<p>me and my family are still working out some minor details in terms of how much loans ill actually need in the end, but lets go with the assumption that i graduate with average debt from this university: around $15k</p>
<p>assume also that job opportunities are good and average starting salary is about $55k</p>
<p>$15,000 is a lot of money but it is not insurmountable. If you really would like to attend Florida for engineering I have a feeling that you could make it work.</p>
<p>$15,000 paid back over 10 years at 6.8% (unsubsidized Stafford rate) is a $173/month payment. This is about 4% of a $55,000/year income, which seems very affordable.</p>
<p>Some engineering majors can get into the $60K+ range for starting salaries.</p>
<p>You didn’t say if you factored in work-study or summer job income, but if not those could put a serious dent in that $15K before you even graduate.</p>
<p>^yes i forgot to mention that i MIGHT be able to get work study</p>
<p>At virtually every school S and I visited, they said they had more jobs available than they can fill.</p>
<p>So you can almost certainly get one if you want. The tougher issue is time management. Engineering is a tough major, will you have enough time for 8-10 hours/week of work and get all your schoolwork done? It might be smart to wait a semester to see how you are doing before jumping into a job.</p>
<p>assuming you do 12 credits a semester,spend double that time studying, spend about 6 hours a day sleeping, 10.5 total hours or so eating and socializing at a table (1.5 hours total a day?), ull still have like 80 hours on your hands A WEEK (168 hours in a week)</p>
<p>and if u take 15 credits: ull have 70 hours left</p>
<p>I was an engineering major, I never took less than 16 credits and most semesters were 18 credits.</p>
<p>Your rule of thumb isn’t that accurate, especially if you are taking a lot of project-based courses. Projects can suck up a <em>lot</em> of time, especially near the end of the semester.</p>
<p>All that said, if you are confident in your study habits and time management skills, 8-10 hours a week should be easily doable.</p>
<p>Ummm yeah…15k is extremely manageable</p>