<p>when you take loans in colleges and have debt, will that debt be the student's debt or the parent's?</p>
<p>bumpppppppppppppp</p>
<p>it depends on who takes the debt. If parents take out a loan against the equity in their house or a parent plus loan, the debt is theirs.</p>
<p>Stafford (both sub and unsub) and Perkins loans -- which are usually part of financial aid packages -- are soley the student's loans. they will show up on credit reports and you are responsible for paying them back.</p>
<p>does that help?</p>
<p>can u choose or control the loans, in that only the student will be in debt not the parents? Or do colleges randomly use PLUS loans and other loans?</p>
<p>bumpppppppppppppppppp</p>
<p>the type of loans that will be offered by the schools will generally depend on on your EFC.</p>
<p>Once you complete the FAFSA, you will be given an monetary figure that you will be expected to pay. If the school meets 100% demonstrated need, they will provide a package (comprised of loans, grants and work-study) to meet that need. Most schools DO NOT meet 100% need. that is called gapping and you will have to come up with both the EFC and the amount that is gapped.</p>
<p>Before you worry about loans, figure out what you (if you are the parent) can pay. Then estimate your EFC. Figure out if the student has any savings and what their income is. Post those figures back here on CC and we can help you figure out your best approach.</p>
<p>Of course loans are controllable -- if you don't sign your name, you won't have a loan (or the money). If you only want the student to take out the loans -- don't take out any parent or plus loans. The problem with that is that your EFC might be more than you can handle without the loans (as many middle class families discover).</p>
<p>One quick note -- if parents do not have good credit and are denied a PLUS loan, the amounts of the Stafford Loans are increased to the independent student level in most cases.</p>
<p>Here are some excellent websites with information -- they are worth your time to read!</p>
<p>Thanks hsmomstef. My family makes 120 k a year but for only 2 years then it will go down to around 60k-70k. I have 2 little brothers that will go to colleges soon. My parents said that they can only afford to pay 15k a yr because we have a lot of bills to pay and stuff like that. Will we even qualify for aid?</p>
<p>freek -- you need a little more information to figure out the FA.</p>
<p>how much do you parents have in assets (stocks, bonds, property, cash, CD,s, cash, savings account, etc). </p>
<p>How old are your parents (the asset protection allowance changes based on the parents age).</p>
<p>do you work? what is your yearly income? do you have any assets (money in the bank, etc).</p>
<p>five in the family? both are your parents (no divorced parent/stepparent)</p>
<p>I put in the $120,000 from you parents income, put 45 as the age for the oldest parent and indicated $50,000 of parental assets. I indicated 0$ for your income and assets. With that information -- the EFC is approximately $23,000. </p>
<p>So -- that would mean that your parents would be expected to pay $23,000 for you to go to school. On top of that, your financial aid package could include student loans, work-study and a student contribution (money they would expect you to earn at a summer job).</p>
<p>It is really important to nail down this information before you make you college lists. You may want to choose a few schools where you might qualify for merit aid is your stats are good.</p>