I really would like some adult advice...

Paying for College
1

<p>I am a senior and am getting ready to make my college choice- the typical CC kid trying to decide between a state school (Indiana) and a "top 20" university (Notre Dame). I got my financial aid information back from ND today and am struggling weighing my options. </p>

<p>IU- cost of attendance 24,000- 6k per year scholarship- 18k times 4 years- so total around 72,000, no loans. My parents say they could easily pay for this out of their current incomes. (I think my parents earn about 120-130 thousand dollars a year. We have no mortgage, car payments, credit card debt, etc, )</p>

<p>Notre Dame- much more confusing financial info.
University Scholarship- 12,300
Campus job- 2,700
Federal Perkins Loan- 4,000
Federal Direct subsidized loan- 450
Federal direct unsub loan- 3,050
Total assistance- $22,500 Cost of attendance 62,000
Cost per year- 39,500 times four years = 158,000 (shudder) So this is way more than IU and it has loans. I honestly thought that this may have been a little higher</p>

<p>I have about 30,000 in the bank for college from a few very generous relatives. I know my parents do not have a large college savings account for me- I think they have been more focused on building up their savings and making sure we never had any debt. My mom thinks Notre Dame could be doable, if I work during the summer/take on a few more loans/my parents dip into savings a little. My dad is not as optimistic. I am worried though, because I have a little brother who still needs to go to college in five years, and my mom has recently been diagnosed with a bowel disease which may lead to some medical bills down the road. I do not want my family to have to eat ramen noodles for four years so I can go to a fancy college. </p>

<p>I love Notre Dame- I love its medium size, amazing programs/faculty/facilities, beautiful campus, residence hall system, religious influence, school spirit... but I realize I could also be successful at IU. I am thinking of going to medical school but I am not sure, so that also will need money and influences my decision. I applied to some other schools (Case Western, Loyola Chicago, Miami of Ohio) and they all gave me decent academic scholarships, but I would still be paying around 30-35k, and if I am going to pay that much, I would rather go to Notre Dame.</p>

<p>I guess I just feel like my parents want to make me happy and may let me go to ND even if it is not the smartest decision for all of us. But again, my parents have always been smart with their money so I feel like I should trust them. What do you all, as parents, think? Is this a decent financial aid package? How many loans are too many? I just really would appreciate some guidance. All of my friends know where they are going to college and I feel like I am just now beginning to make my choice. I know where I want to go and I feel like I have worked really hard but maybe it just isn't doable.</p>

2

<p>So to go to Notre Dame you have to pay 2700 (from your campus job) + 4000(loan) + 450(loan) + 3050(loan) + 39500(the rest of the cost). That’s $49,700 a year.</p>

<p>Your parents say they could “easily” pay $24K a year. I don’t know about “easily,” not with the income you say they have, but let’s say that’s what they could pay without taking out loans. That leaves you borrowing $26K a year. Don’t even think about it. That’s too much money</p>

3

<p>Strip the loan cost out of your package to see what ND is really giving you. Your cost per year is $47,000 not $39,000.</p>

<p>So if your parents can easily pay that $47,000 per year, then great. That $30k you have stashed? Heck, it’d be gone in the first year, and your parents would still have to cover most of the remaining $17,000.</p>

<p>The $18k per year cost at your state school may even leave your $30k stash untouched for medical school. That is pretty important, plus you could add to it in the summer with a summer job. And it sounds like you’d be able to attend your state school without a work study job, likely leading to an easier time of maintaining your gpa (important for med school!)</p>

4

<p>$24,000 will be a stretch with their income and upcoming expenses.
More than that is not doable.</p>

5

<p>I feel for you, but I agree with Cardinal Fang, especially if you think med school might be in your future, you are going to have to let the dream go.</p>

6

<p>Also, you personally cannot borrow that much money to close the gap. Your parents would have to foot the bill or from savings or take out PLUS loans. </p>

<p>As a parent, I’d say it’d be nice if your parents would decide exactly how much they can spend each year for the next four years. It’d be awful if you got to Notre Dame and then had to leave after the first year or two because it was no longer affordable. </p>

<p>State school, little to no debt. Good position for med school. Good for parents as they won’t have to overburden themselves. Good for your little brother too.</p>

7

<p>First of all take all loans and workstudy out of the picture for cost and look at the raw dollar cost of each school for you. Ask your parents what they can contribute. You know that IU could be paid by your parents, with no loans, no worrying about jobs on your part. Then look at ND’s costs. How much more can they pay for each year over that $18K ? Then add the loans you have to take; you can take $5500 total from Direct Loans and MD is offering up an additional $4k in Perkins loans. Also they have thrown in work study for which you will HAVE to work in order to get that money. How much more can you work, like over the summer? What is still the gap after all of that? DO you really want your parents to dip into savings and tighten the belt beyond this/ The thing is, you aren’t leaving much room for error here. My kid had issues so he had to drop his job at school. Things can happen in the summer to cut into what you expect to earn from a broken leg,mono, a great opportunity that if you take it, you can’t make the money you need. Break a tooth, need glasses, lap top blows up, the list goes on. Not to mention the fact that the cost goes up each year and some that loan interest will be cranking up from the get go. And really, you are looking at borrowing more than $50K before all of this is over. So you’ll HAVE to work both during the year and summer, cost your parents more money from savings and current income PLUS you will be $50K in debt in 4 years, at least. You make the call. You are very fortunate to have such a great flagship choice in your state. I would go IU without a thought.</p>

8

<p>Agree with all the above. Med school is the most important thing. You wouldn’t not want to go to med school because you already had so much debt. Good luck to you!!</p>

9

<p>That’s not even close to being doable. Sorry. </p>

10

<p>say goodbye to ND and hello Indiana!
Your parents will thank you and you will be able to enjoy college without pangs of guilt . </p>

11

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<p>Because none of us know your parent’s true financial position (home equity, savings, etc) I don’t know what to tell you, but I will say that this statement shows amazing maturity and shows me you will be successful no matter what you choose. </p>

12

<p>Even if you would like to work part time, consider this: at ND, you HAVE to work just to earn that $2,700; if you can earn $4,000 in a year (not hard, my son earned that while in high school at an $8.25/hr. job), that’s only $1,300 that actually goes toward the $47,000 that you would otherwise pay for ‘out of pocket’ or with loans. If you go to IU, the whole $4,000 goes toward the $18,000, cutting it to $14,000. That gives your family some slack for things like a new computer, study abroad costs, going out with friends once in a while, etc. I went to Michigan State, which my parents were able to pay for without debt (I was OOS but this was in the early '80s and I had a couple of small outside scholarships), and had a great time, many great opportunities, and eventually got into Cornell Law (with a few small career changes in between).</p>

<p>I’d say you do have a dilemma, but you are probably better off with IU, particularly considering the likely cost of medical school. Having gone to an expensive (for then) law school (in the dim and distant past, '92 grad), I know that my friends who had undergraduate debt on top of their law school debt were really in a bad place at graduation, they HAD to take a certain kind of job (which wasn’t all that pleasant for many) just to pay their debt. Those (like me) who had gotten through UG without debt didn’t have nearly so much difficulty. FYI, I’m over 20 years out and still paying my law school loans (almost done, though, and I dragged it out a bit with consolidations and minimum payments - my loans were at 9% when I graduated!). I have had a very nice career life, was able to take a couple of great clerkships, and eventually start my own practice (here in Hawaii! can’t beat that), whereas if I’d had much more debt I would have had to go to a ‘big firm’ in a big city (not my cup of tea) and be a drone for at least 10 years or so.</p>

13

<p>You sound like a lovely and considerate person. I’m in a similar financial bracket to your folks (I have a mortgage though) and $40K a year in addition to considerable debt for our student would be unaffordable for us. I am hoping to cap DDs loans at $3500 a year so that her options aren’t too limited, and we will be contributing in the low 20s. Whatever your parents feel they can do is up to their individual situation, but I would be worried about your coming out from undergrad with high debt. Good luck, my dear!</p>

14

<p>You’re a great kid with a good head on your shoulders…you’re going to do well no matter where you go…you’re making the right decision to lean towards Indiana…its the smart move but I also think that you are going to love that school. </p>

15

<p>I agree with the above poster. I have to ask though - how does one qualify for subsidized Stafford and Perkins loans on that income and no debt?</p>

16

<p>I would say call ND financial aid office and ask for a review of your package. ND, though not Harvard/Yale/Princeton, still usually offer substantial financial package. The numbers there does not seem like a typical ND package based on your parents income.
Per previous post, there may be a glitch there that they are missing, or perhaps you might have misinformed them of your financial situation as well, and yes OP can qualify for Stafford loan, not grant with that household income.
Give it a try, you definitely have nothing to loose by calling them and sharing your situation.
Best of luck to you.</p>

17

<p>Many students change their minds about medical school, so be wary of making a decision based entirely on that.</p>

<p>BUT.</p>

<p>The cost differential is so huge, and IU is such a good flaghship school, that my vote is for IU. Take all the money that can comfortably be spent on college, but isn’t going to IU payments, to study abroad, use in lieu of a salary at a great internship, put towards grad school application fees (which are freakishly expensive), and graduate school (of whatever type). You go into ND and you’re thinking medical school; chances are, you will do some sort of graduate work, and you will be thrilled that those loans aren’t accruing interest during your graduate work and that you have the cash to pay for application fees, flying to interviews, living expenses, etc.</p>

18

<p>If you end up at med school, I think you will have been better off having attended Indiana, because its less expensive. But, if you should change your mind and end up in the business world, Notre Dame’s alumni mafia is one of the strongest alumni networks in the country, and puts the so-called Ivy League old boy’s network to shame. That has no impact for medicine or graduate study in academic fields, but it would come into play, I believe, if you wound up attending law or business school. </p>

19

<p>I think the advice given above is mostly pretty good…except the student doesn’t really know the parents’ financial situation. She doesn’t know how much income they really have, or how much money they have saved. She does know that they have no mortgage–is that because their mortgage is paid off, or because they are renters? It’s possible that Notre Dame could be managed without financial hardship. OP needs to sit down with her parents and really understand the financial situation. Don’t agree to go to ND unless they really share the facts with you. Don’t accept “we’ll make it work” or “leave the finances to us.” This is an adult decision for you, and to make adult decisions, you need the facts.</p>

20

<p>Definitely call ND and just have them give it another look, also explaining the medical situation with your mom and your fear of your ND costs influencing her care. Won’t hurt and might help immensely, and I agree that doesn’t look like a typical package for ND with the information you provided. That said …</p>

<p>Oldest son of four went to ND, did have a great experience, but at the end of the day would say he would have done well anywhere. Penn State was his second choice and honestly it was a hard decision - state schools offer a different and fun experience in ways unique to them (and different from ND!). Kids who go there LOVE Indiana, and my niece from Colorado just selected it over several top schools. </p>

<p>ND is a wonderful place and it was the right place for my son, but if he and we couldn’t have comfortably afforded it we would have passed, simple as that. He got good financial aid and worked his butt off in summers to pay for his share. Also took out 26K in loans but that was his total four-year loan amount, so not bad. He still hates those payments though, even today at age 29. You would hate those huge ND loans you would require down the road. Abhor. Detest. Lose sleep over. Not worth it I promise.</p>

<p>You don’t sound comfortable with the package as offered. If ND doesn’t improve it, just accept that your internal barometer is screaming at you right now, that you already know the answer (the fact that you asked the question almost indicates you already know), and Indiana will be the perfect decision and place for you!</p>