<p>Without typing up a wall of text, lets just say that my parents (mainly my dad) and I are in a disagreement on which college to transfer to. I am currently going to De Anza Community College in California and majoring in business administration: international business and I already applied to schools such as San Jose State, CSU Sacramento, San Francisco State, and CSU East Bay. </p>
<p>I really want to go to a far away school to get the "college experience", but my dad wants me to go to San Jose State since it is a short drive from home. He doesn't believe in spending thousands of dollars in order for a child to get the college experience, so in other words, he's cheap. He even told me that if I want to go to a far away school, I'm gonna have to do everything myself like paying for tuition, rent, books, food, etc. I don't qualify for FAFSA since my parents' combined income exceeds the requirement. Do you guys think it's worth it to take a bunch of loans to get that college experience or should I just live with my parents for a couple more years? I have heard a lot of stories how people went to the school that wanted to go and ended up in $100,000+ debt and have a hard time paying it off.</p>
<p>If you’re currently in CC, wouldn’t you only pay for 2 years of college by the time you transfer? If so, I think it’s worth it to acquire $60,000 or so in debt. That’s “good debt” to have anyway. Paying it off consistently will increase your credit score which is essential for a car, apartment, and other post-grad necessities. And maybe you could bargain with your 'rents to contribute the price they’d pay at San Jose State to whichever school you transfer to. Best of luck!</p>
<p>What other schools did you have in mind, if any, and are you looking at schools based on the strength of their programs or solely the distance from home? Is your dad amenable to paying the same tuition he’d pay if you were to go locally and having you pay the difference? Do you already have student loans?</p>
<p>If your folks will pay the normal tuition/fees and you can work part-time and take some student loans to pay for the “experience”, I think that would be a good compromise. Btw, how are your grades? Would you be eligible for merit money at any of the schools?</p>
<p>I think that $60K in undergrad is FAR too much for most students…I’d stick with the federal limts which are about half that amount.</p>
<p>Well…do you plan to go to grad school? If so, you might want to consider keeping your undergrad debt to a minimum. Here is the thing…YOU (the student) are not going to be able to take out $30,000 per year in loans in just your name. You will get a $7500 Stafford loan each year in your name only. Any additional loans will require a cosigner. You won’t be able to GET a loan in that amount without someone cosigning the loan. Do you have someone who is able and willing to do so?</p>
<p>*If you’re currently in CC, wouldn’t you only pay for 2 years of college by the time you transfer? If so, I think it’s worth it to acquire $60,000 or so in debt. *</p>
<p>Many OOS schools are going to cost more than $30k per year.</p>
<p>Secondly, he would need a co-signer for loans that big, and do YOU really think this dad is going to co-sign? Hardly.</p>
<p>Thirdly, $60k is too much debt for an undergrad. That is not “good debt”. That is a payment of over $600 per month for 10 LONG years. That’s like 2 ADDITIONAL car parments in addition to a person’s REAL car payment.</p>
<p>How many newish grads do YOU know that can say that they can afford all of their own costs, their own car payment, PLUS 2 more car payments for 10 years? </p>
<p>To the OP…go to San Jose St. If you want, you can go OOS for grad school.</p>
<p>I don’t know your parents financial situation (and you may not know all the details either). Many parents don’t want to pay for “room and board” when there are good alternatives locally. Room and board for 2 years can be $25k+. That can be too much for some families in addition to the cost of tuition and books.</p>
<p>I’m along your father’s line of thought - I’m 24 years old and almost three years out of college, and being virtually debt free from undergrad (I borrowed less than $10K) is one of the best things I ever did for myself. Honestly, expensive private universities are a luxury, not a rite of passage or a right. And although I do think there are perks for going to elite universities (I’m at one now for graduate school and I see the difference), I’m a firm believer in the “college is what you make it” mantra. I went to college 20 minutes away from home. I still had a great college experience, made lots of friends, studied abroad, the nine. My sister commutes to her college 40 minutes away and she’s enjoying it as well.</p>
<p>People say that student loan debt is “good debt”. It’s more accurate to say that it’s “neutral debt.” It doesn’t hurt your applications for other types of credit to have it, but that doesn’t mean that it’s universally positive - especially if it’s very large or you can’t afford to pay it.</p>
<p>Also remember that when you graduate, you will be 22 years old (maybe 21 or 23, depending). You have your entire life - the next 50-60 years - to move somewhere far away, make friends, party, whatever. A lot of my mid-twenties and early-thirties friends do more partying and enjoy life more now than they did in college, now that they have jobs and true independence. If there’s somewhere you’ve always wanted to live…hunt for jobs there, or try for graduate school near there. But don’t go into big debt on an undergraduate degree for a living experience. Those can be had later, trust me.</p>
<p>People say that student loan debt is “good debt”. It’s more accurate to say that it’s “neutral debt.” It doesn’t hurt your applications for other types of credit to have it, but that doesn’t mean that it’s universally positive - especially if it’s very large or you can’t afford to pay it.</p>
<p>That’s not true. Any debt you have will adversely impact your credit score. Lenders look at the amount of debt you have in relation to your income before approving you for a mortgage or car loan for example. If you run up big student loan debts it will hurt your credit until they are paid down.</p>
<p>Even if fed student loans don’t show up on credit scores (don’t know if they do or not), that doesn’t mean that they are having a neutral affect on your life. The fact that those loans exist and you’re having to pay them, will keep you from doing/saving/buying and moving on with your life.</p>
<p>And, when you’re talking about $60k in debt over 2 years, you’re talking about $45k in PRIVATE LOAN debt. I do think that will show up on credit reports…but even if somehow they don’t, that still doesn’t mean that they are neutral to the affect on your life.</p>
<p>I applied to San Jose State, San Francisco State, CSU Sacramento, and CSU East Bay. I applied to those schools because SJSU and Sacramento supposedly have a good business department. When I applied, I wasn’t looking for distance away from home, but Sacramento, SF, and East Bay just happen to be there since they have my major. I haven’t decided to go far away at that point until I made this thread to see if it’s wise to be in debt for school.</p>
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<p>At this moment, I’m still deciding whether to just get my bachelors and just start working. I might or might not go to grad school. My plan was to go to a school nearby (the 4 I applied to) and then go to a far away college for grad school. I think my older brother can cosign the loan, but I’m not too sure yet.</p>
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<p>Thanks for the advice. Although I dislike staying at home with my parents, I think it’s the most logical answer to stay home for undergrad unless I find different ways to pay for a far away school.</p>
<p>For the CSU’s that you are looking at, I think that would be a mistake, as they all are mostly commuter schools. You really wouldn’t get the college campus experience you are looking for, because the majority of your classmates would be living at home or in the community. I know that SF State does have dorms, but my guess is that most of the students in the dorms are freshman and sophomores – and you would be going in as a junior transfer, so you might not be happy living on campus in any case. </p>
<p>I also think its a bad idea to take loans to pay for living expenses (room & board). While that’s a big part of the expense of school, current food and rent is not really an “investment” in the future – so while you can rationalize borrowing for the education, since the degree is certain to pay off in the future… it doesn’t make a lot of sense economically to borrow to pay day-to-day living expenses. </p>
<p>It is still possible to work your way through a CSU, though its getting a lot harder with tuition increases – so if you have a possibility through friends to live cheaply in the east bay or Sacramento, you could consider that along with a part time job. </p>
<p>Please don’t misinterpret what I am saying – I think you can get a great education at CSU’s (my son is a CSU grad) – it is just that most of the CSU’s are not really residential campuses. (My son attended one of the CSU’s that is more of a residential campus, but he paid his own way, working at the same time he was in school, and without taking on any debt while there. I’d note that within 2 years of graduating with a BA he was married with a kid … so in hindsight the pay-as-you-go, no-loan plan was a pretty good choice).</p>
<p>So the choice for you, given the schools you are looking at, is – aside from the money – whether you are going to commute to school each day from your parent’s home or whether you are going to commute each day from a room or apartment you are paying for, which may be located farther from your chosen campus than your family home is from SJSU.</p>
<p>I would not rely on my older brother to co-sign for a couple of reasons…</p>
<p>1) he may only qualify the first year, and be turned down the second year…then you’d be screwed.</p>
<p>2) His credit is hurt while the loans are outstanding. He won’t like it when he goes to buy a car or something and he’s turned down because of the outstanding student loans.</p>
<p>soundwave, I meant to post something about this earlier and forgot…just to clarify, there is no min/max income required for FAFSA. FAFSA is only a data-gathering tool and all the factors (income, assets, family size, taxes, parent ages, # in college) are then used to compute the Expected Family Contribution. The EFC determines your eligibility for federal grant aid and FAFSA-only schools also use it as a basis for awarding institutional need-based aid. I’m assuming by your post that you mean the EFC was too high to receive need based aid…since need is COA - EFC. The point is, without knowing your EFC, that may or may not be true at a school with a higher COA.</p>
<p>I think your current plan to go to SJSU is a good one. But, if you decide to apply to other schools, you might look for those who offer merit aid if you’re sure that you won’t qualify for any need-based aid. Does your CC have a chapter of Phi Theta Kappa (honor society for CC students)? If so, check their website to see if you qualify as many 4-year schools offer PTK members automatic scholarships.</p>