<p>I'm transferring to UCI in the fall, and I'm debating whether I should accept a loan or not to attend. UCI suggested I take out about $5600 in loans (everything else is being covered by scholarships/grants, and work study). I'm eligible for the blue and gold opportunity plan, living with my parents, and getting to UCI is about a 25 minute commute. Is it worth it to take out a loan, or should I just attempt to pay off the extra cost throughout the school year? Is the 5 grand really necessary, or is it just an overestimate based on cost of attendance? I've never even spent over $1000 in textbooks/supplies because I always rent or look for bargains on things like that. I'm also currently unemployed, but hoping to find a job over the summer (and then doing work-study at UCI). I'm not sure what to do. I know it's really not a huge amount, especially in comparison to other people's student loan debt, but I really would like to be debt-free if possible.</p>
<p>You can always accept the loan and then notify the financial aid office later (before it’s disbursed) that you don’t need part or all of it.</p>
<p>And no, if you don’t need the money, don’t take it! :)</p>
<p>What you need to do is look at the actual cost of attendance breakdown - how much of the CoA is actually billed by the university (tuition/fees). If that amount is equal to your grant aid, you won’t need any loans.</p>
<p>If you can manage without then don’t take it.</p>
<p>FWIW, my daughter was offered loans along with scholarships and grants and i thought it was a good idea to take the subsidized loans as it was interest free while she was in school and she could use it as a cushion and save it up. Well my sensible with money child turned out not to be as good with budgeting as I thought and now is graduating with $20k in debt that she could probably have managed without (well half of it at least) if she had not had it sitting there to spend.</p>