I don't understand my NYU financial aid summary.

<p>Aid Year </p>

<p>Award Description Category Offered Accepted
LSP Scholarship Scholarship 10,000.00 10,000.00<br>
Federal Work Study Work/Study 3,000.00 0.00<br>
Federal Perkins Loan Loan 2,400.00 0.00<br>
Stafford Loan 1 Loan 3,500.00 0.00<br>
Unsubsidized Loan 1 Loan 2,000.00 0.00<br>
Federal PLUS Loan 1 Loan 38,494.00 0.00<br>
Aid Year Totals 59,394.00 10,000.00 </p>

<p>Does this mean I'm only getting 10,000 a year?</p>

<p>Yes - 10k per year scholarship
The rest is a lot of loans</p>

<p>Yes, only $10K in grant aid (free money). The rest - $7900 in federal loans and $3K in work study. It’s a crime that the PLUS loan ($38K) shows up on a financial aid award. It’s a high interest loan that your parents will have to co-sign for.</p>

<p>NYU is known for leaving their students in massive debt. :(</p>

<p><a href=“Gawker”>Gawker;

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<p>Ashely519 -</p>

<p>You can’t afford NYU, but you can afford a box of Puffs Plus (they are the softest). Pop over to your closest 24-hour market or pharmacy and pick up a box. Cry your eyes out. Then when the box is empty, kick NYU to the curb and go find an even better future for yourself. They don’t deserve you.</p>

<p>It is criminal that a school would list the PLUS loan on a fin aid letter and try to dupe a family into thinking they got “real” aid. I do not understand why students who have need continue to apply to NYU. It has such a notorious reputation!</p>

<p>How long has NYU developed this horrible reputation of leaving many of their students in massive debt? Also where does PLUS Loan come from? Also can anyone answer my questions for this thread?</p>

<p><a href=“http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1123603-css-profile-tax-deductibles-interest-loans.html[/url]”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/financial-aid-scholarships/1123603-css-profile-tax-deductibles-interest-loans.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>Here’s how they come up with the PLUS loan amount: Total for the semester, minus the scholarship, minus the student loans and work study. That leaves $38K which the family will have to come up with. They’re suggesting the parents borrow it from the federal government.</p>

<p>While I completely agree, NYU is nortorius for FA, the Parent plus loan is there in most FA packages to help parents close the gap on tuition, room, board, books, transportation, computers and any other school related costs. You are not required to take any part of it or you can take a very small amount. You can get a private loan. The number given is what a family has to come up with in order for a student to attend. You can get that amount however you want,savings, 529 , friends, relatives, private loans, HELOC, etc. For many parents it is a good option with flexible terms who might not otherwise have the means to send there kids to college and that includes the affordable state schools. For many as well, with less than stellar credit, can send their kids to school. So it can be a positive for MANY families.</p>

<p>Sent from my ADR6300 using CC App</p>

<p>A PLUS loan of that size is NEVER a good idea.</p>

<p>Unless this family’s EFC is somewhere in the neighborhood of $38k, then this Plus loan is outrageous. </p>

<p>I’ve seen NYU give these outrageous FA packages to kids who have full Pell. OMG </p>

<p>So, Ashely…how much will your parents’ contribute? If they have no intention of paying/borrowing $35k per year, then you’ll have to go elsewhere.</p>

<p>Note: They’re also giving the student nearly $8k in loans.</p>

<p>Yes, NYU is stingy. There is no argument about that. Is it worth the cost and loan? The answer depends on your intended field of study. One example: The D of a friend went to NYU for business 5 years ago. She was determined to make it on the Wall Street. With PLUS loan and work part time on the Wall Street , she managed to graduate with a business degree and landed a job with GS. She could have gone to the state flagship and saved a load of money. Would that state flagship give her a better opportunity of landing the dream job at WS? May be not. With an average salary of over $60K and huge bonuses, she now can afford to take over the PLUS loan and pay it off in a few years. Now she is living large (or larger than most of her peers) at NYC. On the other hand, if her field of study was English, I am not sure whether she can do as well with the same amount of debt. For kids from an average family, choosing the right subject of study is very important in landing a good job. For those who are born rich, the priority may be a bit different.</p>

<p>My point was that it was confusing to the OP in the way the PLUS loan was packaged along with “real” aid. It’s a different kind of loan from the Stafford/Perkins loans and while one can argue that getting the Stafford/Perkins loans is not “real” financial aid too, at least these they are more favorable than the PLUS. Having not seen the letter exactly, I can only speculate from the description the OP provide. </p>

<p>Out of all the schools my D got into (7) only 1 (Brandeis) mentioned private or other loans that might be available to cover the remaining costs. And that information was separate from the real aid listing. It was very clear on all of the letters what her award would be which is how it should always be. With the NYU situation, it makes me think that they consciously go out of their way to confuse families so as to “snare” them. (I know this is cynical thinking, but the nightmare stories one hears…)</p>

<p>*With an average salary of over $60K and huge bonuses, she now can afford to take over the PLUS loan and pay it off in a few years. Now she is living large (or larger than most of her peers) at NYC. *</p>

<p>Her bonuses would have to be HUGE for her to afford to pay back big loans and live in NYC on a salary of $60k. $60k doesn’t go far in NYC. However, if Goldman Sachs is giving her $50k in bonuses, then perhaps she can make big loan payments. </p>

<p>BTW…you really don’t know how she’s living large…she could have a lot on credit cards. I have a nephew working at GS (Columbia and Stanford grad) and he’s making big bucks, he has no loans, and he can live large because he has no debt. If he had big debt, his lifestyle would be affected.</p>