Is this good financial aid?

Wasn’t planning on attending this college unless I got good fin. aid. I don’t think this is very good considering only around 4000 yearly in grants, rest in loans, but I don’t know that much about fin. aid.

(all numbers are for yearly)
Total grants/scholarship - 4,632

Federal perkins loan 3000
parent PLUS loan 39208
Fed direct subsidized loan3500
Fed direct unsubsidized loan 2000
Total loan: 47708

Total awards: 52,340
CoA is 52,340

Avoid PLUS loans.

I wouldn’t take more than the federal student loan (~$5500/year) – about $27k TOTAL, so nearly $50k per year is way too much. What are your other options?

  1. by federal student loan, you mean the perkins loan?
  2. What is the 27K total?
  3. THis is the only college that I received admission letter from so far. most colleges give out acceptance in March.

parent PLUS loan 39208

NO. It’s horrible financial aid. It’s not aid at all–it is almost ALL loans. Your parents would have to sign for almost $40,000 in loans. Per year. That’s like borrowing money to buy a super nice car. Every year.

What school is this?

Where else did you apply?

What is your EFC?

YOU can inly borrow $5500/year on your own (the federal direct loans).

What kind of grant did you get? Is it from the college or is it a Pell grant?

A PLUS loan is not an “award.” It is a terrible loan, and a terrible financial aid offer. If you qualify for a Perkins loan, you are pretty low income. Your parents should not be taking 39K per year in loans. Plus there’s another 8,500 in loans for you to repay. Run away. There has to be a state school you can attend for less.

By 27K total, @austinmshauri is saying you should only have that many loans for your entire four years.

I’ll be honest, if you’re getting Perkins, it may be hard to keep your total loans below that amount, but you can certainly do better than this particular offer.

You started this thread last August and got some great advice…3 pages of it. Did you ever run the NPCs to understand your EFC?

http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/discussion/comment/19908829/#Comment_19908829

@austinmshauri Low income students can borrow more than middle class students. They can get Perkins loans, and they can get additional loans if their parents are turned down for PLUS as well. The grant is likely Pell, since OP qualifies for Perkins.

Has your dad told you how much he’ll pay per year? If you’re low income, it won’t be much. I’m concerned that he tells you your brother got a scholarship to NYU but won’t tell you how much. NYU isn’t known for giving great aid. If your parents are borrowing for NYU they likely can’t afford to borrow more, but that’s good for you.

Did you apply to any schools that would give you merit for your ~2100 SAT and 3.9 GPA? Run the net price calculator on your schools – starting with your WA state safety – and see what your expected costs are. I’m assuming the $4600 grant is Pell. That plus the $5500 federal student loan would give you a yearly budget of ~$10k. If you work summers, you could probably raise ~$3k. That would be enough to cover room & board if you got a tuition scholarship somewhere. Are there any colleges you can commute to from home? That’s a good option too.

The grant is from the school “Office of student admissions”
EFC is pretty high, 6061, maybe I did sth wrong? cus I did most of it alone
I learned my father pays around 22k yearly for NYU (btw, should i be posting info like this online? just being cautious)

That’s what I thought. this is a bad fin. aid. There is no way I"m going to UIUC, which was a match/somewhat safety for me. Right now I"m just looking for a good OOS with decent fin aid or just in state UW, which isn’t that bad either in physics. Besides, I’ve been reading that undergrad schools don’t matter as much as grad schools (if you plan on doing that)

An EFC of ~$6k isn’t really high, just too high for a Pell grant. This school is unaffordable. Do you know how much your parents can pay for you without borrowing? Can you afford the WA school with just what they can pay and the federal student loan? You need a financial safety.

UW is 25K, with a few grants and outside scholarships, we can def afford that I think

Total COA at UW is really 26 assuming living on campus.

Did you run the NPC for UW? Does it show you actually getting grants? Are these outside scholarships already won?

Conceivably you could end up still owing UW $19,500 per year if none of those come though and as you know UW notifies quite late. 19.5 is far far too much for your parents to take in PLUS loans.

If you work during the school year and summers and commute then UW could be a solid option but I am concerned about you counting on grants and scholarships you don’t have yet.

Where else have you applied?

NPC for UW says around 4000-5000 for stafford loans, 15K for “Other grants” whatever that means, and estimated CoA ~10K.
I19.5 is far far too much for your parents to take in PLUS loans." is this assuming my parents can’t pay for UW? How do people even go to college if they can’t even afford loans for an in state college like UW I"m lost

Applied Union, UMich, UCB, UCSB, UPenn, Cornell, Rice, Wesleyan U.

Many start at a community college then transfer to a 4-year college. Students who are fortunate enough to live near a 4-year college can commute. Most don’t borrow their way through school. It’s a good idea to keep loans around the ~$5500/year federal loan limit. Are there any colleges within commuting distance of your home?

How much can your parents pay per year without borrowing? It looks like your net cost for UW would be ~$15k/year. After you apply the ~$5500 federal student loan the balance is ~$10k. If you work summers and raise ~$3k it brings it down to $7k. Can your parents pay that, plus cover books and spending money?

UCSB and UCB will give you no financial aid as an out of state applicant so expect to pay full fees at $ 60k minus what little federal aid you may be eligible. Two more unaffordable schools if accepted.

If UW is affordable at 20k then you’re good, but since your EFC is 6k it’s probably not.

And yes you’re right it’s a horrible financial aid package. (and what a deceptive way to present financial aid : PLUS loans are not an award!)

How do students afford to go to college?
They target colleges that will provide sufficient financial aid. When they don’t, they end up with unaffordable choices and must either take a gap year to reapply with a new list, or go to community college.

Lewis and Clark is still accepting applications and with your stats you’d get preferential packaging meaning they should be very affordable. (run the NPC and submit your application asap).

Did you check this site you were given in August? A 2040 SAT (1410 CR + M) and 3.9 UW GPA might qualify you for free tuition at some schools and free rides at a couple others. If all your current schools require ~$80k of loans to attend, I’d take a gap year and apply to a new list of schools.

I’m looking at your past threads. You were given a whole bunch of better ideas than the list you ended up with. You can’t say no one tried to warn you.

I’m hoping Rice comes through for you. That’s probably your best chance for an out of state school you can afford on that list.

UW’s “other grants” is free money (unlike PLUS doesn’t have to be paid back). Depending on various factors, it comes out of different buckets and the NPC doesn’t specify the exact name of the grant you’re getting. Your offer is probably going to be closer to the NPC price of 9K than the worst case scenario of 20K people are throwing around. WSU usually comes in lower cost that UW, but you’ve missed the priority deadline there. Community college and transfer later will also be cheaper if UW doesn’t work out.

Good luck.

Lesson hard learned…

University of Oklahoma thankfully has been sending emails, I can still apply and win full ride IF i become nmsqt finalist.

Whittier (in state) i can also still apply

.

Any other schools with lots of aid that still has deadline left? (I think the latest are feb 15 most schools) couldn’t find national merit schools with deadlines left but Mightve missed something