywhere near $100k in loans (which you couldn’t get anyway), that’s simply the total COA.</p>
<p>However, my entire family insists that the ends justify the means for spending such a large amount of money for a 6 figure income occupation (best case scenario, compsci jobs start at around $60k/yr)</p>
<p>No!!</p>
<p>Sorry, but your family is very naive about this kind of debt. And their offer to pay back about 15%-35& is not that helpful at all. That still leaves you with over twice the debt you should have. </p>
<p>I think it’s safe to make the assumption they would cover about 15%-25%</p>
<p>You’re just assuming this. And what if they can’t? Besides, that still leaves you with wayyyyyy toooooo much debt.</p>
<p>It sounds like your family is low income. I don’t mean to be harsh, but lowish income people often do not understand what that level of debt can do to a person. They wrongly think that earning $60k per year is SO MUCH money. In reality, it’s not for a Calif single person who will be hit VERY HARD with taxes. Lowish income families don’t pay those kind of taxes so they may wrongly think that you’re going to have nearly $60k each year to spend. </p>
<p>Also, who knows where you’ll get a job. You may think that you can live at home while paying back this debt. But, your job may be too far from home. Rent is high. </p>
<p>That is more than 3 times the amount of debt you should take on. Besides, your family would have to QUALIFY to cosign each year. What if they qualify the first year, but not the second or third year? </p>
<p>What are your other choices? did you apply to CSU Fullerton? Long Beach? UCI? Where???</p>
<p>(besides, Chapman isn’t known for CS. there are many CSUs and UCs that are better for CS than Chapman).</p>
<p>That Blue & Gold plan is incredibly interesting. Considering I’m living with a single mother who makes $60k/yr with no child support, I really hope I qualify for this. Because BOTTOM LINE, if it’s free, I’m going! Especially if it’s UCI or UCSD!</p>
<p>What’s the difference between total loans and COA?</p>
<p>The commute is 20-45mins depending on traffic.</p>
<p>I would love more info on this topic, however I think it would be best to wait for all my school’s responses and financial packages before I start fretting about debt yet. Thank you all for your knowledge. I’ll bump this thread when I get answers from other schools (2 weeks max)</p>
<p>Woody, first off, good for you in trying to educate yourself on debt and it’s real-life implications. It’s easy to get caught up in the whole “dream school at any cost” myth - and many do! Once the numbers get so mindbogglingly huge it all seems like fake money or something. Believe me, it’s REAL.</p>
<p>Just to clear up your thinking (and maybe even more, your family’s), when you say “I feel like this is an incredibly unreasonable debt to be placed upon somebody just coming out of school attempting to live on their own”, just remember, NO they aren’t placing a single cent of debt on you… YOU are. They made a generous offer, your family still can’t afford it from what you said. From that point on it’s all on you! No college forces you to attend their school.</p>
<p>I’m not even sure you’d be able to get that much in loans even with parents co-signing. If they can’t pay any now, their ability to pay back a large student loan as co-signers may not impress the lenders very much. Hopefully, you can get a much better deal at another school, likely a state school or maybe another private for which you are in the top tier of their applicants and they’ll give lots of merit aid because they really want you there!</p>
<p>That way you can compare the offers side-by-side and see which ones really are workable for you and your family. And $100,000 is way too much debt. Just cross that one off your list right now.</p>
<p>Based on your family income the $23k/year left at Chapman is too much. Even a $10k/yr contribution between you and mom leaves a gap of $13k/year. You need to move on and be looking to the other schools you applied to.</p>
<p>OP, a 20 to 45 minute drive a day is very doable. I know many people who commute an hour or more to get to and from their jobs every day. Is its ideal - no. Would it save you a lot of money - definitely. You are actually fortunate to have this choice as at most colleges/universities living on campus adds about $10,000+ a year to the cost of attendance. As your mom is already “paying” your living costs at home, she really won’t see any “extra” costs having you there. The colleges financial aid department should be able to run you the numbers without housing to see if you really “lose” alot of money. Gas will be a consideration, but your savings at living at home should make it worthwhile. A part-time job (which you could keep all year round if you commute) should also help keep your debt down.</p>
<p>To get a CS job you will either have to pass an actual test or else go through two or three technical interviews with experts from the hiring company who are not looking to see if you “are a good fit”. They’re looking to see how smart you are and what you know.</p>
<p>So unless the name of the school is MIT, Caltech, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon or Stanford … nobody cares. </p>
<p>My advice:</p>
<ol>
<li>Go where it’s cheap.</li>
<li>Go the extra mile on all class projects. Really learn the stuff, put extra bells and whistles on.</li>
<li>Spend summers trying to intern. If you can’t get paying work, try to contribute to open source projects.</li>
</ol>
<p>The main thing is that you have to be an expert, which means you have to have N thousand hours of experience. Get the experience any way you can, starting now.</p>
<p>I echo the other posters who have said that is way too much debt. What starts out at $100,000 climbs with interest. You can do this a lot less expensively. Wait until your other offers come in then decide. You are smart to ask the question here and you probably already realized deep down that it was too much debt but you just needed to hear it from someone else. It is easy to “want to believe” it is doable but why saddle yourself with such debt if you can find a lower priced option. Plus don’t forget to add in the extra expenses you will have - books, entertainment, etc. There is always extra things you will want to do. </p>
<p>Terazoon gave a very good answer with good points.</p>