<p>I'm scared about how much in debt I'll be when I graduate college. I'm attending a state school (rutgers in new brunswick) in the spring and I had to take 13000 dollars in loans for ONE semester. I'm going to need about 8 semesters to graduate, so I'll be about 95k~ in debt when I leave college. That's a lot of money. Is it even worth going to college with these sort of debt? I'm so screwed in the future if I continue college. If I'm lucky i'll land a 40k-50k year salary job, work hard, and be 10 years paying off the loans living in a closet.
I'm overreacting yea, but i'm pretty scared.</p>
<p>Well I have a good shot at going to UIUC for free, room and board and all, so hopefully no debt…then its on to Grad/Law school so that’ll hurt me.</p>
<p>Undergrad: hopefully <$10,000 (if I get into a single one of my match or reach schools)
Grad: not sure, hopefully <$45,000 (there doesn’t seem to be much financial aid for grad school…)
PhD: $0</p>
<p>So, my minimum looks like about $60,000.</p>
<p>12K Undergrad
Hoping to also keep graduate school under 45K – not sure how that is going to happen.</p>
<p>joho…</p>
<p>That’s too much debt for an undergrad. Do you have any cheaper alternatives? Do you have any idea of what your repayment will be?</p>
<p>Who’s been co-signing those loans and will they continue?</p>
<p>**Borrowing $25,000 per year ($100K total after 4 years), then your monthly payment would be: $1,150.28</p>
<p>You’d need to soon be earning a salary of $138k to comfortably pay that off.</p>
<p>Total payments each year: $13,803.36 for TEN LONG YEARS**</p>
<p>johokat, is Rutgers instate for you? If so, it seems like alot of extra debt is being taken on which is never a good idea. If not, I would rethink this plan and find a school that’s more affordable to you - imo $95K in undergrad debt is staggering and could severely limit your options in the future. If you decide to stay at Rutgers, you might consider applying for an RA position for next year, working several summer jobs and getting an on campus position during the school year, take summer classes at a CC to reduce the number of semesters you’ll need to graduate, and anything else that could reduce your need to borrow so extensively.</p>
<p>In general, if you’re receiving financial aid, at many schools you can expect somewhere around $25,000 in “financial aid” loans (because it’s arranged through the school with no co-signers) over four years (at a few schools you can expect $0 or somewhere in between). Some (many?) students need additional loans to help pay their EFC, but this is not considered financial aid.</p>
<p>It is sounding like the OP is OOS for Rutgers. </p>
<p>What is your home state? I really, really think you need to find a less expensive (but very good) option for your education. </p>
<p>Let me tell you this…the son of my friend went to USC (Calif) for his first semester on student loans. He started to panic about the future. He transferred to a state school and graduated. Then his job paid for his masters at USC. So, he’s still a USC grad, and he only had that one loan to pay off from his first semester of undergrad.</p>
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<p>Well, Rutgers’ cost of attendance for instate students is ~$23,000 per year, so it doesn’t seem like he’s out of state… I know personally that the UCs are roughly the same price.
[Rutgers:</a> Office of Financial Aid](<a href=“http://studentaid.rutgers.edu/LoanPlusHowMuch.asp]Rutgers:”>http://studentaid.rutgers.edu/LoanPlusHowMuch.asp)</p>
<p>I remember I was reading a website put up by the UC system that showed how students with different family incomes were paying for their UC education… when they get to the $100,000 family income person, they show how he joined ROTC to cover his fees (how realistic is that?). When they get to the above $100,000 person, it shows that the student is expected to contribute about $7,000-$8,000, but that her parents “luckily” took out a $15,000 loan for her to attend. I always get mildly annoyed whenever I see the page.</p>
<p>I found the link - it’s kind of interesting:
[UC</a> Student Profiles - "You can, we can help: meeting the financial challenges of college](<a href=“http://www.ucop.edu/ucal/admissions/payingforuc/youcan/welcome1.html]UC”>http://www.ucop.edu/ucal/admissions/payingforuc/youcan/welcome1.html)</p>
<p>thanks for the suggestions everyone
I have two older siblings in college and my parents tell me we have to take that many loans in order for us to go to college.
I’m instate and all those loans cover everything from tuiton to room and board.
is it really that uncommon?</p>
<p>are my parents doing anything wrong with financial aid or anything like that?</p>
<p>Well, something isn’t adding up right if you’re instate and Rutgers COA is $23K per year but you’re borrowing $13K per semester (or $26K per year). That means you’re not getting any financial aid at all and aren’t covering any costs, even the indirect expenses like books and transportation, out of pocket. Is that right? Is there a reason for that? With 3 kids in school it seems like you should be eligible for some aid unless your parent’s income/assets are very high. In which case, why isn’t there anything available for education?</p>
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<p>According to the Rutgers website, the above is the total cost of attendance for the year. What is the “extra” $1800 or so being used for? Are your parents contributing ANYTHING towards your college education? Did you work last summer, and are you working now? Did you apply for financial aid through Rutgers?</p>
<p>Why aren’t you and your sibs filling out FAFSA ? </p>
<p>Yes. That amount of debt is not common for undergrad for the simple reason that payback is unaffordable.</p>
<p>Why aren’t you and your sibs filling out FAFSA ? </p>
<p>Yes. That amount of debt is not common for undergrad for the simple reason that payback is unaffordable.</p>
<p>Who exactly is taking out these loans? I would hope that YOU (the student) have the Stafford loans which are in your name. Those amount to about $5500 (I think that is the correct amount) for this year. BUT the other $7500…whose loans are those? Did you take loans in your name with your parent as a co-signer or did your PARENTS borrow that amount?</p>
<p>I think the amount of the Stafford loans for four years is a reasonable amount of debt. Anything above that is quite a lot of debt, in my opinion.</p>
<p>My parents did the FAFSA aid. My mother claims it’s been done. I also believe it was done because on my enrollment pathway, the finicial aid section has been checked off, as it being done. </p>
<p>The loans were co-signed by my parents</p>
<p>Isn’t financial aid just loans aswell? I understand It can give grants… but from what I hear that’s pretty rare…</p>
<p>My mother acts as if this is normal but I do not hear anyone else in this severe of debt.</p>
<p>Not normal</p>
<p>I’m in the NJ/PA area. Before CC I would not have found it abnormal. CC has enlightened me.</p>
<p>Aside from our area having high tuition for State schools as compared to other areas, we also have a high cost of living (not as ridic. as some, but higher than the US average). </p>
<p>FOLKS – BE AWARE - That 22,262 is not COA - it EXCLUDES books & lab fees!</p>
<p>OP – Do you have a car? Dropping a car & the required insurance should reduce expenditures by at least $5,000/yr. given the high insurance costs.</p>
<p>With the exception of the Presidential, Rutgers has very little in Merit. Even the NMF is only $1,000/yr for 3 yr.</p>
<p>Assuming you are a fresh., you may want to consider community college and then reapplying under the NJ STARS program. You would need to keep GPA up for this.</p>
<p>STARS - nevermind – I see that you transferred from CC to Rutgers before receiving Associates which negates the STARS grants.</p>
<p>Will you be able to get thru Rutgers in 5 semesters? That will certainly help the amount of outstanding debt after graduation. I don’t really understand why you are planning on 8 semesters since you came in with a large number of transfer credits.</p>