<p>Suny New Paltz is a good school- so if your folks can manage the $12K per year that is great. Generally SUNYs don’t give generous FA packages (in our experience anyway) unless you are a tippy, top student. With this package, estimating costs remain about the same over 4 years (which will not likely happen), you could graduate owing about $22K. That is not exhorbitant, but you might want to look at what your estimated payments would be every month after graduation, before you take on this debt. Not suggesting you reconsider, but just know what you are getting into.<br>
Don’t take this as discouraging you from going to SUNY New Paltz- this was my D’s (and my) second choice last year.</p>
<p>Thank you for the kind words. It seems like everyone here is pushing me into a CC. It’s not that it’s a bad experience or anything, it’s just not what I want to do. Besides, New Paltz is a great school that can offer alot more than a CC, and I want the college experience. </p>
<p>That being said, I’ll probably live on campus for a maximum of two years. The room and board is $10k, which is TWICE the tuition cost and overall what kills you. Does anyone know in general how much I’d save if I lived in an apartment or house with friends and didn’t go off the school’s meal plan? I’m guessing I’d save at least half that 10k.</p>
<p>For this past academic year- room $6490 and board $3460. I am sure that you could save some- but off campus apartments would be 12 months of rent not just 9-10 months that you are in school. I would guess that you would not save that much on board if you were cooking healthy stuff for yourself and not just junk. $346 per month for 10 months to cover food, soap, paper towels, light bulbs (and maybe the kitchen stuff you 'd need) is not that much overall.
Good luck.</p>
<p>Another thought-if you live off campus, will you need a car to get to class? That’s a major expense.</p>
<p>That’s true, although I could just find a house near campus and walk to class. The town and campus is really small. Although I’m not sure in the long run if I’d be saving more money living off-campus or just staying on. A good thing about my school is that dorming is reserved throughout your four years, so if I find that it will cost more to actually rent a house I can just stay on campus.</p>
<p>And I just called the school, he gave me a few options. Told me my estimated total cost (with work study, TAP and everything) is $17,250. Not too bad, really. Does anybody know the details of work study? Like, how many hours a week and such?</p>
<p>Work study earnings depend on the position you apply for and get. The number of hours for which you are hired vary by the needs of the department/service etc. (e .g some departments need phones answered for 3 hours a week, and a library might need desk help for 8 hours a week.) So your hours depend on which job you apply for and then are hired for. Typically the work study award is the maximum amount you can make for the year from the work study job. If you figure a semester is 14 weeks then you can make about $500 maximum over those weeks, so that is about $35/wk. If your hourly rate is $8 then that is a little over 4 hours a week. Most work study jobs are in the 3-10 hour per week range from what I hear.</p>
<p>The important thing you need to know about work study is that it’s not guaranteed. You will have to find a job on campus. It’s your responsibility and the FA office won’t help you. Some campuses have plenty of w-s jobs; other don’t. No idea which category New Paltz falls into.</p>
<p>You will likely be paid around $7.50-$8.00/hour (some jobs pay higher, but minimum wage is typical) and are only eligible to work until you’ve earned the amount allotted you by your FA package. Once you’ve earned the max, you cannot work any more hours for the work-study job. You may be able to find a non work-study job, but again this may or may not be possible depending on job availability on campus.</p>
<p>Your work hours will determined by your job and supervisor.</p>
<p>I’ll lay it out and you fit this to your family circumstances.</p>
<p>We’re not trying to corner you into cc. When Kinderny says you could graduate with 22k debt, he/she is referring to your Staffords only. That would cost you about $300/mo in repayments, for 10 years. That number seems small. But, if you get, say, a 30k job (picking a low number for professional level work- you could make more or you could end up scrambling to make less,) your take home would be about $1750 (after taxes) minus any extra you end up paying for health insurance. Out of that, you pay for rent, food, transp (maybe car payments and car insurance,) clothes, movies, etc. It sounds easy, in the beginning. It gets harder if you want a romance, the car needs repairs, or you get laid off. Just think about it. We love a success story, but most successes come from careful, “aware” planning.</p>
<p>But, worse: your mom is unemployed, your dad makes an average salary- I don’t know what your “average” is." Suppose your parents take out that 12k in Parent Plus loans. For 1st year starting 2nd semester, their payments will be about $150/month. If you live on campus 1st and 2nd years, now they’ll be paying roughly $300/month, starting about March of 2nd year. Can they? For 10 years?</p>
<p>If you live off campus, how will you pay for it? You need to look into housing that’s available near campus. How cheap? Where I am, it runs 350-750, depending, and the lower end can be a shared room, maybe plus utilities, maybe in a rough area. Maybe that works for you. Yes, you could do food for less than $350/month, if you are careful. But, you have to put these pieces together. Assuming you could spend $350 on food (on other threads, parents quote more for sons,) over 10 months, to beat the cost of school R/B, your budget would be less than $650/mo for rent. Is that feasible? And, as noted, most leases run 12 months. Do kids commonly sublet their spaces over summer? Or, not in NP? See the thinking? And, if one or two apt-mates left, you want a lease that does not hold you and the remaining folks accountable for the full amount.</p>
<p>Now, if you end up staying on campus and your parents continue to take 12k in loans each year, they could end up paying $600/mo, for the balance of the loan.</p>
<p>If Dad’s salary actually allows them to pay more, borrow less, you still have to follow the logic. Maybe you can do it. k? It’s late in the game to be learning about these things, but that’s what’s involved.</p>
<p>Just curious, why can’t you work full-time during the summer because you are a student? I know students working full-time and then a part-time job during the summe to get money for school.</p>
<p>You say you dad has an “average” salary. What is that average salary and how much can your parents reasonably contribute for EACH of the four years you are in college?</p>
<p>My mom is not unemployed. She works pretty much full-time and makes probably around $600 a week. I know that’s not alot but still something. To be honest I’m really not sure how much she makes but I know she works around 4 hours a day (usually making $100 a day.) She might end up making around $27-28k a year but for some reason that seems high. To be honest I’m not sure.</p>
<p>My dad alone makes a little less than 60k per year. </p>
<p>When I called the financial aid counselor, he said that my family’s salary was too high to get more need-based aid, but a little low which is why I got SOME aid, just not alot.</p>
<p>My mom is technically unemployed, and my dad makes an average salary</p>
<p>Why did you write ^^^ and now you say that your mom is employed? </p>
<p>Anyway, something doesn’t sound right. If your dad makes $60k and your mom makes about $25k, that sounds like too much for TAP…but maybe not.</p>
<p>It could be the mom’s wages are under the table so “technically unemployed”. Would also explain why OP qualified for the FA. But as he said- he actually is not sure how much his mom makes.</p>
<p>You are in the situation that a lot of people are. According to the FAFSA which is what your school uses to determine financial aid, your family does have need if you go to that college. So the financial aid director is not being entirely truthful when he says your family makes too much money for aid. They make too much money to get any more state grants and too much for federal grants,but not for the school grants. They have chosen not to give you what they have as they chose to give to other students. The SCHOOL is saying that in writing, that , yes, you have need, and here are some loans that you and your parents may be able to take to pay for the need. And, oh, your parents can borrow more from the same source, the DIrect Loans, if they qualify, up to what the college costs minus any other student loans and grants… So let us be clear on what that situation is. Your family has NEED to pay for school defined by FAFSA and EFC and what the school costs.</p>
<p>However, most schools do not meet full need. Most don’t meet any and do exactly what this college has done, so this is not a terrible, isolated thing, but the way it works. </p>
<p>It’s not that any of us are pushing you towards a community college. It’s an option. A more affordable option than this school. You see right there what it is going to cost for you to go to college there. You and your parents are going to have to borrow money which you and they will be repaying long after the college experience is over. You will owe a lot less if you go to communty college for two years, or a local state school and commute, because you will then just have the commuting expenses and tution. Your parents can support you with the 3 squares and a cot. You can live at home for free and bag your lunch and snacks, eat dinners or other meals at home. That comes to a big piece of the cost. Your parents can pay that out in cash or loan if you go away to school, or absorb it with what they have if you stay at home.</p>
<p>Or Mom’s job is not permanent, is on an as-needed or contract basis and thus figured into your aid package. You did say, earlier, that the parents could pay 8k. Just work the numbers. Ensure that all of you know the family budget, current financial obligations on the combined income, what’s truly left over to pay college bills or make loan payments. </p>
<p>If your nut (COA-aid) is roughly 18k, parents pay 8k, and you take $5500 in Staffords, that leaves $4500- is that right? How will your parents pay that? That’s the conversation to have, the details to confirm. Don’t assume. And, most kids can’t take that extra loan, it’s parents. Either they can manage the costs now or they take PP loans. Remember, the total indebtedness wouldn’t simply be your own loans, but theirs too. </p>
<p>Many parents here make those sacrifices to pay the school bills, tightening our belts to do so. But, this boils down to numbers, now and projected over 4 years of school and any long term loan payments. You have to have your eyes wide open.</p>
<p>Whatever the OP thinks the parents are making or have made doesn’t matter. 2011 FAFSA has been filed, hopefully meshes with the tax returns, but the school isn’t giving a dime. All that may be affected is the state TAP which amounts to a couple of thousand dollars and some Stafford loan subsidy, which is all the student got.</p>
<p>No my mom does have a permanent job. And yes, I called the school and asked them all this. According to them, a specific amount of financial aid is given to the freshman class. Apparently it is not NEED-based, but it is MERIT-based. And he said that there are limited opportunities for that since the school does not have much financial aid. Being a state school and all I don’t think that’s too shocking.</p>
<p>So that means the school probably gave those merit-based financial aid awards to students who were extremely high in terms of merit. Since New Paltz is a really good school, in order to get this scholarship you probably have to have SAT scores in the 1300s or 1400s (out of 2 parts) and a high GPA.</p>
<p>Another thing that might help people reading this: I asked the guy what a “SUNY Tuition Credit” was, and he said that a few years ago, SUNY tuition was increased, and so that small amount of money is them giving me a little bit of compensation for tuition being increased. Also, he referred me to apply for another loan that could get us 4 or 5k. Although I’m still not sure if it’s a loan or free money.</p>
<p>A “loan” is something you need to pay back. Of course, you need to verify details, but it is almost guaranteed to be a loan and not freebie monies.</p>
<p>OP, I just wonder what other schools you applied to. Was this the best financial offer of any school? You asked how others do it? My D is at a private University and with Merit and grants plus her Stafford loan, we are left paying 11,000 a year, and we make a bit less than what it sounds like your parents make, and we have very little assets, so none of that comes into play. So, depending on the schools, the money they have to use for FA (state schools usually don’t offer as much as some private schools), scholarships offered for Merit, etc, you can do better than what your family will pay. That is why the search is so important to begin with when considering colleges. My D was accepted to a “dream school” but it just wasn’t affordable for us without risking stability. The school she is at now was affordable and pleased her, so a true “safety” all around!
Good luck to you…and my D has worked full-time every summer since turning 16, so keep job hunting so you can help yourself as much as possible!</p>
<p>* Also, he referred me to apply for another loan that could get us 4 or 5k. Although I’m still not sure if it’s a loan or free money.*</p>
<p>loan</p>
<p>What was the name of it?</p>