<p>I'm trying to decide between 2 colleges. One is really cheap and closer to home and I'd have almost no debt after college. The other one is the one I like more but I'd be in a good amount of debt (it's $18K per year after aid and scholarships).
How much does it suck to have a lot of debt after college that takes years to pay off? Should I go to the college that I like more or the one with little to no debt?
Feel free to share your personal experiences.</p>
<p>Little to no debt. $18,000 a year is much to much debt. If you are not paying the interest while you are in college the interest will be being added to the debt and the total debt will be growing. So after 4 years it will have probably grown to around by the time you graduate to around $88,000. The monthly payments on that sort of debt will be over $1000 a month every month for 10 years.</p>
<p>You may not even be able to borrow 18k each year. The only loans that you are guaranteed to be able to get as a student are the ones you qualify for by filing the FAFSA. For amounts above those limits, you would need a co-signer for a private loan, or your parents would need to borrow the money for you through Plus, or through a bank. </p>
<p>There are lots of calculators you can use to see what your loan payments would come to. I like this one because it lets you compare up to three different financial aid offers side-by-side: [FinAid</a> | Calculators | Award Letter Comparison Tool](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Award Letter Requirements - Finaid)</p>
<p>There are lots of true-life stories about living with college debt at: <a href=“http://www.projectonstudentdebt.org%5B/url%5D”>www.projectonstudentdebt.org</a></p>
<p>actually, it’d be $22k total or about $0 debt. my parents would be able to pay the $18k so theres just the other regular loans.</p>
<p>22K total vs 0 is a more reasonable choice.</p>
<p>You have to decide how much the ‘better’ the more expensive school is for you.
In general, 22K total is not outrageous.</p>
<p>It all depends on how much you enjoy living with your parents because it will be much harder to pay off school loans while also paying rent/utilities.</p>
<p>As noted above 22K vs 0 is not an unreasonable choice - but there are many other variables to be weighed. </p>
<p>What is your major? Does it have good job prospects now and in the future and what would your starting salary be? If you are undecided, acquiring debt while you figure things out is risky, on the other hand if you have a strong interest that lends itself to good hiring prospects and the more expensive school has a much better track record in that area it might be the better investment.</p>
<p>What about the location of each school - along with the cost, is there anything about the location of each that would lend itself to better internships/connections/cost reduction while in school.</p>
<p>To know what the cost difference really is you will need to take the bigger issues into consideration and assign reasonable factors of potential cost/saving to each to see what the difference really is.</p>
<p>A school in the middle of nowhere means few if any job prospects during the school year, a school in a vibrant area could mean both money making jobs or internships during the school year that could make a difference in cost or earning potential after graduation.</p>