<p>So I recently got accepted into Penn State University Park without any scholarships. My EFC is $0 so I have to depend on financial aid and loans. I also have to start in the summer semester. Im going to major in Information Technology or Information systems . Will the debt i'll be in be worth it after I graduate??</p>
<p>No it will not. Who is going to cosign your loans since you have an EFC of 0? Are you out of state? If you are in-state you should look into starting at a local CC while saving $ to afford your last two years at Penn State.</p>
<p>im an instate student and I was thinking about starting at one of penn states branch campuses for 2 years and then transfer. my mom was going to cosign and i might just do that</p>
<p>Questions you need to ask:</p>
<p>What is the net price after applying non-loan financial aid?
How much debt would it involve?</p>
<p>It would be a bad idea for your mother to cosign if she has EFC=0, since she would have a hard time repaying.</p>
<p>@ucbalumas yeah your right, I really don’t want her to struggle so I’ll just go to a school that gives me more aid. So what if I did the 2+2 program and start out at a branch school instead?
Sent from my HTC<em>Amaze</em>4G using CC</p>
<p>What aid can you expect from the state of PA? Are there any grants for low income students? I think it 's a better idea to commute for two years and save whatever you can during that time and finish up at University Park. You won’t have to do the extra summer that will not only you cost you more than $10K but take away from your ability to save some money for the school year.</p>
<p>That’s the thing I got in but they want me to start early to build up academicly. If I go to a branch school I would live on campus but its about 2,000 dollars cheaper. Penn state doesn’t provide grants for low income which sucks, but I was told by a admissions officer that Its possible for me to get scholarships if I start at a branch school</p>
<p>Sent from my HTC<em>Amaze</em>4G using CC</p>
<p>I didn’t get my aid report back but I know ill be getting state grants and Pell grants but after doing an estimate it drops it down to about 18,000. So I would have to take out loans to cover that</p>
<p>Sent from my HTC<em>Amaze</em>4G using CC</p>
<p>$18,000 per year is still more debt than you can get yourself. And it would be a bad idea for your mother to co-sign if she has EFC=0.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if you mean $18,000 for all four years, that is likely reasonable and less than the subsidized Stafford loan limit of $23,000.</p>
<p>What other options do you have, at what net cost?</p>
<p>Penn state is expensive. If you go to a satellite campus for the first two years, can you commute? Many outside on those campuses go home every weekend so you won’t get much out of staying on campus and their room and board isn’t cheap either.</p>
<p>Save your money for U park.</p>
<p>Sent from my DROID BIONIC using CC</p>
<p>You should not graduate with more than about $35k in debt. You’re thinking of borrowing way too much.</p>
<p>you’re considering way too much debt. It will ruin your life.</p>
<p>Start locally. Then transfer.</p>
<p>At that point, you’ll know for sure that you’ll actually become an eng’r. many eng’g students end up changing their majors.</p>
<p>Your mom may not qualify to co-sign 4 years of loans anyway. Each year, she’d have to requalify and each year she signs, her credit is hurt.</p>