<p>Hello College Confidential! I am currently a sophomore in a 4-year private school that is considering transferring to another school. The current school I am attending would allow me to leave debt-free, thanks to parents support and scholarships. However, due to negatives at my current university I am considering transferring. I have been accepted to another private university on the East Coast with a $11,000 Transfer Grant. However, the tuition and other fees (housing, meal plans, ect) is a lot more than my current university. Because of this, I would need to take out $20,500 in loans in order to be able to attend this university for the next two and a half years ($2,500 next semester, $9,000 for 3rd and 4th year). My question is if this is worth it? This university that I have been accepted has a lot more opportunities and exactly what I want in a school, however I am very nervous to be tied down to loans when I am currently looking at graduating debt free from my current university. Thanks for any help, I really appreciate it!</p>
<p>That sounds like a LOT of loans to me. YOU (the student) will need a cosigner for any loans above the Direct Loan amount of $6500 for sophomore, $7500 for junior and $7500 for senior years. Do you have a cosigner for those other loans? Or are your parents willing to take these loans out?</p>
<p>Is the extra loan amount in your post in addition to the Direct Loan? What would your TOTAL loans be for next year?</p>
<p>Thanks for your response. For next semester, the Direct Stafford Loan will cover all my loan expenses ($2,500). For my Junior and Senior year I would need to take out the full Direct Stafford Loan amount ($7,500) PLUS an extra $1,500 from some other funding source (Private loans, attempting to apply for outside scholarships). So my loan breakdown would be:
Sophomore Year (2nd Semester)- $2,500
Junior Year- $9,000 (7,500 from Stafford)
Senior Year- $9,000 (7,500 from Stafford)
Total: $20,500 </p>
<p>Thanks again for the help!</p>
<p>Are you saying that your total loan debt would be about $20,000 for all of undergrad school? If so, that is not an unreasonable amount of debt, in my opinion. That is $7000 less than if you had taken Direct Loans for four years.</p>
<p>Will your parents cosign that $1500 per year of loans above the Direct Loan?</p>
<p>Or is there any way you could earn that extra amount of money by working part time during school, and during summers and vacation? Or are you already working for discretionary money?</p>
<p>Yep, my total undergrad debt would be $20,500. My parents are completly fine with co-signing a small amount of private loans (which I plan on doing by taking out only $1,500 two years). I might try to save up money, however, while in school to pay that off. Thanks for your suggestion. It is very helpful!</p>
<p>Also…I’m not 100% positive about this…but I believe you could take the full Direct Loan of $6500 for your sophomore year…but I’m not positive. You can ask at your financial,aid office. If you could do that this year, you could bank that money and it would pay the difference for the upcoming two years. Go and ask them!</p>
<p>Thanks for that suggestion. I would much prefer taking out only Direct Stafford Loans rather than going for a private loan company, even if it is a small amount. I’ll discuss this with the financial aid office. Thanks again for the suggestions.</p>
<p>Just ask if you can take out the full Direct Loan this year. No need to mention that some of this will be used in future years!</p>
<p>What 2 schools is this and whats your major? Is the earnings differential significant at the new school?</p>