Your post listing the costs of College 2, Loan Fees $1000. Look at that carefully, you will see that C1 does not show all the costs that C2 does. Yet you know you will incur those costs for both colleges which is why you need to carefully go down the lists of costs not just what they are giving you.
If I negotiate, what do I need to say? Where do I start – the loans?
The responses so far have been immensely helpful. I’m learning so much.
Federal loans are considered financial aid and are part of the majority of financial aid packages in the country. There is only a very small handful of schools that have no loan initiatives. While Op may not want to take loans, since s/he has no way of making up the gap in the financial aid package, s/he may need to take loans in order to make college happen (even if Op was going to the local 4 year school, s/he would most likely have loans in the financial aid package).
Sounds like Pepperdine is a great option for you, most costs are covered if you take your federal loans of $5500 total. And having family nearby is also immensely helpful, and cheaper travel costs home.
You might need to find out if your health insurance you currently have will be accepted by the colleges and how much additional insurance would be?
Yes definitely plan to work this summer for startup costs.
Health insurance is a biggie - you have to have a good policy and it has to cover you locally (to your school), if not that’s an additional expense of $1500/year or so.
Re: loans, sometimes it’s possible for the family or student to come up with the funds not to take all the loans offered. Just saying it’s not required.
OT thought:
Isn’t it strange that tuition at Pepperdine (in pricey Malibu) is nearly identical to tuition at Grinnell (in small-town Iowa)? That’s some coincidence. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
download a spreadsheet that allows you to plug in all the numbers for multiple schools and compare apples to apples. here’s an example:
What about the religious atmosphere at Pepperdine? Are you Ok with that?
Yes, I am perfectly fine with the religious atmosphere. 