How much debt is too much?

College Search & Selection
1

I never worried about paying for college before since my parents would always brush the issue off and assure me that the education was worth it. But now that college is approaching, I am noticing many students who’ve had to turn down their dream schools for cheaper options. I am also altering my list to only include colleges my parents are willing to pay for.

My dilemma is that even though my parents say they are fine with paying, they would have to take on debt. We don’t qualify for any financial aid, which is fine. But they also don’t have any savings.

I was planning on attending one of my top state schools (UVA/Tech), which all cost about $30,000/yr. (I’m considering a few LACs, but merit awards are too unreliable for me to consider in this post atm.) My parents can pay $10,000/yr out of pocket, and are willing to take out up to $20,000/yr in loans. I also know I can take out $5500/yr in loans and make $2000/yr by working a modest amount (I would like to be focusing on school and hopefully volunteering/interning when I don’t work).
I subtracted my parents’ $10,000 and my contributions, so the leftover cost would be about $12,500/yr. This would lead to my parents incurring about $50,000 in debt for all four years (plus my $22,000). Is this a reasonable amount to pay for my education? Is it crazy? I’m looking for context to compare my debt to besides my cousins (who are currently paying full price for state schools but have much wealthier parents and are becoming doctors).

The other options I’ve thought of so far include going to a lower ranked school or a CC. While the previous colleges were ranked top 50 (at least for engineering), most of these lower options are in the top 200. I have a few colleges in this ranking that I may attend if I earn any scholarship money.
And my safety is just out of the top 200. I already ran the merit aid calc and would get full tuition covered, plus it is only 2 mi from my house so I can walk there. I could also go to my CC for 2 years and transfer to a state school after saving some money on general classes (however, my parents believe I shouldn’t go anywhere less than my state schools and hate the stigma associated with CC. I do understand their sentiments, but the money…).

As for my major, I want to do civil or environmental engineering (growing more certain abt this…). The average starting salary is between $50,000-60,000 for graduates of my state schools, and my safety is $48,000. But the rate of employment out of Tech is around 90% while my safety is probably much lower…

Anyways, are the connections and quality of education worth the amount of debt my family would have if I go to a top 50 school? I have 2 siblings as well, one of which would need to go to college 2 years later. I don’t want to ruin their futures just because I “had” to go to the more expensive option.

Also atm I’m not concerned with fit. I’m willing to “suck it up” and go to a school that I may not like because I need to find schools that won’t leave me in excessive debt…

I’ve talked to my parents abt what I’ve gathered so far. They really wanted me to go to a top state school before but are a little more open to the lower ranked schools now that I’ve showed them some numbers. I’m still really confused and naive about debt and the concept that college is too expensive (haha… I’m such a sheltered kid…), but any help would be appreciated.

2

If your parents do not really have the money, it can be financially risky for them to take loans or cosign loans for you. Some examples of the risks:

a. Your parents may run out of borrowing capacity in your third or fourth year, forcing you to drop out of college.
b. Your parents may depend on support from you after graduation to pay off the loans, which can limit both your and their life options when it comes to costs.

3

I would say your parents cannot afford it but you can. You could always pay them back meaning that you would incur $72,000 in debt. Assuming you start at $50,000 per year, calculate a future annual budget including taxes and insurance to figure out your disposable income. That will give you an idea of just what you (and your parents) are getting into.

Look at schools that give good merit aid based on stats, i.e. automatic merit aid for all 4 years. For example, if you were starting this fall at Alabama and you had good grades and an ACT of 32+ then you would get a full tuition scholarship and pay the rest. Ends up being less expensive than your state school. That would be ~$40,000 cheaper over the course of 4 years leaving your family with a debt of ~$32,000 which is much more manageable. Do the math on that debt as well and compare. You will see a tangible lifestyle difference for years to come.

4

<<<
my parents say they are fine with paying, they would have to take on debt. We don’t qualify for any financial aid, which is fine. But they also don’t have any savings.
<<<

I wouldn’t tell you to say this to your parents, but you may need to be the adult here and save them from disaster (or from becoming a future burden TO YOU when it’s time for them to retire and they have no savings and possibly still big debt.

They don’t have savings but they don’t qualify for any aid. That speaks volumes but particularly it says that they are likely lousy with money, and therefore likely lousy with projecting how $80k of education debt will affect them.

@WISdad23 <<<< You could always pay them back meaning that you would incur $72,000 in debt. >>>

Sorry, but that is dangerous and risky advice. This student may not be able to afford the debt. And…


[QUOTE=""]
Your parents may run out of borrowing capacity in your third or fourth year, forcing you to drop out of college. <<<

[/QUOTE]

^^^ this is very likely going to happen.

5

<<<<
As for my major, I want to do civil or environmental engineering (growing more certain abt this…). The average starting salary is between $50,000-60,000 for graduates of my state schools, and my safety is $48,000. But the rate of employment out of Tech is around 90% while my safety is probably much lower…
<<,

You have an ACT 33 and a 4.0 GPA

You’ll qualify for the following at Bama…

Presidential Scholar

A student with a 33-36 ACT or 1490-1600 SAT score and at least a 3.5 GPA will be selected as a Presidential Scholar and will receive $100,000 over four years ($25,000 per year). Students graduating with remaining scholarship semester(s) may use these monies toward graduate school and/or law school study at UA.

Plus as an eng’g major, you’d get an add’l 2500 per year.

Your remaining costs would be about $15k per year. Your parents and you can easily cover that with little/no debt.

6

@mom2collegekids yup, you’re right on the mark about my parents…

Thank you for the info. The extra engineering money is nice too. Bama sounds like the best option atm!

7

"@WISdad23 <<<< You could always pay them back meaning that you would incur $72,000 in debt. >>>

Sorry, but that is dangerous and risky advice. This student may not be able to afford the debt. And…"

Yes! I meant that to be self-evident.

8

I quite agree that having parents with no savings and two more to go to college borrow $50,000 is a bad idea. And borrowing $70,000 yourself, or saying you’ll pay back your parents tens of thousands is also a bad idea.

As far as how much debt is too much: You mention $22,000. The amount of federal loans you can take goes up each year, so that is really about $27,000, which is paying back close to $300 a year for 10 years. Conceivably, you could have your parents cosign for another $10,000, which makes it something like $400 a month. That amount might or might not be a good idea, and anything more is very unlikely to be a good idea.

Alabama seems a good option, though I think you could at least consider Virginia Tech. Right now, Alabama’s direct cost (tuition, fees, room, board) is about $42,000, and Tech is $22,000. With $27,500 in scholarship, that puts Alabama at about $7,500 cheaper the first year. Part of that difference would be made up by possibly $1000 more in transportation and other expenses going to school much farther away. If you apply to Tech by Dec. 1, you also might get a merit scholarship from them. That might only be $3000 or $5000 a year, but that could make a difference. (Though scholarships might be hard to get for engineering students, as that is more competitive at Tech.) The point is that you might end up in a position where your parents would need to decide if they are willing to come up with a few thousand more a year, and you are willing to borrow a few thousand more. It depends on how you feel about all your options.

For engineering students, UVa seems to be at least $7000 more a year than Tech (and I don’t think merit scholarships at UVa are all that likely), so that really doesn’t seem to be an option. Going to your safety for two years and then transferring to a school like Tech might be a possibility, though.

9

VA CC’s have guaranteed transfers in to VA unis with a high enough GPA. Look to see what the requirements are and if there are restrictions on major.



That would also be an option.

10

Apply widely. Apply to Tech and a few other Virginia universities that offer your major, apply to universities with big merit scholarships (UAlabama Main and Huntsville, UT Dallas…). If you end up with several affordable universities, won’t that be a good problem to have?

11

@PurpleTitan My parents are still very against CC. The main reason is that they think I’ll lose a lot of my knowledge and won’t be challenged enough. They’re worried that when I transfer, I won’t be prepared at all.





If I do end up staying home, I think it’s worth it for me to just go to my safety. They offer engineering, and since I won’t have to pay room and board or tuition, my costs are only abt $2000/yr for administration fees/books. I’ll try to transfer out from there in 2 years. And if I can’t/don’t want to anymore, I can probably get a few local jobs with NASA, etc. The school has relatively strong community connections although the education is only adequate…








@MYOS1634 that sounds like the best plan. I don’t think Tech will offer me any scholarships, but I’ll just try…


Do you know of any other big merit schools atm? And thanks for the suggestions!

12

^ That’s pretty silly. It seems that your parents are operating under a bunch of misconceptions.



One question to explore is whether your safety is actually more rigorous than your CC.

13

@PurpleTitan I know it’s silly. I tried to convince them otherwise, and it’s been hard enough for them to budge and let me go to my safety (and they’re alumni there!) Is there any way to dispel some of their misconceptions? Success rates of transfers maybe…

Anyways, engineering at my safety is pretty decent, and overall the school is a lot more rigorous than the closest CC.

14

Here are some lists of large merit scholarships, but check on school web sites, because some have changed since the lists were made (in particular, the Alabama scholarships are harder to get now than when the lists were made):

http://automaticfulltuition.yolasite.com/ (potential safeties if you have the stats)
http://competitivefulltuition.yolasite.com/ (potential reaches)

15

Ask them how much they want you to end up at VTech/UVa and how much they would pay for it vs. going to CC and then transferring to one of those schools.

16

So your parents have laid out all of their finances with you? They don’t have any savings or they told you they don’t have any savings?

Most parents I know don’t put it all out there with their kids, you need them to be honest about what they can and want to spend. it is not your job to protect their retirement, that is theirs, as is the choice of what they can and want to spend on college. Maybe they want to invest in you. If you don’t live up to your potential and make what you could some day, how does that help anyone?

Point is, on here many will tell you to go to the cheapest place possible (cc), and that could be the worst suggestion. Posters have no idea what your parent’s want for you, or their real financial picture, and maybe you don’t either. This is a conversation to have with them. There’s a lot of people that don’t believe in cc for their kids and that is a personal choice as well. Not right, not wrong, just personal. There are people that would sell the kitchen sink for their kid and find great joy in doing so, and others that won’t give up their Mercedes or Botox for their kids. Again, it’s all personal.

Look for merit but talk to your parents.

17

@scotlandcalling I have tried talking to them, and I just did again until I couldn’t handle it anymore. They’re so indecisive, and that’s partly why I turned to this forum…

“Yes, Alabama is a good backup option. But no, you shouldn’t be going anywhere less than your in state schools. We can only afford to pay $10,000/yr right now. But oh, we’ll just get an extra job/sell the car/work harder starting next year.”

They keep asking why I am putting myself down and why I don’t want to go to a “better” school.

Of course, I want to go to the best school I can get into. Of course, I want to go to my dream school. Of course, I don’t want to be compared to my peers when I choose to attend a “lesser” school. Of course, I want to live up to my full potential.

But I have to be reasonable, and they can’t seem to understand that. I don’t want to be an excessive burden on my family. What if I fail? What if I can’t do well in a more competitive school?
If they won’t keep track of their money, then I have to. I don’t want to be swimming in debt. I don’t want them to be worked to death under the stress of paying for my school. I want my little brother and sister to be able to attend college, even if they get to go to a more competitive school than me in the end.

I’m trying my best not to let my peers’ opinions get to me. I’m trying not to value myself solely on the ranking of the college I’ll attend. I’m really trying to make my own decisions. I want to be responsible and mature. I know I will work hard wherever I go, and I’ll try my best to reach success from anywhere. I just wish my parents would believe in me a little bit more…

(haha sorry this is so emotional… I’m just a little dissapointed/stressed rn…)

18

If your parents use up all of their money and their borrowing capacity on your college costs, what will they say to your younger siblings when they have no money and no borrowing capacity to pay for their college costs?

19

I’m impressed at your forethought and unselfishness. VA Tech will only cost about $26,000 per year. They show $1150 for textbooks but my son only spent about $250 by leasing the textbooks from Amazon. With your stats I would be surprised if they did not offer you some money. There are also generous Alumni scholarships. Do not apply anywhere ED. It takes away the incentive to “bribe” you to attend their school. Apply to EA schools and you can apply RD to Tech but very early. VA Tech was the only state school that only offered ED and RD.

Fill out the FAFSA in October with your parents 2016 tax returns.

There are several other schools in VA that offer engineering and apply there too. My son knows a middle class (not eligible for federal FA) student who was offered a full ride to VCU Engineering. Apply to community college during the application cycle because he has another friend who is affluent but received a full tuition scholarship to our local CC. She was notified in April.

As you know you can take out $5500 in loans freshman year. I am averse to taking a lot of loans but I think your major will enable you to pay them back quickly. Try to relax and start thinking about all the application essays you need to write. Hint: do the optional essays. Good luck.

20

Do you live in Virginia? If you or your parents are going into a lot of debt, I would want it to be for someplace higher ranked than UVA for engineering.