I am working on several scholarships but as of right now I would have to take out 15,000 a year. I am curious to know what the average amount is as well as what the monthly payments will look like. I realize there are a lot of different options for this, but I am just looking for a general idea. Thank you!
Are you the student? If so, your max guaranteed loan per year is limited.
Freshman $5500
Sophomore $6500
Junior. $7500
Senior $7500
Any loans bove that amount will either need to be cosigned…or will need to be taken out by your parents.
Are your parents or any loved ones willing to help you? Are there any merit awards available to you? What are the options for transferring from CCollege to a 4-year college to get your degree? Many places have excellent programs to help make this work well and accept all the credits earned at your CC. CCs tend to be considerably cheaper than 4-year Us. My D took 3 semesters of CC and only one class (her online one) wasn’t accepted at the private U she transferred to.
Big loan. Make sure you are studying something sufficiently lucrative, otherwise you’ll be living with your parents into your 30s.
Sallie Mae calculator below.
http://smartoption.salliemae.com/Entry.aspx
That is a little over double of average college debt.
15,000 will be the total amount of loans that i take out annually along with those cosigned for by my parents. So far people have said that this is high but according to others I have spoken to this isn’t that bad. A lot of other people I know are paying a 4 year total of 80,000 and higher.
What are you planning to study?
I plan on doing work-study wherever I go. That can normally take off around 4,000 a year correct?
I have also applied for dozens of scholarships, but I am still waiting to hear back.
^ OP experienced posters are giving you feedback.
So far people have said that this is high but according to others I have spoken to this isn’t that bad. A lot of other people I know are paying a 4 year total of 80,000 and higher.
Generally I think that your TOTAL loans should not exceed what you REASONABLY expect to earn in a year.
I also know a kid who took out $80 K in loans. He lives with his parents and mows lawns after coming home from his crappy day job. Unless you are an engineer or a software /IT person, most high paying entry level jobs will require a master’s degree.
As a parent I am encouraging our kids to keep debt to an absolute minimum (see above) and to consider whether both undergrad and grad schools are part of this amount.
Are these subsidized or un subsidized loans. Remember in subsidized the interest starts accruing immediately which means you will really owe more. Don’t do private loans due to high interest rates and other risks all costing you more than the loans. And you’ll need money for meal plans, etc.
How do you feel about getting your first paycheck and immediately sending $1k to go to your loans? That’s the reality:-(
Do you qualify for work/study? Generally anyone who does would be coming from the type of income background where it would be highly inadvisable to take on so much debt. If you qualify, most schools limit work/study to around $2,500. I’ve only heard of a 4K allowance for students coming from poverty line backgrounds. You mention this debt is in ADDITION to co-signed loans? Or did you mis-state? 60K is a LOT of debt, especially if it’s private loan debt. Your friends with 80K debt… that’s even worse debt; just because they have it doesn’t make it good. That’s the kind of debt that takes 30-40 years to pay off (less with a high paying job). ie: most of your adult life.
Your monthly payments will depend on the terms of the loan. If you take a 30 year term, I think you’re looking at about $600 in repayment a month. Bearing in mind if you plan on getting into a career with an “average” salary… that could be more than 50% of your take home pay if you started out entry level in a low paying career. In a mid-range career, that might still account for 1/3rd of your take home pay, and if you live in an expensive housing market, the rest of your pay could be sucked up by rent, utilities and food. This is not an uncommon scenario for a graduate with a lot of debt living in a market like Los Angeles, NYC, San Francisco, etc. Think very, very carefully before taking on such debt–it will change the trajectory of the rest of your life, and possibly not for the better. Now, if you’re gunning for a high income career like finance or engineering, it’s still not a great amount but might be more justifiable.
Do you have any other school backups that would cost less?
@proudterrier the school I am referring to is my backup (the University of Connecticut). I am a CT state resident which makes total in-state tuition and fees approx. $31,280 a year. I received a little under $13,000 a year from federal grants and I expect my parents to contribute $7,000 a year. this would bring my 4 year total in loans to around 44k. I built it up to 60k because I would really like to go for my Masters, although I recognize that may have to wait. I do qualify for work study and realistically I expect to receive around 5k a year from all of the scholarships I have applied to. So in ideal conditions I would have to take out 25-30k in loans. Is this more manageable?
Outside scholarships are usually for one year. Are the ones to which you’ve applied renewable?
yes several are renewable or they are just “3,500 over 4 years” etc. and I have applied (and am still applying) to s many that I feel comfortable saying that 5k a year is a reasonable expectation (although i realize that it is not guaranteed)
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received a little under $13,000 a year from federal grants and I expect my parents to contribute $7,000 a year. thi
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How could you receive $13k in federal grants? That cant be right.
What is your EFC?
can you list the exact breakdown of your aid pkg? Copy paste if possible.
What are you saying here? Are you saying YOU will borrow $15K per year AND your parents will borrow an additional amount (co-signed loans) annually? Or, is the co-signed loans part of the $15K?
What is the total,amount you will be taking out annually for college? (See my post above for the Direct Loan limits per year)
What is the total amount your parents will take out annually.
If you have $80,000 in loans, you will be paying somewhere in the area of $900 a month or more for ten years to pay off that debt.
are you implying that their contribution is too high? or too low?
my parents sent me to a catholic high school that cost about 7,000 a year and had it built into their finaces to contribute 7k a year towards college as well.
EFC was 001405
YOU can only borrow the ~$5500 /year federal student loan. If you get the maximum Pell grant, that’s about ~$5k. Your college COA is $39k and your grants are only $13k? So your plan is to borrow ~$100k total for this college? That’s way too much. Total loans shouldn’t be more than ~$27k for 4 years.
@austinmshauri i don’t know where you are getting your figure of 100k from. Federal grants cover 13k, parental contribution is 7k, so this comes out to 20k out of my 31k tuition and fees, which means 11k a year is left to be paid, so that would leave 44k over for years, not 100k. i believe i can get thjat figure down to 25-35k.