<p>My daughter has been accepted and wishes to attend a very pricey college. We are happy about this and although we have not yet been informed wether she has been awarded any merit aid, our EFC is higher than the annual cost of the school so we expect no financial aid. My question is this... we don't want to hand this college education to her on a silver platter and wish for her to contribute each year by either paying a certain amount, or getting a student loan. We don't want her overwhelmed by loans, but we were thinking the standard loan is about $3,500 per year and would like her to obtain one each year so she has some personal stake in her education.</p>
<p>When we look on-line at her financial aid profile is just says the bill is x amount and as parents we are supposed to pay that amount. How do we find out if we can get her a basic student loan? At a different college she was eligible for a loan, but not at the one she wishes to attend. Any help here? Thanks!</p>
<p>Your daughter can take out unsubsudized Stafford Loans. This has nothing to do with financial need. Check the school's financial aid page on the website and you should find info.</p>
<p>Submit the fafsa and your D will be offered unsubsidized Stafford Loans (I think the total is about 19,000 over the 4 years). Interest does accrue while your D is in school. Many parents elect to pay the interest on the loans while the student is in school.</p>
<p>I agree that she can probably get Stafford loans, but if she is a bright girl, you may as well let her figure out for herself how to come up with the money. It seems to me that would better serve your purpose of making sure that she has a stake in her education.</p>
<p>Wouldn't working during the summers or the school year to earn that money also give her a stake in her education, without the interest payments on loans? Earning about $3500 is not that difficult a proposition. Or earning $2000 and taking out just $1500 in loans.</p>
<p>I agree with Chedva's approach. You really don't want your daughter graduating with unnecessary debt, especially since there are all sort of start-up costs associated with a first apartment, first job, first set of career clothes, etc. If she contributes her own, hard-earned money (and also knows that the contribution is not a large one given the entire cost), then she will have a better idea of the cost of her education. </p>
<p>It's one thing to take out a $3500 loan if that's the only way she can attend college, and quite another to have her assume that debt for a lesson. Much better for her to contribute outright.</p>
<p>Thanks for all your input. I think a combination of her outright contributions as well as some smaller loans will be good. I had been thinking of letting her save all her money from her summer job to use as expense money, so she wont be calling us telling us she loves us and to please send money. She will only be making approx $2000 for the summer months, unless she can get more hours. </p>
<p>I just wanted to know if loans were still an option, and she's agreed that it is fair. I will have to discuss other options (as presented) to her and see which works out best for everyone.</p>
<p>I agree with Chedva and momwaitingfornew that there are other ways in which you cn make your daughter be an active participant in the financing of her education without her having to take out loans. </p>
<p>You can tell her that she has to get a summer job to contribute toward college.</p>
<p>You can tell her that the parents bank are only going to pay tuition room and board and D will have to get a job to purchase books, spending money etc. </p>
<p>I would suggest searching the threads on the parent board-How much allowance/ spending money and you will see that you are not alone in waiting your child to be a stake holder in the process.</p>
<p>we're thinking of having our kids take out the Stafford loans ... and then we will pay them off as a graduation gift ... then while they are students they will have financial skin in the game but will also let them start off on their own without debt. (In addition, they are responsible for all "play" money which would, I expect, require real summer jobs).</p>
<p>Samsmom, I think you are thinking very smartly about your child. Too many times I see children graduating from college with no concept of financial responsibility. As long as the loans are small...it will be a good lesson in financial planning before your child becomes so immensed in debt that her credit is forever ruined.</p>
<p>It also helps the children realize the importance of their education. Sometimes, when the education is handed to the child, they do not take it seriously enough to excel. Many of our students who have to take their own loans and work during the summer seem to focus more energy on getting good grades instead of building their social life.</p>
<p>I think she will need her summer earnings for spending money. Not too many kids can earn $3500 (the loan amount) PLUS a couple thousand for spending money in a summer.</p>
<p>Here is a good site for info on student loans (in fact, for all financial aid information):</p>
<p>"Stafford Loans allow dependent undergraduates to borrow up to $3,500 their freshman year (up from $2,625), $4,500 their sophomore year (up from $3,500) and $5,500 for each remaining year."</p>
<p>i would suggest you have her do work-study rather than loans. loans are pretty easy to obtain (just sign on the dotted line) and the amount of debt seems insignificant to kids this age (just look at all the posts of kids wanting to borrow $40,000 a year for school).</p>
<p>work study is money she has to work for each week. It also provides experience in interviews, finding a job, filling out a resume or application and having a boss. Many work study jobs may relate to her major. You could have her use her summer earnings and work study money pay for books and her personal expense. It would give her experience with budgeting and encourage her to use her money wisely (used textbooks online rather than full-price from the book store). </p>
<p>I have also read several places that students that do work-study (averaging 10 hours a week) do better in school, grade-wise, than kids who do not work. It keeps them a little more focused.</p>
<p>The problem with work-study is that it is part of a financial aid package - in other words, you have to qualify for it, and this poster thinks they will not qualify. That does not rule out your basic on-campus job though - assuming the school she ends up at offers them.</p>
<p>you are correct -- I forgot that. I do know that many campuses offer non-need based work-study, so that would be an option.</p>
<p>I just think a small part-time job is a better option than loans. From personal experience and from reading numerous posts on this forum, kids find it too easy to take out loans. They may have a "stake" in their educational purchase, but it is too nebulous. it is too easy to take out the max loan so that they can purchase the "necessities" of new shoes, pizza and an ipod. When you have to work to make that money, it makes you think a bit more -- "if I buy those $100 shoes, that is my whole paycheck for two weeks so maybe it isn't worth it".</p>
<p>I agree that a loan is too abstract for a young adult just beginning to get a sense of the larger world. When kids here - and these are kids who are going to top schools - believe that they can pay off $100,000 in loans over two years, it is staggering to imagine. Not that the OP's daughter will assume that kind of debt. Still, it's much better <em>if possible</em> to work them up from paying for things on their own, using real cash, than have them take out loans. I really don't think a student would feel that she had a stake in her education when she isn't paying anything yet. You also don't want her to feel that taking out loans or extending credit is the solution to wanting the best; many people get caught up in that, and end up in trouble.</p>
<p>I want to make it clear that loans are absolutely essential for some families/students. I just don't think that they should be taken out when they aren't really needed.</p>
<p>hsmomstef, This is why when I was in college, my father asked me to pay for everything in cash, or by check. I did not have a credit card. He told me to continue paying this way as a young adult. If I could not afford it, I did not buy it. What a concept! That meant bargain basement shopping, but so what. I graduated from a graduate school with minimal loans, and no credit card debt. My father was a generous man, and sent weekly small, but reasonable amounts of pocket money so I was not going without essentials (I had money for my shampoo, and for a decent meal off campus once a week). I was probably the only one in my graduate school that did not have a car. It was inconvenient, but I survived. I even paid a fellow student who lived nearby to drive me to school many mornings. He was happy to have the extra gas $. When he was not available, I rode the bus and walked a few blocks. The excercise was good.</p>
<p>their are 2 "types" of work study on campus- Federal Work study, which you have to qualify for (the priority groups for FWS is low income students as most of the salaries paid are subsidized). The other kind of work study is work study employment, which is most likley the kind of work study that students who are not eligible for FWS have in their FA package. Non work study as well as work study employment students can apply for work study employment jobs on campus however, they cannot apply for jobs listed as FWS.</p>
<p>We are not eligible for FWS but my D has had WSE as part of her financial aid package ever since she started college and even managed to get some really nice jobs and recently found out that she got a Dean Administrative Internship for senior year.</p>
<p>northeastmom -- thanks for the input. I think this is a good topic of discussion for any parent. When my son goes off to college, I plan on him being responsible for books and personal expenses (including cell phone and transportation). We are a low-income family and my son works a small part-time job. It is amazing the difference in attitude when it is "his" money he is spending as opposed to my money. He will ask if he can have a certain item, tell me how great it is, what a good bargain, how he cannot live without it -- but when I tell him that he needs to purchase it with him own money, suddenly it isn't so vital. My son uses a debit card (so much easier today) and checks his balance online everyday. He will probably never get a credit card (long family story -- but both my kids have great respect for the proper use of credit which was learned the hard way!).</p>
<p>My daughter does not qualify for work study or subsidized loans. She will be working full time this summer for her spending money which is to last her throughout the school year. She will probably end the school year with most of it as she does not like spending her own money! She probably still has the first $5.00 she ever earned! </p>
<p>We have discussed her getting a loan for each year, up to $3500, which would give her $14,000 worth of debt when she graduates. That is not too bad considering her father and I would be paying almost $180,000 for those same four years. (unless she gets some merit aid) Sounds like a bargain to me! </p>
<p>She is also condering getting a part-time job while at school, but I don't want her to pursue this until her second semester at the earliest so she can get used to school and the demands that it will entail.</p>
<p>I know when I got out of school I had no money, a crappy job, and student loans. It was a struggle for quite a few years, but I think those struggles helped build character and a good ethics for handling money. It was an important life lesson. That's why I think making her get some form of loan is still a good idea, without drowning her.</p>