<p>I have an EFC of 0. I was accepted to Pace in NYC with an almost full tuition scholarship. However, I had my heart set on Fordham. From them I recieved 31k in grant/scholarships, and 5k in loans, leaving me to cover $19,910k a year. So, I would basically graduate 100k debt. Sounds like an easy choice, right? Take the Pace money and run. But it gets trickier! My grandparent has offered me $50,000 for school. So that leaves me with $50,000 in debt. And I'm assuming my parents (who are divorced) can contribute 5k a year, which leaves me with only a $25k debt. I'm undecided in what I want to do, so I'm extremely nervous about taking out loans. Do you guys think 25k is too much debt? If I worked throughout college, how much do you think I could knock off? Do you think I could appeal and get a little more money? </p>
<p>I'm full of questions, the news came as a shock as pretty much every other school I applied to offered me close to full tuition. Fordham was the only one that required the CSS though, so that might have affected this.. I don't know what to do guys! Please help.</p>
<p>My daughter was in the same situation and we opted for Pace, debt free. The gap is just too much and if you are going on for a masters or more, you will want to come out of undergrad as debt free as possible. Did you get into the honors college at Pace? For us, that was the selling point over Fordham’s debt.</p>
<p>OK, Pace gives you near full tuition, but you still have other expenses, especially if you are not staying at home. College tution goes up every year, so the 19,900 may be higher next year. Also remember, you may not pay interest but interest accrues from day 1. Take your grand parents money and use it against Pace, the remaining you can try to use it for graduate. If you go to Fordham, your actual debt will be more than $25000 when you graduate.</p>
<p>You can certainly try to appeal for more aid and Fordham may give you a few thousand in extra grants if your stats are high. When figuring what your actual need will be, you should look carefully at what their COA includes. It’s generally not difficult to save money on the unbilled expenses (books, personal, transportation) and even R&B often have some wiggle room. I think most students can earn enough to cover all their unbilled expenses each year just by working summers. If you work 8-10 hours/week during the school year you can probably save enough to reduce your loans by $2K or so per year. If you are fortunate enough to secure an RA position after your first year, that would cover the cost of your room (but these positions are competitive). </p>
<p>Only you can decide if Fordham is worth $20K debt for, but imo it’s not an unreasonable amount if you’re sure that’s a much better fit for you than Pace. Finaid.org has loan calculators you can play with, but my guesstimate is that amount of loans would produce a monthly payment under $250.</p>
<p>The student mentions that the parents are divorced. If Fordham required the NCP’s info, then that’s probably why the amount expected is higher. The FAFSA only schools only used one parent’s income (likely the mom’s lower income).</p>
<p>If the total debt of four years is 25K, it’d be manageable for many entry level jobs. In fact, I think it’s about average debt for college students these days. I could be wrong. However, your job prospect should be one of the major deciding factors. For example, if your entry level job is only 30K/year, that debt is a heavy burden. If you want to attend grad or pro school, that debt could balloon to some significant amount if it is unsubsidized.</p>
<p>My grandparent has offered me $50,000 for school. So that leaves me with $50,000 in debt. And I’m assuming my parents (who are divorced) can contribute 5k a year, which leaves me with only a $25k debt.</p>
<p>You need to be certain of this. You also need to get assurances from your parents that they will each contribute $2500…which, BTW, would leave you with $30k in debt (not $25). You also have to realize that costs go up every year, so the family contribution may go up.</p>
<p>alf56- thank you for the advice. I was invited into the honors program. Does your daughter like Pace? Does she feel challenged? It seems to have mixed reviews on some websites.
mom2collegekids- I am certain my parents can pay this, it’s the same amount they pay for my highschool now. They may be able to go a little higher, but I would rather take a loan before I asked for more- they are both struggle with money.</p>
<p>@hopeful I’m in almost the EXACT situation as you. I prefer Fordham because I’ve heard mixed reviews about Pace, but of course to make the decision more difficult, Pace offered me a 30k scholarship (compared to Fordham’s 15k).</p>
<p>I was accepted into Pace’s Honors Program as well, which is probably where I’ll end up. I’m in the same boat as you though…just wanted to let you know so you don’t feel like you’re the only one!</p>
<p>hopeful - she is in the same boat - beginning as a freshman in Sept so we don’t know yet about how challenging it will be. There are other kids from our town in the honors program and they feel it is challenging. I believe being in the honors college at Pace will look just as good or better on paper then being “one of the bunch” at Fordham, although I love Fordham’s campus. In my opinion there will be many kids in the same boat as her (and you) - accepted to Fordham, but found Pace to be more affordable. They seem to give a lot of money to the top tier of their applicants, which is why they will get a good amount of top tier kids in, especially in this economy.</p>
<p>There is a way to avoid the potential FAFSA impact that is often recommended and is perfectly legal. Student/parents take loans for the $12500 and grandparents pay them off. There is a relatively small cost for doing this but there may be additional tax benefits from this method.</p>
But even better is for the grandparents to send the money directly to the school when the bill arrives: No FAFSA impact and no gift tax impact. Forgiveness of a $50,000 loan has potential gift tax implications. Further, if no interest is collected on the loan, the government could look back and declare it a gift, or declare the imputed interest to be a gift.</p>
<p>I think there is a FAFSA impact if the GPs pay the school directly. I think there is a question on FAFSA about “others” providing money. Isn’t there?</p>