I attend a private university where tuition plus room and board are around $40,000 per year. As you can imagine, such a high price is difficult to pay if you have a high Estimated Family Contributed (EFC) such as myself. Such problems are amplified if your family is unable to contribute to your educational expenses. I paid a relatively low amount of the cost with federal student loans for the current year. I was fortunate enough to secure a scholarship to pay 75% of the tuition and a $6,200 scholarship from the Kentucky Office for Vocational Rehabilitation. Now almost a year has passed, and I have realized college is significantly more difficult than high school. I was able to open my college career with a 3.98 grade point average. I anticipate my grades for the spring to be lower, and while I don’t anticipating breaking the 3.5 GPA minimum to retain my most valuable scholarship, the lower than expected grades have brought a serious thought to mind. What if I were to lose my scholarship?
I would like to imagine most people would say to transfer to a different and less expensive university to minimize my debt, but I have grown quite attached to my university, especially the horses here. As an equine major with their sight set upon becoming a groom after college, my prospective income is quite low however, the passion is worth a lot to me. My university offers a unique program to students with potentially low incomes graduating with student debt known as the Loan Repayment Assistance Program (LRAP). The program uses a bracket to determine how much financial support a student will need with the maximum limit being $40,000 a year. If a student has an income lower than $40,000 a year, a percentage of the student loan payments made by the graduate will be reimbursed with the limit set for 100% to 50%. The student still makes loan payments however, they are refunded the money directly from LRAP. I would like to hear the opinion of the College Confidential community on whether or not the LRAP is a sustainable and logical method to remain at my college if for some unforeseen reason I lose my scholarship.
You would be boxing yourself in to making a lower income. Make sure you understand the penalties if you can’t even make the minimum payments -are you expelled from the LRAP? If you make more than $40k, are you expelled?
You are still borrowing the money.
I’d make sure you don’t lose your scholarship. If you do, transfer to a cheaper school.
This is simply a “what if” scenario since I’ve noticed how challenging classes are and how demanding it is to maintain a 3.5 GPA. I’m a second semester freshman soon to be a sophomore in the fall. From my understanding, making an income greater than $40,000 disqualifies LRAP recipients from the financial assistance. I believe it also requires them to make the payments on the loan before LRAP will reimburse the money.
The issue is will you be able to make the payments? If are low income, you will likely have little left over after paying your living expenses. How many years would it take?
If you only have federal student loans the income based repayment might be an option. However be aware the current administration is considering changes to the loan program which might impact that option.
@noname87
You are correct. Living on a lower income, as I more than likely will, would inevitably strain me financially. The loans would probably have to be extended to their 30 year maximum. My university is quite expensive, so a majority of the debt would be in private loans. After examining the total cost of attendance and subtracting aid I would retain, the total cost would be around $26,831 per year. This is a close approximation because I don’t remember exactly how much my Kentucky Educational Excellence Scholarship is worth. The least expensive alternative I’d have is around $10,000 however, it is a lot less than $26,831. I would dread to leave my current university though because of the Equine Studies program here, but this post was made as a hypothetical situation I hope never happens. I am realizing fast how difficult university can be with my last two psychology exams returning with a 73 and a 75 respectively. Even my own major is coming to have quite difficult course material with two of the hardest in-major core classes coming in the fall. I’m trying my hardest to succeed in retaining the scholarship, but a 3.5 is a genuinely tough benchmark, especially for a private liberal arts college.
Are there less expensive colleges closer to home that you could attend?
@austinmshauri
No, my local college is still very expensive since they too are private. They also don’t offer my major however, the colleges coming in at around $10,000 do offer my major, so there are options. Once again though, this post is entirely hypothetical.
@SolarGoat
You have had issues with finances since well before you enrolled. Did you end up choosing the less expensive net cost option?
If you can’t pay your college bills without significant loans, it might be time to take a leave of absence, and re-evaluate what you are doing. Adding loan debt that will require a very long repayment period is not something I would suggest.
A number of university scholarships require a strong minimum GPA to get school funding. This is expected of students with strong HS histories of merit.
Many freshman don’t understand how hard it gets to maintain those GPA’s for scholarships. It is very tough.
You are only a freshman and courses only tend to get harder. Your general education requirement coursework will continue. Your psych scores are only the tip of the iceberg.
I know of groomers who have not even had significant high school educations; they are paid as grooms. You’re having the government pay for an expensive university education to learn to be a groomer? This makes no sense.
Find a school that you can afford. If you don’t have the ability to pay for an expensive school, which you know will provide you with a very poor return on your school investment, why place yourself even further in debt for a good portion of your life??
Your posting history about your college distress sounds as if you will have a hard time being a contented person. Deal with your issues using common sense. You have been given good advice by previous posters. Listen to people on this website with life experiences. These people want to help you but you tend not to consider anything that anyone says.
Please act sensibly on the good advice you’ve been given. Please have a better expectation for yourself.
How much have you worked with your school disability office? Do you go for extra tutoring? Do you attend office hours?
Have you worked with your state division of vocational rehabilitation or services for visually impaired? By should be able to help you in terms of identifying career goals given your vision issues, and help find programs within your budget to attain those goals.
@thumper1
I did not choose the least expensive option overall, but the difference was insignificant in my opinion since I wanted to be where I’m going now rather than the other options. I sacrificed finances for my dream college. I actually work with the college disability office in meetings once a week, and the Office for Vocational Rehabilitation has no immediate knowledge of the current struggles I’m experiencing due to their scholarship only requiring a 2.5 GPA. They are aware of my career goals though. I’m well aware of the less expensive college options, coming close to $10,000 for the least expensive other than the community college in Lexington, which would require driving. It would be a potential offering following the hopeful obtainment of a driver’s license in the summer, but I’m not sure how far an associate’s degree would get someone in the equine world. There are options, which is the most important part.
@“aunt bea”
Psychology has been unique in its difficulty, as all my other classes have went well. My ambition to become a groom is actually a step in the greater process to enter management, and the reason I went to college for this is become I needed to prove that I could work around horses despite not being raised around them. I’m gaining knowledge I was never exposed to when I was young because I never had horses. Also, transferring is an option if I lose the scholarship, but that has yet to happen, and I’m doing everything I can prevent it from ever happening.
Your vocational rehab office is a BENEFIT for you, for your lifetime. You don’t need to struggle alone. The Department of Rehab not only helps with funding, but also can provide you with a coach who can help with licensing, paperwork issues, job placement and a host of other benefits. It’s provided to you for free, but you need to be proactive by contacting them. It is a separate entity from your college. Use them. Your taxes pay for these services.
As for your other coursework, you are predicting, in this freshman year, that you won’t have further issues in other academic areas in sophomore, junior and senior years? Learn to ask for HELP. Learn to be resourceful. It takes a village to grow and evolve into adulthood. If you ask for advice, use the good information and take advantage of it. Try not to be so defensive when people try to help you.