Ignorant Newbie looking for guidance.

Paying for College
1

<p>I am trying to do some research for my daughter who is HS senior. She is wanting to go to MU, The University of Missouri. She would be an instate student. </p>

<p>She will have to finance the full cost. (approx 18k per year). </p>

<p>I have been doing some research and I am not even sure she can get that much in loans. (she will not qualify for any grants or anything)</p>

<p>From what I have read to the best of my understanding, she can only get about 13k a year. Is that right? </p>

<p>My husband refuses to take out any parent loans. </p>

<p>Thanks for any help you can give me. If I need to post more info I would be happy to, not sure what all info I needed to post.</p>

2

<p>The way it works, your daughter will have to apply for financial aid using FAFSA. Your husband and your income and assets are used as well as your daughter’s to come up with what is called an Expected FAMILY Contribution (EFC). Note the FAMILY in that term. THough no law will force you to pay anything, based, on what you parents earn and have, a figure is calculated for what the least is that your family would have to pay if she gets federal money.</p>

<p>The bottom line is that with a zero EFC, which would mean your family is pretty much close to poverty level, your daughter would get about $5600 in grants, $5500 in loans with some of the interest (on $3500) susidized, for a total of $11100 of entitlement money from the federal government. Don’t know if your state has any money they give out for college to the student. Most schools do not meet need and MU is not particularly generous. So somehow you, your husband and your daughter would have to come up with about $7k a year for her to go t MU with a family EFC of zero.</p>

<p>As your income level increases, the PELL diminishe as does the interest subsidization, until only $5500 is allowed for a student to borrow on her own as a guarantee. The rest is up to the school, and if there is some need, they might throw in some more loan money,some grants, work study, but then again, they might not. So all that your daughter is guaranteed to be able to borrow is $5500 without you or your husband or some other credit worthy adult signing for her. If you apply for PLUS (parent loans) and get turned down, she could borrow another $4K, but that’s all that is in the entitlements.</p>

<p>Most high school graduates at age 18 or so are not going to be able to financie $18K a year. They are highly unlikley to be able to borrow or make that kind of money at that age. So if parents don’t help out, such young adults stay at home, find a part time job, borrow what they have to out of the $5500 they can that first year and go to a local state school or community college, and get the benefit of living with parents, the old three squares and the cot being provided. </p>

<p>You can run your figures in the EFC estimators and see how much FAFSA will likely expect you to pay at minimum. You can also run NPCs for various schools and see what kind of aid they provide for kids of famiies at your income/asset level. </p>

<p>There are schools that do meet need by their own definitions, and if your family qualifies, that can happen, but unlikely that the expected payment would be less than EFC. Also if your DD has high test scores and grades, merit money, scholarhships could reduce the cost. My friend’s D got a $5K scholarship some years ago from MU whcih made the cost of going there doable for her.</p>

3

<p>Here’s the COA for UMo, your $18k figure is a little low though transportation and personal expenses can be less.</p>

<p>[Undergraduate</a> | Student Financial Aid | University of Missouri](<a href=“http://financialaid.missouri.edu/cost-of-attendance/undergraduate.php]Undergraduate”>http://financialaid.missouri.edu/cost-of-attendance/undergraduate.php)</p>

<p>Here’s the NPC for UMo, have you run it?</p>

<p>[Net</a> Price Calculator | Student Financial Aid | University of Missouri](<a href=“http://financialaid.missouri.edu/cost-of-attendance/net-price-calculator.php]Net”>http://financialaid.missouri.edu/cost-of-attendance/net-price-calculator.php)</p>

<p>Why don’t you think she would get any grants? Can you give us an idea of your family income?</p>

<p>The most in loans that a student can get without a cosigner is $5500, $6500, $7500, $7500 for freshman, soph, jr, sr years. I think your $18k figure is low and costs go up some in subsequent years. Even if she could get $72,000 in loans, that would severely impact her as she starts out her adult life.</p>

<p>Is there a local school she can commute to? If your family can’t contribute anything, something other than UMo needs to be considered.</p>

4

<p>*I have been doing some research and I am not even sure she can get that much in loans. (she will not qualify for any grants or anything)</p>

<p>From what I have read to the best of my understanding, she can only get about 13k a year. Is that right? *</p>

<p>Ok…so your EFC is tooo high.</p>

<p>NO, she can’t (and should NOT) borrow that much. And she can’t get $13k per year in loans. have no idea where you got that from.</p>

<p>The idea of a student borrowing $18k per year is outrageous. I understand that you’re a newbie, so maybe you had no idea that that is waaaaaayyyyyyy toooooooooo much debt and will likely ruin your D’s life.</p>

<p>SHE can only borrow $5500 for frosh year. To borrow more (BAD IDEA) you and your husband would have to co-sign, which is essentially no better than a Plus loan. </p>

<p>Sounds like your D cannot afford Mizzou. </p>

<p>How much can YOU contribute each year? Are you saying that even with a “beyond Pell” EFC, you can’t pay ANYTHING?</p>

<p>What are your D’s stats? Maybe there are other schools that will give her merit scholarships.</p>

<p>Why don’t you think she would get any grants?</p>

<p>She probably knows that she’s beyond Pell Grant amounts.</p>

<p>She will have to finance the full cost. (approx 18k per year</p>

<p>Out of curiousity…what is her likely career and how much do you think she’ll be earning as a newish grad???</p>

5

<p>Have you considered Truman State? It’s a very solid directional that Missouri residents are lucky to have. Costs are $4-5k less than UMo and depending on your daughter’s stats she might get a little merit aid. Check out their costs and NPC. It still would likely take some contribution from the family. Most students in this country commute to a local community college or public 4-year school and/or work full-time and attend school part-time due to finances.</p>

6

<p>Thank you so much for the help so far. </p>

<p>Yes I know we make too much money for her to get pell grants. I am actually a college student myself so I know a little about that. Our family income before taxes is in the 70k range, but we bring home far less than that after insurance, retirement, etc…</p>

<p>We had planned to pay for her room and board, and have her borrow the tuition, books, etc but really now that we are faced with the prices, we can not even afford to pay for the room and board in full. </p>

<p>We also know that she can not afford to go here. (believe me) but she is set on it and we are basically at the point where our only choice is to forbid it. Trying to convince her has gotten us nowhere. Although now the finances look to be impossible so that may be a moot point. </p>

<p>Her grades are average, she has about a 3.6 cum GPA. Her class ranking is about at the 50% mark. Her ACT scores are not high. I think she got a 19 and just took it again and we are awaiting the results.</p>

7

<p>Thanks for the comments. We have not looked into other schools, but honestly after reading all of these comments, I do not even think 4-5k cheaper is affordable.</p>

8

<p>You don’t have to forbid it. She won’t be able to come up with the money and that would be it. She can only borrow that $5500 on her own. Maybe, maybe, MU will give her up to another $5500 in Perkins money (doubtful but possible) and she can work to make up the difference. My SIL’s niece works 3 jobs to be able to live away from home at college and she lives in a dive, shares a room, eats where she works and scrounges, so she can make it work Her freshman year, she was barely able to pay, because she had to live in the dorms, but, yes, she’s doing it and is slated for graduation next year. My brother and SIL visited her–they have given her some generous checks to make it a little bit easier, but her nut is close to $25k even living as cheaply as possible off cancer.</p>

9

<p>*We also know that she can not afford to go here. (believe me) but she is set on it and we are basically at the point where our only choice is to forbid it. *</p>

<p>You don’t need to “forbid it”. That suggests that it is possible, but you’re saying “no.”</p>

<p>Finances will prevent her attending, not you. </p>

<p>When she insists that she’d going there, you just need to remind her that she can only borrow $5500. </p>

<p>Money won’t magically appear. Your D can only borrow $5500. She may not know that since you thought that she could borrow $13k.</p>

<p>That said, if her ACT was a 19, she may not even get accepted. That’s quite low for the school. Even if she were to get accepted, the school would have no motivation to give her a good FA pkg.</p>

<p>Sounds like she needs to start at a CC or a state school that she could commute to.</p>

10

<p>According to the reps we have talked to, she will most likely get in. They have a sliding scale where your GPA can make up for your ACT scores. That is what we have been told anyway, I do not claim to really know anything about this whole process. </p>

<p>That is basically the reason we are just now researching all of this, because we thought she wouldn’t get in either.</p>

11

<p>Have you run the NPC on the website?</p>

<p>Keep in mind that you can’t count yourself as being in college for your D’s FAFSA or NPC.</p>

12

<p>The NPC I was given is $15,715.</p>

13

<p>So, the NPC indicated that your D would have to pay $16k for the first year (each year will increase)?</p>

<p>Just encourage your D to apply to some other schools. Do you have a state school that she could commute to?</p>

14

<p>We explained to our kids that we could afford $X for college. My SIL’s niece was told that her parents could afford zip for college. Both my son and the niece are at the same school. Niece got no money in terms of financial aid but she basically earned $10K her senior year borrowed ther full $5500, got her mother to apply for PLUS knowing she would get turned down as they had a lot of financial issue, so got another $4K to borrow and then begged grandparents for the rest, and worked three jobs which she has been doing since. Squeaked by freshman year financially, but since then she’s been living on a dime in cheap off campus digs and as I said, eating at the place where she works and off whatever she can. Happy as a lark, however. </p>

<p>My son just took off the table all of the schools that were unaffordable when the offers came. He did get a local private school offer him free tuitons, something that he did not want because he wanted to go away to school, but you know what? A lot of his classmates and others around here who got the same deal took it and most of them are doing quite well, have great social lives and are happy. He now sees that it was not such a bad deal after all. </p>

<p>Ask the school counselor if there are any nearby schools that offer some nice deals, as well as some state school for kids with your DD’s stats and have her apply to some of them It’s nice to have some affordable, doable options on the table so you are not stuck with your back against the wall with just one way to go or just able to go to college at all that year. If you can’t pay for it,there’s no squeezing money out of a stone. That you are offering your home is worth $7-10K a year in room and board costs. Most college students commute, work part time.<br>
A</p>

15

<p>According to this chart with a 19 ACT she would need to be in the top 22%. Is that GPA weighted or UW? If unweighted seems high to be at the 50% rank. If she gets a 23 on the retake then it looks like a possibility.</p>

<p>[Test</a> scores | Undergraduate Admissions | University of Missouri](<a href=“http://admissions.missouri.edu/apply/freshmen/requirements/test-scores.php]Test”>Freshman Admission Requirements // Mizzou Admissions // University of Missouri)</p>

<p>Does your daughter have an idea of what she wants to study?</p>

16

<p>Obviously I don’t know your daughter, so interpret this as you see fit. OTOH, I’ve been teaching college English since 1986, so I know a few things.</p>

<p>An ACT of 19 places her at the lower edge of what the ACT people consider “college ready,” and I see a lot of truth in this. I also see a lot of inflated HS GPA’s, so a 3.6 GPA doesn’t sway me one way or another.</p>

<p>It is entirely possible that your daughter will get an education better suited to her needs if she spends the first two years at the nearest community college. Lower tuition, probably no housing bills, and courses taught at her level could all lead to a better experience in the long run, and better preparation for her last two years at the big university. I see this happen all the time.</p>

17

<p>^^</p>

<p>This is often true. Many of these kids often aren’t ready for college level math or English so they have to take sub 100 classes. It’s a waste of money to have to do that at a 4 year if money is an issue. </p>

<p>If the D were to go to a CC for two years, work/save as much as she can over the 3 summers, then she’d have more funds to put towards those last two years…plus she could borrow a bit more.</p>

<p>And, at that point, the mom may be done with college, maybe earning more money, and then the family could help out more with costs…especially when those costs would only be for two years.</p>

<p>Either way, the parents just need to give their D a “bottom line number” of what they could contribute. If it’s only $2,000, then tell her that (divided into two semesters). Tell her that she can only borrow $5500 (divided into two semesters). At most, she’s only going to be able to earn/save about $2000 over her first summer. That’s not nearly enough.</p>

18

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<p>Half my teaching load is remedial English. When I see my students’ other books, half the room is taking pre-algebra, too. They’re looking at 6-12 hours of pre-college work. CC is the best $$ deal out there for this stuff.</p>