Hello everyone.
I’m a first generation student, hence all the questions.
I recently got my financial aid from my top school and I would have to pay about 8k a year to attend. This includes anticipated transportation and book costs from the school. The cost without those expenses in is about 4K. My family makes about 25-30k a year.
I have the option to take out loans, should I??
I’m not really sure what else to include in this, I’m sorry if this is a stupid question and if my English is bad it’s not my first language.
I think you can cover books/transportaion/fun money by working during summer and during school.
That’s what my daughter is doing.
Is your family comfortable paying $4,000 a year? Your parents are billed $2,000 for each semester separately. (I don’t know if the school is quarter system.)
If they are not comfortable, you can take out the loans. Don’t borrow from private company. Just borrow from government then it’s not going to be crippling.
You should talk to the school financial aid department and ask them how it all works. They will be happy to help you.
If your family makes 25-30K per year, have you been earning any part of that family amount? Will that be missed? Lots of students in that family earnings level feel an obligation to help the family out. Many have been known to take the loan to help pay the family’s rent or keep the lights on at home. No shame nor judgment implied - students will do what is best for their own family situation.
You haven’t given us enough information to really be able to tell you much. For example, you’ve give a net Cost of Attendance after financial aid of $4K, but the total cost matters as well. If the total cost is $40K and they are giving you $36 K in aid, and you are commuting, well, that’s a very different story than if the total cost is $85K, with $40K in tuition and $45K room/board/books/travel, yet they are giving you $81K in FA - of which a good chunk of it would be taxable. Often students in the latter situation would need to take a loan to pay the tax bill.
Chances are that your situation is somewhere in between these examples, but I am confident that the school’s financial aid department has dealt with situations like yours before. You are not asking them for tax advice - just wondering how other students in situations like yours have made it work. Sometimes these schools may put you in touch with upperclassmen who have recently been in a situation similar to yours. And that’s often where the best advice comes from. Other students will tell you what to take advantage of.
When you talk to them, also try to get an idea as to if there are commonly issues with students not being able to earn hours at a work study job and still handle classes/labs/other activities. Some schools have lots of work study jobs that are unfilled, while students at other schools may get grants for jobs that aren’t there, or they conflict with school/athletics etc.
Remember that work study funds are not available to pay billed costs in advance. They are funds that are earned by working a work study job during the school year. Work study funds you can earn are also contingent upon you being able to both get a work study job and get enough hours, which can vary a lot at individual colleges.
It may make more sense to plan on using your work study earnings or another part time job to help cover your incidental personal costs(eating out occasionally, entertainment, snacks, etc).
Make sure that your family has a plan to pay billed costs each semester, and also has a plan to cover your other costs, like books, travel, and personal items. Hopefully, your family can cover all of that between your federal loans, summer earnings, and income/savings.