I got into my dream school, and just received financial aid back. Here’s the roundabout breakdown of that.
SCHOOL A (OUT OF STATE)
Financial Aid:
Total estimated cost (including expenses, board, and tuition) - $80,000
Total Gift Aid - $70,000
Estimated Net Cost (total - gift) - $10,000
Self-help (loans) - $7,000
Out of pocket cost - $3,000
This financial aid package is great, but my family will in no way be able to contribute to paying this off. In addition I qualify for work study which ONLY grants $2,000 on $7.25/hr. And that’s IF I put my whole entire check towards tuition. Even after doing so, I will still be stuck with $7,000 in loans. How am I supposed to pay of these loans before it gets as large as $30,000.
I’m also going in undecided with premed interest. If I do follow with that I will have even more loans.
Basically my question is, how do I enter and leave my first year of college with MINIMAL debt (under $2,000)? Please do not say scholarships, I have never won one despite my efforts.
For a split second I considered be a sugar baby over these numbers, please help.
The federal student loan is $5500 for freshmen. I don’t think you’re going to be ablew to attend college for less than $2k/year. Can you choose a less expensive dorm? Are there other estimated costs that could be lowered?
Call the financial aid office (CALL- don’t email!). Ask them to talk you through it. They have clearly decided that they really want you, and their math says that it is do-able. Let them help you.
From here it looks like you have to cover $10K / year, so. $5.5 K in federal loans + $2K in work study = $7.5K, so $2.5K for you to earn over the summer- a very achievable amount. You would graduate with ~$30K total in loans, from (guessing here) Harvey Mudd / Wake Forest / similar, which should lead you straight into a good, paid for PhD or a good job for a couple of years before med school.
I am one of the strong anti-debt posters on CC, and almost always vote for plain vanilla over the sparkles, but in this case you are unlikely to be able to get a plain vanilla for less than this. ~$30K in total college debt is not wonderful, but it is do-able (that’s why the limit is set there).
This is doable for you. If you are not willing to take on a reasonable amont of debt and hustle with a summer job you will have to give up your dream school and go to college in state.
Is the $7.25 a definite figure for hourly on campus pay? I’m sure it varies from college to college but it seems low to me. Maybe an off campus part time job would pay better?
Remember that work study is paid as you earn it You can work a max of about 10 hours/week. It’s good for covering spending money at school but it might be difficult to save enough to cover a chunk of tuition.
Work study income won’t affect FAFSA EFC and they will accommodate a student’s schedule. FWS eligible students get priority when it comes to these jobs.
@collegehunter123 10K per year to cover is an excellent aid package, congratulations!
One way that you can trim your costs further is under “expenses,” which is usually a padded amount and can often be reduced by 1-2K. Books can be rented or bought used online. (University bookstores are often not the cheapest option). Some materials can be borrowed from the university library and scanned. You can opt for a cheaper dorm or meal plan or cell phone plan. You can be frugal with your discretionary spending. Also expensive list price colleges often offer a lot of free or cheap entertainment on campus - films, plays, lectures, clubs, etc.
With summer earnings you should be able to chip away at that 10K/year. While the 27K maximum in student loans that you are allowed to incur may sound daunting (it increases from 5.5K to 7.5K by your senior year), it is comparable to a car loan for a mid-level new car and should be manageable to pay off.
$7.50 per hour sounds low for work study - maybe check to see if that’s the case for all positions? If you are limited to 2K work study per year, there may be possibilities for additional part time on or near campus to supplement. If you go that route, make sure not to take on too many hours. You don’t want to compromise your academic performance,
Finally, if you choose this college, there may be internal scholarships within your major that might be available as you progress through your studies. They may or may not stack with financial aid, though.
If you have another school willing to pay for the entire costs, such as a NMF at a Florida school or UT=Dallas, take that offer. Having to pay $10k of an $80k bill seems like a deal to me, especially as half of that can be covered by a loan.
Even in states where the minimum wage is still $7.25, many of the work study jobs pay more. My daughter went to school in a $7.25 state and usually was paid $9 or $10 per hour. Now working in that state (not at school) she makes $11/hr plus pretty generous tips. She made about $10,000 in 4 months last year.
You don’t pay off the loans while you’re in school. And by the way, you got a REALLY good deal on financial aid. For a dream school…that rocks! 30k is roughly average for any student getting a bachelors degree. Once you’re out of school for 6 months, then you start making payments, unless you go on for further education.
If you go to medical school, then your undergraduate loans will continue to be deferred as you accumulate loans for medical school. Once you’re out of medical school and start making money as a doctor, then you would start paying them back.
OP, there is a lot of helpful info above, and it’s just the beginning. Make friends with the FInAid staff. And, when you get to college, from Day 1 make friends with the people in the writing center, the math lab, your TA’s / profs. Do it proudly- this isn’t
HS, & there is no stigma to using the help on offer! Some people will be #^^#, but most will genuinely want to be helpful & useful. They can be a village of support for you, so even if you are not used to it, ask early and often. It will transform your university experience.
I don’t, even my in state options are the same price. Your information has been very helpful though and I do think this is something I’ll be able to manage. THANK YOU
“” SCHOOL A (OUT OF STATE)
Financial Aid:
Total estimated cost (including expenses, board, and tuition) - $80,000
Total Gift Aid - $70,000
Estimated Net Cost (total - gift) - $10,000
Self-help (loans) - $7,000
Out of pocket cost - $3,000“”
that COA includes personal expenses and books. Rent books, keep personal expenses low AND get a job now. Places like Aldi, Target, Walmart, Costco sams club, and more are hiring immediately.
What did you expect to pay for college? Did you really expect for a college to pay even your living expenses down to soap , toothpaste, travel to attend? You have an excellent offer here that requires you to, yes, borrow to meet a small amount of the cost. It is very rare to get an offer like this. I can understand if the school is not offering you any way to come up with the remaining cost after their package, and your family and you cannot pay ( or parents will not pay) so it is in doable. But there is a way to come up with the remainder of the cost—the loans . I don’t think it is unreasonable at all to ask you to have some skin in this game.