How do people afford NYU?

<p>wow it's 240k to go there for 4 years, not including $ spent on food, clothes, airfare home on holidays, etc etc. I'm on the wealthier side so I don't qualify for any kind of financial aid but I don't think we can afford that!</p>

<p>I'm the 2nd of 4 kids, so even if my parents made ~200k a year (I have no idea how much they make) that's a huge chunk of it going to nyu and I'm sure they'd have to cut back a lot to spend 60k less a year. </p>

<p>And w/ my older sister's tuition and my two younger brothers' future tuitions...wow. if we all went to a school like nyu, my parents might be spending their whole income on it, which obviously won't work...wow. </p>

<p>how do normal (meaning not super rich) people afford nyu? maybe if I was an only child I can see it working but I have a large family...I just don't see how it would work. I want to go there so so bad, but if my family has to struggle (and if I have to take on loads of debt) it would ruin everything. I want to go w/ a bright future ahead of me and my family supporting me. I don't want to be worrying about money the whole time! (and I don't want my family to either!)</p>

<p>I want to go to nyu really bad. but will i always be in debt? I've read a lot from bitter alumni who have tons of debt about how expensive it is and how it doesn't pay off. Is the crazy tuition worth it for anyone? does it help anyone get a great job? does anyone consider those 4 years a great experience? to me, living and studying in nyc would be just perfect but all the bad talk from people who actually went there really makes me nervous!</p>

<p>thanks in advance for your advice and sorry this was so long, I just have a lot of ?s!</p>

<p>Tell them to quit their jobs and get on every entitlement program the government offers. Soon, you’ll all get full-rides and be praised for succeeding in a hostile, and predatory environment.</p>

<p>Or loans.</p>

<p>Same situation here, I want to go to a private and our EFC is just above 55k, and they would have to spend a 3rd of their after tax income to send me there!</p>

<p>Normal people can’t afford NYU, but there are always loans!</p>

<p>^Kinda true.
The FA system has made it so its really on easy for the super poor or the super rich to attend.</p>

<p>I think anyone can figure the following concept out: </p>

<p>If you are going into a profession, or think you are going into a profession, where the average starting salary is low, it probably would be best if you didn’t go to a super-expensive school. Here’s an example. Suppose someone had to take on 100k in debt and knew they wanted to get a communications major. Chances are, you’re going to be paying back debt for years to come if you have a communications degree, where the average salary isn’t the highest. However, if you are thinking of going into something like finance where the average salary is higher, you can probably afford to take on that debt. </p>

<p>If you feel that money is going to always be in the back of your mind and it’s going to be a problem, then either take out loans you feel comfortable with, or maybe look at less expensive schools with more scholarships available. </p>

<p>By now, you’ve probably seen some of the horror stories about NYU grads that have gone into bankruptcy/major debt. Not to scare you, but if you feel that you could be headed down a path where you’re paying debt you’re whole life, it may be best to look at other options. NYU is a great school and more people than not end up having a great time, but it’s all up to you as to whether you feel NYU will set you up to have a prosperous career, or whether it could drown you in debt. Hope this helps!</p>

<p>Lots of external scholarships</p>

<p>When you have siblings in college you should get some financial aid from schools. I have two siblings in college which make it cheaper for me to go</p>

<p>We are middle class people, hard working college educated parents. Our D attends NYU. We have saved, worked overtime, taken on extra perdiem work and sacrificed so she can attend. We drive used cars and take one modest vacation per year. She has a workstudy job which helps. We are happy to do this because our parents did the same for us. Small payment for our blessings. But each family has to do what works for them. It is a mysnoma to think you get a free ride if you are poor. That is so untrue. The only way you will know if you can afford NYU is to apply. If you have other siblings in college,your EFC will be different. NYU can be very generous to those they really want. but you have to apply. Good luck.</p>

<p>My parents aren’t helping me pay for college. With the exception of spending money if my bank account goes negative (which happened to my brothers lol) I will be paying for my education after I graduate. Now, I am considering NYU because I want a career that’s lucrative. However, I can go to my state university and be able to pay it off in no time, or spend 20 years paying off NYU. My EFC is like $20,000, but I’m sure most of the other $40,000 will be in loans also. Two brothers also in college, one’s is $70,000 a year, but he’s in law school, and the other is $50,000 but he’s in film school. They have no scholarships. But I mean, it’s do able. I think a big factor if you can’t afford it is if you will be able to afford it down the road.</p>

<p>^^^ You post makes no sense. You claim that your parents will not paying for college and state that EFC (expected family contribution) will be $20,000. And that the OTHER $40,000 will be covered by loans. You make it sound like you expect the $20,000 to be covered by your parents, even though they supposedly aren’t paying, and you expect to cover the other $40,000/yr.</p>

<p>A lot of students think they can afford NYU on their own taking out enormous loans. If you’re expecting to take out $40,000-$60,000/yr in loans to attend. DO NOT. Go somewhere else. No degree is worth $120,000-$240,000 of debt. It’s also difficult to even borrow that much for an undergraduate degree.</p>

<p>Sorry if I make no sense, I don’t know a lot about financial aid. I got scholarships to all my other schools, but they weren’t as competitive as NYU, so I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work. But, like for Fordham, I got $10,500 and $1000 grant from FAFSA for filing early, but unless I manage to get more outside scholarship money, the rest is in loans. I’ve decided that Fordham (Lincoln center) isn’t the school for me, but that’s just my current situation. I have to see what my actually financial aid packages will be. (I only received mine for Drexel, which my scholarships covered all of tuition, just not room and board, and Rutgers, which the loans wouldn’t be too bad.)
Sorry if you misunderstood me NYU2013, but my parents won’t be paying for any. Like I stated. I don’t know what I want to do about college, but my brothers both are taking on a ton of loans.</p>

<p>Taking out a lot of loans is not a good idea. I’m sure you’ll find A LOT of posts on here about taking out loans and approximately how much a student should take out. Paying that much money for NYU is simply absurd. That’s a lot of debt, especially considering the current economy, etc.</p>

<p>I know it is, and in all honesty, I’m going to be devastated if I get in and have to turn NYU down. But I guess I can always try for the school of dentistry in 4 years! lol</p>

<p>

Crippling debt, usually.</p>

<p>Or wealth. Or maybe a combination with scholarships.</p>

<p>

Ha. Federal grants will give you a few thousand if you have a 0 EFC. Federal loans will give you a few more. I don’t see NYU giving out any full rides in financial aid grants. I like how you put poor people down, though. Classy.</p>

<p>You should calculate this before you consider taking on such a huge debt because a ridiculous college debt can destroy your life. Here is a quick analysis.</p>

<p>Assume you take out 200k over 4 years. To make it easier, I won’t compound interest. Also lets assume you get a job right out of college making 50k a year and you do not lose the job and will be making at least 50k for 10 years.</p>

<p>That 50k after tax and benefits will be about 37-40k. This means you are taking home about 3300 a month</p>

<p>A 200k loan means if you do a 10 year payment plan, you will be paying about 1600 a month.</p>

<p>This means you will have 1700 a month to pay for rent/food/transportation/enjoyment/and misc.</p>

<p>Obviously this is a very simple and doesn’t take into account a lot of things but you need to think it through. If you are making only that much, and you are taking on that much debt, when will you be able to buy a house? or buy a car?</p>

<p>thanks everyone for your answers. I think my parents will do what they can, but I don’t want them to have to stress about money…I’m worried about it but NYU is where I want to go…and I’d like to live in nyc for at least part of my life commentcomment (who knows if that will work out, but it’s a dream…) which is expensive, I know, so I want to be able to afford that but with all that debt I don’t see that happening…</p>

<p>Even if my parents paid 30k I’d have about 120k to pay off…wow that’s a lot…I don’t want to deal with all that debt but I want to go to nyu so bad. what a difficult situation. I could go to my state school (which is soooooo not for me) and graduate with a good degree and no debt but not like it (and after 4 years waiting to get out of high school, I don’t want to go to another school that’s not a great fit for 4 more years…I’ve been waiting for nyc!! I mean, I don’t even know if I’ll get in but if I do, I can’t see myself going anywhere else.) so much debt though…</p>

<p>yikes. I want to go so bad, but wow. is it worth it when you’re attending? are the dorms great? is the education and experience great? because if they’re taking 60k from me, I better be treated like royalty!! dang that is a lot of money. you’d think they’d be able to give more fin aid with all that tuition $ rolling in. nyu must have millions and millions.</p>

<p>NYU has 2.3 billion in endowment. We also probably have some of the most expensive real estate of any college. We also do not yet own our buildings. So we’re paying massive amounts to purchase them. We also have 40,000 students. That’s roughly $57,500 per student. That’s less than tuition. Thus, NYU is so expensive. And no, 150k-200k in debt is not worth it.</p>

<p>If NYC is really where you want to be, there are nore affordable options that might give you more money.</p>

<p>I don’t know how anyone with an EFC greater than 6k would be able to pay for NYU. >.< (My EFC is 7k)</p>

<p>Its a matter of perspective. Money is far from the be all end all of life… You need to decide if 4 years at NYU is worth it to you. If thats really where you want to be and you’ll be happier there than anywhere else, than whose to say that your happiness isn’t worth 60k a year? </p>

<p>At the end of the day no matter what you pay for your education no one will ever be able to take it from you, even in bankruptcy court. On average your always going to have a net gain with a degree as well.</p>

<p>[Is</a> your degree worth $1 million – or worthless? - MSN Money](<a href=“http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SavingForCollege/IsYourDegreeWorth1million.aspx?page=2]Is”>http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/CollegeAndFamily/SavingForCollege/IsYourDegreeWorth1million.aspx?page=2)</p>