<p>I am a rising junior at Barnard College and I got a financial aid package which requires me to pay for $24,220 for the 2010-2011 year. Of this amount around $12,000 was listed under "parental contribution."</p>
<p>What can I do if my father refuses to pay for this amount (because he claims he was rejected from getting a PLUS loan for this amount and he does not want to take a private loan out for me, or my sister--who attends Oberlin College and is in a similar situation)?</p>
<p>All suggestions are appreciated; I am terrified and I have no idea what to do.</p>
<p>Since your father was rejected for the Plus loan, I believe the maximum you can take out in Stafford loans is increased (somewhat), but not enough to cover the whole gap.</p>
<p>As a first start, you should talk to the FA office at Barnard. They may be able to help you, although I wouldn’t get my hopes up if I were you.</p>
<p>This school was unaffordable a month ago and it’s not going to get better…I don’t know how much longer you plan to wait before you make alternate plans but it’s time to be realistic. Didn’t they say they couldn’t award institutional aid to you this year because of a missed deadline? Did you meet with the director? What did she say?</p>
<p>I think your best option would be to either take a leave of absence and get your forms in on time next year or transfer to one of your state schools. There’s no way you should be borrowing anything close to $24K for a year at Barnard (or any other undergrad school). You have plenty of time to finish your degree…be smart and use it wisely!</p>
<p>Actually, after I spoke to the director of financial aid–I received a financial aid package. Which is why I’m only paying 24k per year and not around 50k. So, things did get better, actually. I got about 15k in grants per semester.</p>
<p>Please do not offer gratuitous advice that will not help me with my chosen path–a leave of absence is not what I want to do, and I will not do it. It is not the best strategy, in my opinion. I am thankful for your thoughtfulness, sk8rmom, but that is simply not a strategy I will pursue.</p>
<p>I talked to the director once more this morning. She offered me a Perkins Loan and an unsubsidized Stafford, which would knock the cost down to ~9k for the entire year. </p>
<p>A Perkins loan is a subsidized loan where the govt pays the interest until after you graduate or drop below half time, plus a 9 month grace period. It has a 5% interest rate. As loans go it is a good loan. Better than the unsub Stafford at 6.8% and where you incur interest from day 1.</p>
<p>I hope others read this thread because many families blindly choose schools thinking that Plus loans are going to save them, but then as the college years go by, the family can no longer qualify - leaving the student with an unaffordable family contribution that can’t be covered.</p>
<p>Take out the rest of the Stafford amount. Then, ask your dad if he’ll help you take out a Sallie Mae loan for the rest. Hopefully, he can be responsible for that amount.</p>
<p>No advice here, but a reminder to others reading that ParentPLUS loans are only as good as long as the parent’s credit holds out. </p>
<p>According to OP her father already took out a ParentPlus loan last semester to cover costs. And lo-and-behold for this upcoming semester he was denied. The point to take home is if a parent is already so financial strapped that they can not pay cash for their contribution that chances are they are ALSO in no position to take out a ParentPlus loan, let along take one out for several years in a row.</p>
<p>If father has already maxed out the ParentPlus loans (no longer qualifies), has at least 2 daughters in college concurrently–both who are attending VERY high priced elite colleges at this time–why would anyone here think he has the ability to pay anything further? I would urge the OP to stop approaching this problem as “my dad won’t pay” to “my dad CAN’T pay”. The dude doesn’t qualify even for a PP loan! He needs to keep his own life afloat, including whatever he chooses for a retirement lifestyle and his daughter has no right to criticize it (she doesn’t have to like it but the quicker she moves on the faster she can work on whatever is next in front of her).</p>
<p>Not that I am in the camp of believing parents are obligated one-whit for their adult children’s education, whether or not they are rich or poor. But Reality has steamrolled into the middle of the OP’s college dreams and it is a shame that more forthright conversations by all parties in this family did not take place earlier. And even if this all happened in great earnestness, the reality is that sometimes the numbers don’t seem so daunting at first and then the bills start coming in…</p>
<p>I have no answer for how to find another 9K after exhausting all the financial aid resources already listed. There is a difficult-to-combat idea in America that EVERY PERSON can somehow swing the yearly price tag of an elite college (especially if full force of financial aid is enlisted) – and that just ain’t reality. The kids who have dealt with this realistically have long since transferred back to in-state college or have taken a year or two off to work fulltime and will return in the future.</p>
<p>*No advice here, but a reminder to others reading that ParentPLUS loans are only as good as long as the parent’s credit holds out. *</p>
<p>Exactly. And those with great credit, lose their great credit rating after the first or second big loan (unless they have super incomes). People forget that. They think that as long as their credit is good with the first loan, it will remain good. When year 3 rolls around, and the family has already borrowed $50k for the first 2 years in college, many families will have a damaged credit score.</p>
<p>I think in this case, the family never really “did the math” to figure out how they would qualify for later loans…especially with more than one in college.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned a Sallie Mae loan. Nothing against Sallie Mae, but I wanted to make sure that you know they’re not the only company that does private loans. Citibank, Chase Bank, Wells Fargo and a number of other reputable financial institutions offer this type of loan.</p>
<p>rstrl, I’m sorry you didn’t like my suggestion that you pursue financial sanity but it certainly wasn’t gratuitous! It was, in fact, based on your previous thread and my knowledge of how loans work.</p>
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<p>So, essentially, you’re a low-income student, your dad’s already in debt with a big PLUS loan for last semester when you transferred and Barnard gave you no aid, and you have at least one Stafford loan already as well. Now, dad can’t get another PLUS loan and you’re determined to borrow another $24K for your junior year. Barnard did award you institutional aid for this year but your senior year will likely require at least the same amount of contributions. If all of that is correct, it means you’ll wind up with over $50K in debt for an undergrad degree, right? Am I correct in assuming that this is not considered a terminal degree for most math or physics majors? </p>
<p>The $50K+ of your own debt, if you can obtain enough loans, will require that you pay around $600 per month for 10 years. That’s not going to be easy. If your dad is expecting you to help repay the PLUS loan he took out, that would require more payments. I’m concerned that this will leave you in a bad way, financially, and limit your future plans. I really do understand that you don’t WANT to interrupt your education or transfer again (although I’m not sure why you feel that way since you don’t seem to like Barnard or feel you’re getting the best education for your money). But it’s very important that you consider the long-term effects of taking on a lot of debt now and consider ALL of your options. If you were my child, I would encourage you to finish your undergrad degree at a school that was affordable, whether that’s a state public or a school that guarantees to meet need, and then pursue a graduate degree, hopefully with some level of funding.</p>
<p>Best of luck finding the funds you need - let us know how it works out for you!</p>
<p>OMG…I now remember the OP. This problem has been ongoing. The OP got no aid for the last spring semester and her dad borrowed for that. </p>
<p>Frankly, I don’t understand why low-income people even start down these paths. Do they think possessing a degree from a pricey school is somehow the Holy Grail that will make all their lives better and pay all their (big) debts? </p>
<p>OP…you’re from PA. Why not go to school there?</p>