How much is "too much"

Paying for College
1

<p>In short and general terms: </p>

<p>What is your opinion on where to draw the line for school loans? Assuming all is being paid back by the student, how much is "too much?" Some loans can be good to give a student motivation but too much can obviously be debilitating. </p>

<p>In long and more personal terms:</p>

<p>My EFC is ~25k and I did not get any need-based aid, but I got accepted to the colleges of engineering at the following schools and the merit based aid is as follows:</p>

<p>Penn State Main (IS): $0
Pitt (IS): $0
Clemson (OOS): $12,500
UMD (OOS): $12,000
Temple (IS): Full-tuition</p>

<p>My parents are unable/unwilling to contribute anything to the cost of college. I was just curious about everyone's thoughts on where the "worth it" line is. As an engineering major, I probably won't be attending graduate school and the connections that I make in college will most likely have an impact on my job search when I graduate. I live within 25 miles of Temple, where the reputation is probably better than anywhere else, and still people don't have many good things to say about the engineering program. It's known as a relatively small program and not really a focus of the school at all. I just worry that the internship opportunities and research and resources in general will be at a minimum at a school like this. It is ABET accredited, but with a couple acceptances to much stronger, engineering-focused schools it's hard to convince myself that all ABET accreditation is the same.</p>

<p>On top of that is the personal reasons. Temple was a safety school, not where I always dreamed of going. I always wanted to go to a nice, big school with a beautiful campus and plenty of opportunities...not a school with questionable security in the middle of a major city. </p>

<p>Sorry to any Temple supporters, I have nothing against the school. I just feel like I've worked hard enough to give myself an advantage and now money will (at least in my head) "re-level the playing field," if you will. </p>

<p>Just for reference, since it always seems to come up anyway:
SAT: 2240 - 800 Math 680 Reading 760 Writing
GPA: 3.85 UW</p>

2

<p>Rather than tell us how much merit aid you received, can you list how much you would have to borrow for each school? That would be much more useful.</p>

<p>Would you live at home if you went to Temple? If so, that seems like the most affordable option.</p>

<p>My opinion is that a student shouldn’t borrow more than the Stafford loan limits, which is a total of around $28K for the entire four years. If you were going into a low paying field, such as the arts, I would not even borrow that much.</p>

3

<p>I’m another one who doesn’t think a student should go over the Stafford limits. And on your own, you can’t anyway. You’d need a co-signer to take out more than just the Stafford loans. It’s hard to evaluate your situation without knowing the actual costs - the merit awards are only helpful in the context of your full COA. Also, do you have ANY money to put toward your college costs other than loans?</p>

<p>FWIW, one of my brothers went to Temple. It was far from his first choice school, and he had gotten into schools that were very highly ranked in his field. However, Temple was the only school he could afford. He commuted to Temple, crossed his fingers about the neighborhood (it was worse back then) and made the most of it. Bottom line - he’s done very well for himself with his Temple education. Your success will have much more to do with YOU than with the college you attend.</p>

4

<p>As others have said, it does not really matter what you got. What matters is what you will have to pay. Federal student loans are very restricted in amount: $5500 freshman year, $6500 sophomore year, $7500 the next 2 year. Anything above that would be a PLUS loan which is a loan parents can take out, or a private loan which requires a cosigner who is equally responsible for the loan.</p>

<p>So the question is, which school can you afford to go to with $5500 a year in loans?</p>

<p>I also agree that the federal loan max is more than enough. You are stuck paying that every month for 10 years after you graduate. My daughter has less than the max and has about $250 a month in loan payments. She does not make much and her husband is a grad student. Now that reality is hitting, she is quite stressed about the current loan payments and worries a lot about the next few years as she does not know where they will end up once her husband graduates or what their income will be.</p>

5

<p>

It’ll be very difficult for you go to college on your own.</p>

6

<p>I should clarify, my parents do not have savings and are not willing to take out loans that they pay back. BUT, last year, they were denied for the PLUS loan, so I got $9,500 in federal loans and my grandmother was able to cosign another loan for the remainder. That was for Penn State, before I decided to take a gap year (another story for another day). </p>

<p>I have made some money this year since graduating high school and I will be able to contribute, in all likelihood, $3000 a year from my own earnings. It’s hard to say the exact COA for all the schools. UMD and Penn State are almost identical after the scholarship from Maryland. After my contribution, I think they would be in the 20-22K range at the most. Virginia Tech and Clemson are also similar, probably closer to 28-30K. Of course, these numbers are assuming I don’t get any future scholarships and tuition doesn’t change.</p>

7

<p>I suggest Temple, from what you are saying. All the other schools are too expensive. I know that this is probably not what you want to hear, but it’s the truth. If you work hard, you will have opportunities at Temple.</p>

8

<p>Congratulations on your awards! A full tuition scholarship is terrific; for a national university like Temple, fantastic. That it’s so close to you and because you had your sights elsewhere, it may seem anticlimatic and disappointing to you, but, truly getting that kind of a package from a school with that kind of name recognition is a rare thing. You have done very well for yours.</p>

<p>If you are truly going to get absolutely nothing in terms of financial support from your parents, then you have to go with what you do have. It’s going to be a tough go to get through school as an engineering major. Worrying about the finances makes it all the more difficult. Though job opportunies and pay are good for engineering majors, starting out with a huge loan commitment does not make it easy. You are not necessarily going to have companies lining up to hire you. The process can take longer and the pay be lower than anticipated. My son graduated from a top engineering school, and many engineers were disappointed with the ways things worked at first. Now more than 10 year later, they are all employed, but when you have the loan monkey on your back, and your parents are not going to be able to help out much financially, you won’t be on the same playing field as your coworkers, competitors and classmates. You can see it already. You have a great offer, a good place to go, and you are not happy. So it goes with a lot of things. So do understand that graduating with a lot of debt does put you behind the 8 ball. </p>

<p>I don’t always discourage debt. With parents who can help out and will do so, it’s a whole other story. But if it’s all on you, well, you are already getting a taste of what that’s like. So do yourself a favor and at least have as little in loans as you can, because it’s gonna all be on you. And employment, pay , things don’t always turn out the way you expect them to do so. If they do, so much the sweeter, but you don’t want to be in trouble as some are, when things do not have exactly the way you had planned. Disappointed, yes, but having to pound salt is a whole other thing.</p>

<p>I think Temple is a terrific school. My DH’s long time co worker’s DD graduated from the honors program there, and enjoyed her college experience. That you can go there tuition free opens up some opportunities for you , as you don’t have to be strapped from the get go.</p>

<p>You’ve done well. Try to enjoy what you did get.</p>

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<p>I can’t believe this is a real question. You already owe $9.5K after one year. Your parents were denied a plus loan. Where are you going to get the $?? Take the Temple scholarship.</p>

10

<p>Temple. Isn’tworth it to be in debt…and getting the necessary loans you need might be a problem. Temple is a great school. You can get your own research/internship opportunitites. Spend your winter break researching what is available and send in as many applications as you can.</p>

11

<p>

No OP

,so he didn’t owe anything</p>

12

<p>I truly appreciate all the responses from everyone. It seems the answer is pretty clear. I think in the end I will choose Temple. It just gets harder and harder everyday when friends commit to the schools they wanted to go to and I feel like I have to settle. I guess it’s just a part of life though and I just have to do the best with what I have. I am appreciative of the offer from Temple and I’m gonna go there and do everything I can. Again, thank you very much to everyone for your input</p>

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<p>Again, congrats. Please believe me when I say what you have achieved in getting such a generous package from a major university with name recognition is a big deal. It’s even a bigger deal in that you are truly going to be taking care of college on your own. It is a huge challenge, so please do not make it even more difficult Very few 18-22 can do this, without heavy duty parental help, some of them taking the risky path of having parents co sign major loans. Loans just put off the inevitable painful paying . You’ll be in better shape than many of your friends years later when they are repaying their loans or their parents are hurting because of big time loans. I have a child who is nearing age 30 now so I can see what happens more than 10 years after the point where you are. Those who borrowed too much and whose parents over extended themselves have some real trouble now that they have to pay the piper.</p>

14

<p>Congrats on the scholarship OP. Good luck.</p>