<p>I will be starting (hopefully) school in the Spring 2014, and I just got my financial aid awards. For the Spring semester alone I got, </p>
<p>Fed Direct Loan - Subsidized
$3,500.00</p>
<p>Fed Direct Loan - Unsubsidized
$2,000.00</p>
<p>Federal Pell Grant
$2,598.00</p>
<p>Federal Direct Parent Loan
$2,257.00</p>
<p>For a total of:</p>
<p>$10,355.00</p>
<p>My question is that if this aid package continues,(obviously doubling for both semesters) is it worth it to attend the University? and is there any way you can receive more aid after your first year depending on your academic success? Please help and Thank you.</p>
<p>obviously doubling for both semesters</p>
<p>NO!!! Your loans will NOT double next year when you go for both semesters.</p>
<p>You’re getting $5500 for ONE SPRING semester because you didn’t go in the fall.</p>
<p>Next Fall, you’ll still be a frosh, and that $5500, will be divided in HALF. So, each semester you’ll get $2750 in loans.</p>
<p>I hate it when kids start in the spring and the school gives them the FULL YEAR’s worth of loans…it misleads kids into thinking that’s how much they’ll get each semester…then next fall they get HALF and don’t have enough money.</p>
<p>You have a 2257 parent loan. What is your parent saying about THAT?</p>
<p>And next year, since you’ll be short at least $2750, that means that the Parent loan will be about $7500. Again, what is your parent saying about that? At this rate, your parent is going to end up with about $35k-40k in debt. Will your parents pay that back? Will they agree to this? Will they QUALIFY???</p>
<p>I think you should delay enrollment until next Fall…then work between now and Sept to earn and SAVE as much as you can.</p>
<p>You’re a FULL PELL family. Your parents aren’t likely going to want or qualify for those loans. Those are horrible for a Pell family.</p>
<p>What are your other choices?</p>
<p>Is this a univ or a CC? Do you have a CC that you can commute to?</p>
<p>How can we tell you if it is “worth it” without knowing the cost of attending your university? If the full cost is $12,000 a year, you are fine because you will get about $2500 in additional Pell money for the full year ($5600 total for a full year).</p>
<p>If the school costs $25,000 or $50,000 or even $15,000…this isn’t going to work financially for,your family.</p>
<p>*For a total of:</p>
<p>$10,355.00<a href=“for%20one%20semester”>/I</a></p>
<p>Since the school is including a Plus Loan and the EFC is very low, I’m guessing that the school’s COA for a year is about $21,000…since the cost for one semester is at least $10,355.</p>
<p>Honestly i am at the stage where i consider not to be parental loans as financial aid! If you think about it, it is an unsubsidized loan at a fairly bad rate of interest!! how is that ‘aid’? It’s not as bad as paying for tuition using a cash advance or car title loan but it’s not as good as a Grant or even a subsidized loan!!!</p>
<p>Anywhoo, i agre ewith the folks who point out hat this package is of no interest without comparison to the cost of attendance for the school. If this package meets 100% of your need, that is difference than if the package only meets half of your need and the parent has to cough up an extra $10000 bucks on top of the loans and everything! Of course even if it was 100% of the need it’s still not good enough b/c it relies on the parental loan which is BAD BAD BAD.</p>
<p>I would really look into see if you can get better scholarships. i know some scools like University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa and University of Vermont do good merit aid for some applicants; that’s real aid that helps you pay for college right away instead of just loading you down with loans that you might not even qualify for after YEAR one!!</p>
<p>University of Vermont do</p>
<p>not to derail, but I was shocked to see that UVM charges over $35K for OOS tuition. That’s crazy-high for a state school that’s not highly ranked. No wonder it can offer merit…it’s over-charging and then “awarding” merit. </p>
<p>Ralphie…what are your stats? Why are you starting in the spring? Are you graduating early?</p>
<p>
As compared to tuition at a place like UC Riverside for $37K?</p>
<p>^^
But only a TINY number of students at UCR are OOS. UVM has about 65% OOS! They seem to use the scheme of pretending to give aid just to get the cost down to a normal OOS rate…but the consumer thinks they’re getting something.</p>
<p>Could it have something to do with the proximity of high income mid-Atlantic/NE cities, and ski resorts? This is an example of “what the market will bear”</p>
<p>OP, first of all, be aware that the school gave you NOTHING in financial aid. You got all federal money and directed to getting a Parent Direct loan for which your parents can be declined (then you would get additional loan money up to about $4K)… But there isn’t a cent of school money here; it’s all federal funds. What is the total cost of this school? If it is a local school and the package pretty much meets your need (which means your parents have to borrow or come up with the amount of Direct Loan PLUS that is in there), then it might be doable. If the total cost per year is $60K, you have a huge gap. What you get is not as important as what you have to payout of pocket and in loan repayment. DOn’t even mistake loans as grants. You have to repay that money. </p>
<p>As others have said, the DIrect Student loans are not going to be doubled for a full year. The school can release a full year’s allotment second semester. For your next semester, which is the next academic year, you will be permitted to borrow a total of $6500 (sub and unsub combined) and it will be allocated half for the fall ($3250) and half for the spring semesters.</p>
<p>I can’t imagine anyone choosing to live in Vermont over Alabama to be honest!!! but then again i only mentioned UVM because i know about their merit aid; i dont know anyone who actually matriculated so they might have better aid than they give to freshman for their returning! students…</p>
<p>Ax, I only personally know one student who went to Alabama. I know at least a dozen, probably 2 dozen who went to UVM, and that is out of state. So, yes, the school is popular here on the East Coast, at least north of the Mason Dixon line, with OOSers. Look at the percentages and absolute numbers of OOSers and I think that it meshes with my own experience.</p>
<p>Oh I’m not doubting your word at all! I only said that I don’t know anyone who went there, not that people don’t make that choice all the time! UVM is definitely popular but I don’t have any <em>personal</em> experience; I was just talking based on my research – no firsthand knoweldge of the aid packages that people get after matriculation.</p>
<p>Could it have something to do with the proximity of high income mid-Atlantic/NE cities, and ski resorts? This is an example of “what the market will bear”</p>
<p>That could be. I also think that UVM tickles and flatters students and parents by dangling need-based or merit-based aid that once subtracted brings their high OOS cost down to around a more normal OOS rate. When you’re charging over $35k in OOS tuition and you offer $8k-10k in merit, then the resulting OOS tuition is in the $25k-27k which is more inline with a number of other OOS tuiton rates at various publics. </p>
<p>You’d be surprised by the number of people that will actually pay ultimately more in order to “accept” a $40k over 4 years gift.</p>
<p>UVM is a very expensive public university for both in and out of state students. They do NOT meet full need for all, and their aid isn’t all that terrific. But UVM is in Burlington, and close to those nice ski areas. Burlington is a top city to live in…and it is nice (and I DO have persona experience with this).</p>
<p>There is no question that Alabama offers some of the most generous guaranteed merit aid to high achievers. The city is lovely and brimming with new business enterprises.</p>
<p>The school is Texas State at San Marcos which the total cost of attendance is roughly 19,000. I am starting school in the spring because I had trouble with financial aid in the fall due to starting financial aid late, I really wanted to go to school next semster. And the financial aid package presented only cover the spring and summer semester, and I will have to do the financial aid process for the fall and next spring in the coming semester and I believe I will get more aid due to applying early and having all aid possible presented. My mother would be willing to take the parent loan as she doesn’t know much about the whole college process and will take my word. I am planning to call the university and ask them if they can at least take out the parent loan money for the semester and I will just take the other loans. suggestions are very welcome, and thank you already</p>
<p>And at what total aid would y’all think would be acceptable to go? I am willing to borrow 5k total in subsidize and unsubsidized loans because I reallllly want to go to school. Ps: I have been working 12 hours a day for this whole semester and I saved up enough to buy a car and take about 1k to school in the spring, but basically the long work hours have made me convince myself that I have my whole life to work to repay loans and that I have to go to and enjoy this time as well as study hard for a good job in the future. Again thank you</p>
<p>Do you qualify for any state aid? From the looks of it you would be much better off starting at a Texas community college and getting two years there to keep the costs down.</p>
<p>My mother would be willing to take the parent loan as she doesn’t know much about the whole college process and will take my word. I</p>
<p>Holy Smokes!</p>
<p>Your dear low-income mom should not be doing this…and please don’t ask her to. Taking the word of a young person who really has no idea of how such loans will impact his future is too risky.</p>
<p>At this rate, your mom would end up borrowing about $35-40k. You would be borrowing about $30k. Who is supposed to pay back ALL THAT DEBT??? YOU??? </p>
<p>How would a new grad make payments on all that debt???</p>
<p>do you even know if your mom would QUALIFY for these loans? </p>
<p>Do you have any idea of how much you’ll be earning upon graduation?</p>
<p>What is your major?</p>
<p>You need to start at a local CC and then transfer after two years…cut those loans in HALF</p>