Going into the sciences (as I plan to), I’ve heard they’re quite inevitable, but I’ve heard from others that I should never take out a loan, ever. So basically, how much debt is too much? What’s the maximum amount of debt that one might amass each year before it gets out of hand? (I don’t qualify for much need-based aid at most schools, but my parents plan to pay hardly anything for my college. I qualify for a few merit scholarships but not enough to cover college. I plan to work part-time but this will not cover it either.)
Never take out more than the Stafford max, about $27,000 in total. What are your stats? You may need to go to a school that offers major merit aid or your in state flagship.
^^
He means $27k TOTAL for four years
5500 frosh
6500 soph
7500 jr
7500 sr
So, that’s not enough to make a big dent into college costs.
<<<
don’t qualify for much need-based aid at most schools, but my parents plan to pay hardly anything for my college. I qualify for a few merit scholarships but not enough to cover college. I plan to work part-time but this will not cover it either.)
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
?
Are you a rising senior in high school or what?
How much CAN your parents pay each year? Ask them.
Why don’t your parents want you to go to college? As a student, on your own, you can take out:
Dependent
Freshman 5,500
sophomore 6,500
jr 7,500
sr 7,500
That will make about a bit over $300 payment a month for 10 years. I don’t really think of loans as animate object like good or bad. I think of it as can you get through colleges without, then do that. If you can’t then it is reasonable tradeoff to take your student loans in exchange to get a college diploma.
[QUOTE=""]
have plenty of reach schools and backups, but I'm looking for some good, affordable LAC's for matches.
[/QUOTE]
I’m at the top of my class, doing research & starting clubs & whatnot. I need a few matches that have good need-based financial aid, good science (physics) programs, and are moderately prestigious, with rigorous coursework. Do they exist?
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
What are your affordable back ups? In another thread you’ve indicated that you won’t qualify for much/any aid and your parents won’t pay much.
An affordable school would be one where you know FOR SURE that you have all costs covered with HUGE merit, a small fed loan, and family funds.
<<<<
As for my scores, my first SAT was 2130 but I’m only an incoming junior and I’m taking it again, along with the ACT. Last year I would’ve qualified for national merit, but this year is when it really counts (NMSF means national merit semi finalist, right?)
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
Ok, practice for the PSAT. Thankfully you’re not an incoming college frosh.
BTW…in your other threads, be sure to mention that you won’t qualify for a lot of aid, yet your parents won’t pay much. You’ve been getting a lot of advice that doesn’t fit when that aspect is a given.
Your parents aren’t going to pay for a bunch of apps for unaffordable schools. Each app and sending scores is going to cost $100 each. Don’t waste your time on those apps or money on apps to schools that will not be affordable.
The amount that your parents are going to pay and the merit awards that you can get will largely determine where you should apply.
@mom2collegekids @BrownParent @TomSrOfBoston thanks so much, this is good advice. Unfortunately, unless I get a significant amount of merit aid, I can’t think of a school where I wouldn’t have to exceed that limit. When you say 27k total, do you mean the amount a student can take out independent from their parents? My parents are in favor/supportive of me getting a good education; they simply can’t pay much relative to their income (the joys of having younger siblings…). I have begun discussions with my parents and all that they’ve said is that they will be able to pay “very little” (they estimate around 6k/year). My dad (another scientist) has given me the advice that I should just invest in my education even if it requires some debt (he made an estimate that 50k total would be manageable), and that worrying about paying it off shouldn’t be an issue that hinders my education too much, as long as I work and try to minimize it. I agree with this but I am not sure. My mom expects me to get a magic full ride somewhere because I have good grades and she hates the idea of loans.
My current most affordable options are UF, FSU, and UCF. While they’re good schools, it was my dream to go to a better, smaller school out of state, inevitably more costly, but a place where I’d have superior and diverse research opportunities within my field (physics/astronomy). This may have to wait until grad school due to the financial situation I’m increasingly aware of.
<<<
@mom2collegekids @BrownParent @TomSrOfBoston thanks so much, this is good advice. Unfortunately, unless I get a significant amount of merit aid, I can’t think of a school where I wouldn’t have to exceed that limit. When you say 27k total, do you mean the amount a student can take out independent from their parents? My parents are in favor/supportive of me getting a good education; they simply can’t pay much relative to their income (the joys of having younger siblings…). I have begun discussions with my parents and all that they’ve said is that they will be able to pay “very little” (they estimate around 6k/year). My dad (another scientist) has given me the advice that I should just invest in my education even if it requires some debt (he made an estimate that 50k total would be manageable), and that worrying about paying it off shouldn’t be an issue that hinders my education too much, as long as I work and try to minimize it. I agree with this but I am not sure. My mom expects me to get a magic full ride somewhere because I have good grades and she hates the idea of loans.
[QUOTE=""]
[/QUOTE]
Yes, independent of parents.
Your dad’s estimate of $50k of debt being manageable is super-optimistic. Perhaps he’s feeling guilty that he can’t pay much so he’s down-playing the impact of that much debt. That is too much debt.
Your mom is right to be concerned about debt. You could get most of your costs covered with merit. There is nothing wrong with UF, FSU and similar schools for undergrad. You will likely NEED grad school, so racking up undergrad debt is a really bad idea.
Be aware that you, on your own, cannot take out anything over the $27,000 total unless you have a co-signer. Would your parents agree to go-sign for the additional $23,000? Co-signing is effectively like taking out the loan themselves. They would bee responsible for repayment if you were unable to do so and it would show up on their credit reports as debt.
You have so many options in Florida that you can do it on the Stafford loans. Most of the publics are about $18000 COA. If you get $3500 in BF, any award from the school, and borrow the $5500, you are almost there. If you pick one of the private schools, there is a $3000 state grant too. If you like smaller schools, look at New College, U of Southern Florida. North Florida has a good engineering program.
I can give you a problem with co-signing loans with your parents. My daughter is going in for a biopsy on Monday. I am extremely worried about her health. I hate myself for also being worried about the debt that I will be responsible for if she needs to take a leave of absence for her job or if she would die. That should not be foremost in my mind, but it is.
Okay if your parents will pay 6k and you can borrow 5.5k then you have a few hundred you can make a month, so you have about 13 or 14k for school. Students can usually make 3k per summer but what about doing research? Even if you get paid you just break even. Any additional debt must be parent’s name or cosign. If they cosign, then it is on both your credit if you can’t pay the loan. The problem with 50k loans is this makes around 600 per month payment. That is not really reasonable to expect to be able to pay as a brand new grad. What about grad school? For your own student loans you can defer during grad school but private loans someone has to pay it.
So with what you have available now you need full tuition award to be possible. So look at which schools that is viable for with whatever stats you have. Get your mom involved in the hunt so she can see that you need a viable list and she can be part of investigating and naming what schools might give you a full ride or just full tuition instead of just expecting you to magic it up.
@KKmama Prayers for your DD’s health.
@mom2collegekids @BrownParent @twoinanddone Yes, I will likely qualify for national merit, Florida bright futures, etc. and get a good part of the costs covered by merit. In addition, by the end of high school I’ll have taken around 18 AP classes, many in required subjects (I’ve already taken 6 and gotten all 5’s) and I will have the opportunity of graduating in three years at a state college using these college credits, which will further minimize the debt. UF (my most likely option) would cost around $20k/year, and minus $6k/year from my parents, $8k/year from a campus job + online tutoring if necessary + merit scholarships, I would only amass $18k total in debt which is manageable. Grad school will be necessary for me and even if a job in a lab, wherever I go, doesn’t cover the entire cost, I still won’t likely exceed that limit.
@takeitallin yes, my parents would be willing to co-sign and have faith that my first job after grad school/PHD will be sufficient to pay off the loan in time. The same thing worked out for them, and besides, they are optimists.
@KKmama I’m so sorry about your daughter. I’ll keep her in my prayers.
@coffeeaddicted - imho UF is a fine option for you! You sound like a go-getter who will make the most of it. UF is an excellent state school. Luckily you are in-state.
OP look at the schools that will give good merit with NMS. You want to keep UG at low cost.
@SouthFloridaMom that is what I hope! I plan to apply for the honors college and pursue independent research in my major.
@SOSConcern do you know if UF gives good aid for NMF? I know someone who got a full ride but I heard that is rare.
OP, here is a list of colleges that offer FULL TUITION scholarships for National Merit Scholars.
Did I miss what area of science you are interested in? The pay scales vary.
OP I would look at the various Florida schools where you would have a good financial situation and where the school offers you the level of education/programs you are looking for.
There are a number of FL students that attend University of Alabama.
You honestly need to visit these various schools.
Then you can compare the cost/benefit of attending any of the particular schools. You do want to keep your level of debt down really low with graduate/professional school plans.
If you are a NMS, UA does offer a nice package. If you are majoring in Engineering, there is an extra $2500/year scholarship for that too - and UA does stack their scholarships. They offer a lot of opportunities in their honors college - special sizable programs like Emerging Scholars (can get into research as a freshman), and some more selective programs. Honors College is open to you and it gives registration priority.
My daughter attends UA studying civil eng and is in the honors program STEM MBA. Since she is in-state, she can complete the MBA program as an in-state student. However I do know some students who score very well on the GRE to obtain a scholarship for the MBA courses. The honors college and special programs offer a lot from the high stat students.
With Perkins loans, my son will be around 32K of loans after four years.
One thing is that we have convinced him to do a co-op, which is 9 or 12 months. They are usually paid in his major, and he would not have to pay for college during that time (it’s maintaining registration). That will be time he is earning money and not accruing loans.
Another thing is that we want to make sure he overlaps with his brother, so our EFC total will be less than if they did not go to college the same year. His college will mostly be paid from assets, not salary, so that makes sense for us.
The way I would look at it in your case is this. Pick a few possible jobs after graduation, based on your major. Then look at the starting salaries. Then do a calculator to see how much you would have to pay back each year on your loans. If for example you can live at home after you graduate, then you’ll have more money to pay back loans and start saving for your own place.
If you know you can’t live at home after graduation, that means you might not want to take out that much in loans.
IMHO, if the family is middle class, the child taking out up to 30K in loans total is not an undue burden. You might also want to ask your parents that if you didn’t find your “perfect job” right away, would they help you pay off your loans for a short time…