<p>The key is to not look at list price for college but to consider what the price the college is willing to charge you–so I can see why someone with limited means would apply to a $55K LAC. There are kids for whom it is cheaper to go to an expensive LAC than the nearby flagship U after you factor in financial aid, etc.</p>
<p>What concerns me is that this “financial aid” package is chock full of loans and, even with all the help, OP will be short a significant (for his family) amount of money. We all know that COA increases every year (I factor in a 5% increase in my calculations). </p>
<p>I’m concerned that this student will end up with 1 year at expensive LAC, a load of debt and still have to transfer one year from now. Why not go with a economically stable plan now?</p>
<p>^OP was not describing getting full tuition (or close) covered. So, $55k in his case is very very expansive. I do not cound loans as FA (I know they are, but they have to be re-paid). They are not as cheap as some people think, it is much cheaper to have equity loan, fi family is paying anyway. However, $55k is more expansive than most Med. School (just an FYI), it is very very expansive unless one have full tuition Merit award. There are plenty of awesome schools where top caliber kid can go for free, so why to choose such expensive one?</p>
<p>This is all great advice.
Here’s just an IMO. Based on how I would think this through for my kids.</p>
<p>We don’t (or I don’t) know what college this is, what level of academic opportunity it represents, how perfect OP is for this school (ie, if he/she stands a great chance of excelling, etc.) Nor do we know how much the school will go to bat for OP- in terms of lucrative summer internships, research experience, later job placement- and the connections to be made. Many of those 55k LACs do. But, not all. We don’t know this for OP the way I know it for my kids.</p>
<p>I looked at the Stafford figures and for a 50k debt at 6.8% shows a $575 monthly payment for 10 years (or just under 7k/year.) The idea, of course, it to pay off as fast as possible, not incur increased interest charges by lowering the monthly payment or extending the terms.</p>
<p>But, on a 55k COA, the school gave her - is this right? - all but 12k (9500 loans, 1570 balance) and whatever the work study is. In my state, the flagship runs around 20k, the state college runs 16.5. (Both of these include RB, to keep it par here.) I ran the latter’s NPC and, assuming aid actually came through, the net to the student would be 10k. So, 10k versus 9.5k.</p>
<p>I think my numbers are general, of course there are unanticipated expenses and tuition increases, etc. But without knowing the school and OP’s ability to thrive there, it seems too simple to just push for cc. IMO, quality can sometimes factor in when the numbers are so close.</p>
<p>If you should do this depends on your ability. If you are in the top 25% of this college admittance, then I am confident it will be worth your while. However, if you were admitted because you fill the economic diversity and got all you aid because of need base aid and not merit awards, then I suggest you not go to this college. It is much easier to stay on top of your academics and work if you are a great student. Believe me your parents will not be nice if you don’t do well in college.</p>
<p>I think lookingforward is looking at it in a way similar to the way I am. If public colleges were still cheap like the UC and Cal State systems were back in the 70’s, then the publics would provide a real option. The reality is that for most states, the public schools have a cost of attendance that is quite a bit more than the cost of room and board, and they rarely have the financial aid capacity to really help students. In fact, I would not be at all surprised if the in-state public ended up with the student having to take just as much in loans as is proposed with this particular LAC package. </p>
<p>I’ve been through the situation where parents expected a child in college to be the family babysitter “since you only have class a few hours a week.” It didn’t work well for me, and the evidence would indicate that most kids do better living at school at least their first year of college. (Higher gpa, more likely to graduate within 5 years, more involved in the campus community, less likely to transfer,…) </p>
<p>This student probably wouldn’t be short the $1570 if he/she had been able to work and save rather than watch younger siblings. I’d rather see him/her figure out a stopgap for this year than change plans abruptly at this point and quite possibly end up with a less desirable situation. </p>
<p>As some external evidence, most of the Pell-eligible students I’ve helped with financial aid applications this year have been maxed out on Stafford loans by all but a tiny handful of colleges. That’s the new normal, even for kids attending a state school that isn’t a flagship.</p>
<p>The top caliber student will have opportuntities everywhere. All that you have listed and many more (“lucrative summer internships, research experience, later job placement- and the connections to be made”). And he/she can get it at state school going for free. It is up to a kid and what he will do at the place, not the name of the place. All I know is an example of my own D., I cannot tell for every child. But all of us here speak from our own personal experience, correct? Theoretical assumptions are irrelevant.</p>
<p>No theoretical, I agree- but we don’t know the school. My example is based on my state’s prices.</p>
<p>I am not opposed to kids going State when it’s their best financial option. Many state schools are excellent. But we can’t push cc when we don’t know enough- about the opportunity at the LAC or the costs of the cc (or other state options.) </p>
<p>In a family that wouldn’t allow a rising freshman to work, living at home sounds awfully risky. Student contribution to college costs, from summer earnings, is part of all the aid pkgs my kids received. The parents threw up a brick wall. </p>
<p>If it IS a lowly LAC, we could factor that into this discussion. Maybe all the greif wouldn’t be worth it. But, we don’t know.</p>
<p>It does not help anyone to speculate about the reasons why the mom does not support her daughter’s choice, except for the obvious part that this family is not very sophisticated about financial matters. </p>
<p>The only person who knows the entire situation is the OP herself. I believe some here have recommended to talk to her financial aid officer at the LAC and ask for fuller clarifications about the package and the solidity of the work-study income. THAT is constructive advice; telling the OP her plan is not realistic is not. </p>
<p>She is also the only person who can develop a reasonable comparison of her choices. She should be able to figure the FULL costs of attending a community college, a state university, or this more expensive LAC. If this does not yield conclusive answers, there is always the possibility of a gap year to sort things out with her unsupportive family.</p>
<p>I would also throw a brick wall if I were in this family situation. Such a msimatch.
Well, sounds like he/she put him/herself in a corner. Even CC is not a good option in this situation, as they rarely have resources to have Merit awards.</p>
<p>Mismatch to what? OP came up $1570 short. Not the usual CC gripes about $15,000 short. In many of our experiences, COA is padded with higher book cost projections and personal/travel, plus whatever else. OP is taking a look at that.</p>
<p>We could say, posters are lined up on two sides: give it a try, call FA, try this, try that - versus - throw in the towel without trying, give it up for a cc. I admire the OP’s pluck and willingness to try. Life skills. OP may end up with a hard choice, but facing challenges and looking for ways to overcome- as the man says, “priceless.”</p>
<p>First of all, for a student with a EFC of 0, you should have ALL (or close to) all your Finanicial Need met. This is from someone with a EFC of 0 as well, as I basically get paid to go to College. I basically have two pieces of advice:</p>
<p>1) Go to another school that is cheaper and/or will cover most of your Finanicial need due to an EFC of 0.
2) Look at all mandatory expenses that are semi-optional and cut expenses. For Example, with regards to Books, get them online at Amazon, Chegg, etc. (Dont forget trade-ins), Regarding Transportation/Personal/Etc. (which most colleges budget $1-2k+) See what expenses you need and don’t need, like you may not need a Car/Insurance/Gas if you live on campus and walk/bike to class.</p>
<p>As others have said, I feel this is way too much debt for undergraduate and believe you haven’t truly explored all your options.</p>
<p>P.S. Did you know Student Loans is the only type of Loan/Debt you can’t file bankruptcy on and can garnish all forms of Government Self-help (social programs) later in life??</p>
<p>You lose all credibility when posting such non-sense. Nobody gets paid to go to college based on need-based aid. I also hope you figured out your tax liability on your scholarship income.</p>
<p>lookingforward, this OP is $1570 short on top of taking out $9500 in loans for the first year.</p>
<p>The above gap also includes a work study moneys that are not “in-hand” at the moment.</p>
<p>Add to this the typical expenses for books, supplies, dorm stuff, transportation, personal expenses, the occasional slice of pizza or off-campus hamburger, and the OP’s family finances don’t appear to make this school a viable option. It’s not just about $1570. It’s also about the amount of loans and lack of additional money for the typical college extra expenses.</p>
<p>OP–Did any of the other colleges that accepted you offer a better bottom line cost with their financial aid package? With less loans?</p>
Are you sure these are not already calculated in? As another poster indicated, when fin aid is estimated for meeting need these figures are already calculated in the cost. For example, my son’s fin aid included him providing $1500 but when you subtracted the loans and scholarships from the tuition and room and board it was a difference of $200. The $1300 remainder was the estimate of books, personal and travel expenses. I know his expenses will end up much less than that. Finally, there are always jobs available for work study. Who wouldn’t want to hire someone when the federal government is paying half of the student’s wages. My daughter was able to earn more than the work study amount at her job. I would assume the employer was paying all her wages once she reached her maximum. Plus, most work study jobs pay more an hour than one would find in the general workplace and the employers are accommodating to the student’s schedule.</p>
<p>Actually some people with a 0 EFC do end up getting paid to go to college because the college includes a small amount of spending money with the financial aid package. I know someone for whom this was true to attend Yale.</p>
<p>It is one thing to ‘give it a try’ with sufficient information, quite another to go in on a dream and hope it all works out. I actually think taking on that debt would make sense if it’s the best option available (financially speaking) AND the student has a plan. That is, they actually know the year the loans start collecting interest and what rate, the year they plan to be able to be employed, how much they will likely earn and how much their expenses will be, so they know how much they can pay off per month on that loan. Then a calculation of how long it will take to pay off the loan at that rate (so a true sense of it’s actual cost). Of course all of these factors are only a guess, but if one can’t learn how to run various financial scenarios based on different estimates, to even get a SENSE of what they are committing to, they absolutely should not be borrowing this kind of money. </p>
<p>One does not get a sense from the OP if she has taken into account the actual, likely real longterm costs of the loan (especially if grad school is included), let alone how they plan to make it work into the future. </p>
<p>I cringe when I hear students talk about loans only in terms of their present value, as if that is all they need to worry about.</p>
<p>Pea, as Xiggi was talking about in the above quote, there are tax liabilities for scholarship income. Tuition, books and fees are exempt, but room and board are taxable income. I’m not sure of the exact amount, but my daughters federal tax on her room and board is approximately $1300 per year.</p>
<p>Yes, since you mention Yale, the financial aid office expects students to spend about 3,150 for books and personal expenses. Because of this expectation, the school will include this sum in the COA that is the basis to determine the student’s demonstrated financial need. The 3,150 will indeed be credited to your account to cover the EXPECTED expenses you will incur. This is still not the same as being paid to attend school.</p>
<p>Further, your friend at Yale should also have told you that there is a standard student contribution of 1,500 per year. This is almost universal at schools that meet the full demonstrated need of a student, and fwiw is quite generous at Yale. This sum will be DEDUCTED from the deposits into your student account. Students who do not want or cannot (think the great economy of 2011/2012) will be able to borrow this expected contribution. </p>
<p>Also note that students who earn more than their income exclusion will see their zero EFC increased. Income that cannot be considered as part of the financial aid (work study/scholarship) will also be subject to FICA taxes. </p>
<p>So all in all, you will not find anyone who is able to “get paid” on the sole basis of need-based aid. This would be only possible with the existence of merit aid that might or might not be reported to the college, or might be dedicated to outside purchases. For instance, the Coca Cola Foundation might allow a student to purchase a computer with his or her outside award, and the school might decide to look the other way and not treat it as scholarship income.</p>