Your advice is appreciated. He didn’t do all that extraordinary last year, he finished his JR year with 3.0GPA/ 26 on ACT, so not much merit there. This year he’s all A’s including College Pre classes Math and English but it’s a little bit too late for that. He has already applied for both instate. There is only one that is close to our house which he can commute to. The other one is 9 hours away. So the smartest idea is staying close with zero debt. I really appreciate everyone’s feedback.
The plain and simple truth is that more students live at home and commute (to either a community college or to a four year institution) than go away for college because going away is a lot more expensive. So if your son ends up commuting, he will be having the real college experience. Not to mention that plenty of your son’s friends will be back home by second semester either at UNLV or the community college because of bad grades at the first choice college or because of money issues or because they decide they’d just rather be closer to home.
My own kid graduated with her AA from our community college and then transferred to an inexpensive in-state public university because it was all we could afford. She had to take on the federal student loans for junior and senior year, but that is the only debt she ended up with. We did not borrow any money ourselves. Like you, I felt sad that we couldn’t afford any other options. However, she ended up loving both of her colleges, she got a great education for her career goals, and now she is launched in her career and living her dream.
Your son will probably cover the costs of his DPT program with loans, so right now he needs to focus on staying debt free if possible. He can get the pre-DPT classes just about anywhere, so UNLV will be fine. One thing he should think about is picking up a PT Assistant certificate if something like that is available at UNLV or your community college. With that certificate, he can start working in his field while he is still in college and he can get the practical clinical experience that the DPT programs will expect him to have when he applies.
It is also prudent to realise that his ideas about his future will probably change. DPT is going to be competitive anywhere.
Is there another state school not so close to home, so that he could live on campus? Would those costs also be prohibitive?
@LasVegas72 Please him? Lol - I have 5 kids and gave up on that years ago
@bookreader You are right – it is hard for the kids to grasp at 18. Now I had GSLs, my ex had GSLs and we did just fine after university (not easy but we had our own apartment). We told the kids you only get the loans you can get – and we are not cosigning or taking out any loans FOR you. So that meant GSLs only.
So far, each of them has done well enough to afford the GSL payments and not live in our basement. We gave them a net number we would pay out of pocket each year (so we did help).
Try to balance finances, which he can work and help out with, with unique experience of going to college. We have let out kids decide what their path is and supported them as much as possible. For one, that means going to a local college for two years and being done. For another it means a private school far away because the University sparked something within him (and offered a lot of money - high stat kid). For the last one it may mean going where ever she can play her sport at the highest level. Try to visit the other colleges to see if it really is a good fit and not just a college away from home. My goals for them include not having regrets.
Try to visit the other colleges <<<<<<<<<
If OP doesn’t think he can pay R&B instate, what the heck is the point? This is not a high stats kid. This kid might regret a 3.0 GPA, or not sweating over his ACT some more. He is a standard instate commuter student.
I agree @Sybylla My senior is a 3.4 and a 24ACT and we had a reality chat and we have stuck to that. Then we sought to find colleges that would fit the program and the finances.
If OP son wanted a dream college he needed to do a better job in HS - that is the grim reality and as a budding adult it won’t be his first one – I had another one that was convinced the ACT didn’t matter and while she had a great GPA, she dug her heels in on the prep for the ACT and it was kind of too late by the time she had the epiphany – she had to forgo some other more dream like colleges because of it. I suspect that OP has told her son he needed to do well (grades and testing) and he chose his own path. A reality check talk is more than warranted.
So he doesn’t want UNLV but he’s good with Reno? If that’s the case, I think some of the onus need to be on him. Is he willing to work for the opportunity to go away for school? Is he willing (and does he have a realistic opportunity) to start work now and go full-time in the summer? He should qualify for work-study. Is he willing to work 10-20 hours per week while in school, and can he do so without impacting his grades? Is he willing to not have access to a car when in school (in order to save on gas, insurance, etc)?
If he can answer yes to all of this, he can probably earn $10,000 or more each year for school. Add in the Pell Grant that he’ll likely qualify for and you’re pretty close to covering the costs without taking on any debt. If he pulls it off successfully, he’ll be a much stronger, more independent person.
Can you afford r&b at UNLV? If he can live in a dorm he’ll get the ‘away at college’ experience even if he’s only a few miles away. You’ll save on travel costs and it only has to be for one year. After that, he can either live at home (and he’ll realize how good it was to have a room to himself, a kitchen full of food, pets, a car to borrow, etc. when he’s lived without them for a year) or get an apartment near the school.
Can you afford r&b at UNLV? If he can live in a dorm he’ll get the ‘away at college’ experience even if he’s only a few miles away. You’ll save on travel costs and it only has to be for one year. After that, he can either live at home (and he’ll realize how good it was to have a room to himself, a kitchen full of food, pets, a car to borrow, etc. when he’s lived without them for a year) or get an apartment near the school.
OP has said the room and board cost would have to be borrowed, Room and board is crazy money IMO if he can live at home. He certainly can make a plan to live in a house share once he has a job and can afford that. I suspect student living off campus is cheaper in OP’s locale.
If it can be covered without undue burden, I think living on campus the first year might be a good solution. Would he be wiling to work over this summer to save some to apply to housing? Of course, if this is not possible for you financially, then you need to be clear with him.
But if the room and board has to be borrowed to go out of town anyway, why not borrow it (or maybe less?) to live at the UNLV dorm as it might only have to be for one year. Son would get the ‘sleep away camp’ experience, get to meet friends and be in the action, and then in future years can either move home or live off campus with friends just like most kids do.
Other benefits may be that he can keep the same job year round, no transportation costs, and can go home to do laundry and eat.
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why not borrow it <<<<<
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Le sigh. That sounds so childish.
The Pell Grant would only be around $1000 with an EFC of $4,600
Living on campus during frosh year tends to be associated with higher graduation rates.
However, in this particular situation (which is fairly common), when living on campus creates affordability problems, that can increase the risk of non-graduation due to running out of money. In addition, UNLV is a mostly commuter school, so the advantage of living on campus there may be less than at a more residential school (like UNR).
So, for this particular situation, avoiding the debt to commute to UNLV is likely the best option, assuming that it offers the academic programs and majors he is interested in.
However, be aware that living at home and commuting is not zero cost, as he will continue to consume food and utilities at home, as well as have transportation costs if he needs to drive or use public transportation to get to campus. UNLV estimates about $4,010 for these costs over the academic year (which is several thousand dollars cheaper than living-in-the-dorm costs at UNLV or UNR); your actual cost may vary significantly.
UNLV does offers the major he’s interesting in. We know that commuting is not zero cost, he’s been driving to school and sports practices since last year. We’ll continue paying for his car, insurance and support him while he’s in school. He might gonna have to get a part time job later on to help with his friends-outings.
@grgscrjr I did talk to him and gave him that option, although he thinks it makes no sense to live on campus if he goes to UNLV. We’re literally 7 miles away from campus.