<p>I'll be going to UC Berkeley, Computer Science major this fall. International student. Was wondering - a. If I can get a student loan just for my final year at Cal? b. How big a burden would it be?</p>
<p>Finaid.org has a loan calculator that lets you plug in the loan amount, interest rate etc and gives you the monthly payment and the recommended salary required to be able to pay it.</p>
<p>[FinAid</a> | Calculators | Loan Calculator](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>http://www.finaid.org/calculators/loanpayments.phtml)</p>
<p>For a $50,000 loan (assuming any interest during school has been paid and not capitalized which would increase the starting debt)at 6.8% interest paid over 10 years the monthly payment is $575 a month - for 10 years! - with a recommended salary of $69,000. Is it likely you will start with a $69,000 salary. </p>
<p>Think about your long term plans rather than just the next 4 years and what else you may like to do in the following 10 years - such as buy a house, nice car, nice vacations, maybe get married. The debt will limit your options. You will be in your 30s by the time it is paid off (assuming the 10 years).</p>
<p>Also, the $575 is after tax money. I would be about $700-$800 pretax for somebody making $69K. It works out to be about $10K(roughly) pre-tax per year.</p>