How to pay?

[Vandad]

Hi

So imagine a college’s tution is 30k. And first years can only take out 5k in loans. There is still 25k left to pay. What are the options of paying that because I’m pretty sure the average American doesn’t have 25k laying in their savings for college funds?

[airway1]

Checkout the app scholly it will search for scholarships in the US

[Gumbymom]

1. College Savings Plan (529)
2. Regular Savings from Student and especially from Parent
3. Parent contribution from their yearly income
4. Merit scholarships from Colleges
5. Need based aid from Colleges
6. Federal need based aid if eligible (Pell Grants)
7. State grants ( for example Cal Grants for California Residents) if eligible
8. Federal student loans as mentioned above and the amount is $5500 for Freshman
9. Parent plus loans
10. Private loans

[austinmshauri]

If tuition is $30k the net costs are only $25k if you commute. Room and board will add ~$12k/year making the net costs for dorming ~$42k/year. Student options are limited. If parents can’t/won’t pay you need merit aid and/or need based grants. Those are hard to come by. That’s why so many kids start at a cc or commute to their local 4-year college.

Can your parents pay anything for college? You’re a senior, right? Do you have any affordable schools on your list?

[brantly]

@Vandad And that’s only for one year. College is four years. Minimum. And if you’re dorming at the college, there’s room and board for about another $12k to $15k. The options are:

1. Parents start saving at kid’s birth, socking money into a 529 account.
2. Go to community college close to home for the first two years, then transfer to your state university. That minimizes loan debt.
3. Go to a college where your ACT/SAT and GPA are in the top percentiles and where you are likely to get significant merit aid.
4. Run the NPC for each college you are interested in and see if and where you might qualify for need-based aid.

[HImom]

Also, when the student lives at home and goes to instate public U, tuition and expenses are lower than if they dorm. Parents who haven’t saved may need to take out some loans and also pay out of current income. Students can work over the summer and part time during the year.

Some students get AP credit or college credit at the same time as HS credit, so can require fewer credits when they start college. Some students go to CCollege 1st, to get credit at lower cost before transferring to a 4 year college to finish their degree.

[mom2collegekids]

1. College Savings Plan (529)
2. Regular Savings from Student and especially from Parent
3. Parent contribution from their yearly income
4. Merit scholarships from Colleges
5. Need based aid from Colleges
6. Federal need based aid if eligible (Pell Grants)
7. State grants ( for example Cal Grants for California Residents) if eligible
8. Federal student loans as mentioned above and the amount is $5500 for Freshman
9. Parent plus loans
10. Private loans

Yes!

But really, most college students aren’t going away to college. Most are commuting to local CCs or state schools simply because, as you mentioned, families typically can’t come up with $25k+ per year for college.

What is YOUR situation? How much can you contribute each year towards college? What are your child’s stats? What is the major and career goal?

[thumper1]

@Vandad is supposedly an instate STUDENT from California. And has been accepted to UCR and ASU…was thnking about engineering at that point…

I recently got into ASU as a Biomedical Engineering major. Do you think Ira A. Fulton school of engineering is better or Bourns College of Engineering. I’ve heard a lot of good things about ASU engineering and they are ranked higher than UCR in engineering. What do you guys think?

But wonders if he should appeal his rejection to CSULB in design…

I just got rejected from CSULB. My major was Design. I have a 3.5 CSU GPA and 1250 SAT and in-state. I saw another person get into biomedical engineering with a 3.6 and a 1270. These stats are really close. Should I appeal and chance my major or should I just take it?

And on your UCR Chances thread…this…

Hi what are my chances for Middle East and Islamic Studies with a 3.5 UC GPA and 1220 SAT. Also amazing EC and Essays.

And this…for CalPoly Pomona which is commuting distance from your house…did you get accepted there?

What are my chances with a 3.5 GPA and 1220 SAT for biotechnology major (impacted) and construction management as alternative major (non-impacted). Also in state, 40 minutes from the school.

And this from your Irvine thread…

What are my chances for Global Middle East Studies with a 3.5 UC GPA and 1220 SAT. Amazing EC and amazing essays which really makes my application look good

So to @Vandad have you had a conversation with your parents about college costs?

Do you know what they can or can’t afford?

Did you do this BEFORE you applied to an OOS public university?

Are you Calgrant eligible?

Are you low income?

Which CA publics did you apply to and get accepted?

Did you apply to any CA community colleges? For CA residents, who can commute to a CC, this is a cost effective way to go to college…go to CC first and save a lot of money…then finish your bachelors degree at a Ca public university.

Plus…maybe by doing this, you will actually figure out what you really want to study in college…

[Gumbymom]

@thumper1: OP has not been accepted to UCR since decisions are not posted yet. OP is hoping to be accepted to UCR so probably the reason for the question regarding the $30K tuition costs. OP has been accepted to ASU and denied at CSULB. Also has applied to Cal Poly Pomona but not sure of the other schools on the list.

@Vandad, if you could come back to your thread and clarify what you want to specifically know about paying for college, that would help the posters greatly, along with EFC, family income etc…