I hear this a lot on CC. Let’s just keep the kids in the dark about the millions we have stashed away…
We made a spreadsheet with all the college, costs like room /board, other costs so we can compare apples to apples. We told each kid what we can afford. We did have some 529 money we started when they were kids. Not sure why that is so hard for your parents. It’s so much “unneed” pressure for you. Can’t you simply sit them down and go over each of your options and just tell them that you can’t make decision until you know what you will be financially responsible for.
You want to be financially responsible. If they don’t, then that’s on them. You shouldn’t have to make a choice till you know approximately what you will be paying back at the end of 4 years and I do understand that circumstances might change in your favor or not.
If your only responsible for the federal loans that total $27,500 total after 4 years then that would be a win for you. You can do work study /job and start paying those back yearly on the small loans. Paying something back is better then nothing. You will be eating in the dorms /at events, clubs usually have free food think pizza.
Lots of books you can get pdf versions if that works for you. Many cheap places online for books also. My daughter just got a $30.00 book for like $4.00 in almost perfect shape.
This is garbage. I did hiring and interviewing and application screenings in public education for over 30 years. Never once did anyone view the college someone attended as “excessive or gaudy”.
That being said…if you can avoid it, don’t go into debt much for a degree in public education. Entry level salaries aren’t all that high, and the competition for positions in some fields is very high. For example…in elementary education, we typically got over 300 applications for EACH open position.
This poster needed to apply to all of the instate options that had any potential to be affordable. She chose not to do this. I’m still flummoxed why WIU wasn’t on the application list if SIU was…unless this student can commute to SIU.
Your parents don’t have to tell you how much $ they have. Thats fine. But to not tell you about what they feel able to cover for your college is cruel. So assume the worst, not the best.
Thumper, I"ve been in education as long as you have, & the OP needs to know that in public education in the Midwest, going to a directional in no way puts one at a disadvantage. I’ve seen brilliant students, even a valedictorian, steered towards directionals because that was “good enough” for a teaching degree. The flagships often have schools of ed that are more focused on research and training administrators, and are not known for great teacher education. Therefore, they are seen by some (obviously not ALL) as overpriced overkill–especially in the more rural areas.
@moooop absolutely…attending a directional U does not disadvantage a student from getting a job in their state. I agree.
But at the same time…gwttig a degree from a more elite school is not a black mark.
I agree that this student needs to look at ALL affordable instate options…ALL of them. That doesn’t seem to be the choice that was made. The student picked and chose.
ETA…I got my masters at Western Illinois University…and it’s never been an issue in terms of my jobs. I have never worked in Illinois either. Going to WIU gave me the masters I needed in my field (speech pathology) plus some very excellent practical experience…at a bargain cost as I was a fellowship student with a stipend.
OP, I’ve been following this thread and several highly qualified people seem to be telling you the same things over and over, and for some reason you don’t seem to be getting it. So take it from one high school senior to another - this is literally the beginning of a new phase of our lives where we need to start considering finances and think with our head on that front, whether we like it or not. You can’t take 17k in loans, either in theory or in practice. Your parents aren’t even telling you how much they’ll contribute, so what makes you think they’ll actually co-sign the loans and be able to pay them off later? I get that you want the four year college experience, but simply put, it is foolish to commit to a college until you’ve worked out exactly how you’re gonna pay for it. Sit down with a computer and do your research. How much is your entry-level salary most likely to be? How much will you be able to set aside from it to pay off loans?How much $ will you even be able to take in loans in the first place? How much are you likely to earn from work-study? Add together all the sources of incoming money (work-study income, loans, etc) and subtract that number from the 17k SIU is gonna cost. Then you know where you’re falling short, and you can take that number to your parents and ask them if they’ll pay that much. They may answer a more specific question like that, even if they won’t tell you more general info. If they say yes and you trust them to go through with it, then SIU may be a viable option. If not, then community college is gonna have to be the answer. If they don’t answer and deadlines to commit are coming up, then you’re gonna have to assume the worst - which is that they’ll contribute $0.
You can’t take 17k loans. You can’t go to a school you can’t afford. You can’t think about fit and culture when the school is not an affordable option. Affordability has to be the primary consideration, and ‘loans’ isn’t a practical answer for big amounts.
When my D was deciding where to go for her education degree, we went online and checked out the credentials of her favorite teachers over the years. Many of them had attended SUNY schools UG and then gotten their masters at local schools. She opted for a SUNY program which was 5 years and came out with her masters. I am SO glad we didn’t go into debt for this because she only taught for one year before quitting NYC DOE.
In another forum a family is trying to figure out how to scrape together enough $$ for college. Their student is applying to a bunch of outside local scholarships (that may lead to getting a small amount of $ and typically they are non renewable , They also hope (HOPE) she can get an RA job after her freshman year, but there is no guarantee. Its simply not a good idea to go to school with no clear idea of how you are going to pay for it, especially after freshman year— scholarship $ is hard to come by.