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...I was told this was a gov. thing and you don't get any more unless your income is less but I am wrong? Because we would definately like the subsidzed ones.
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<p>You're right ebay... that the subsidized Stafford loans are only available to the student if the family income/EFC are below certain amounts. Same with Perkins. </p>
<p>Also, people who are unfamiliar with student loans should realize that even the unbsubsidized Stafford loans have a limit on how much you can borrow. It rises slightly for the jr. and sr. years, but for fresh/soph, it's less than $3000.</p>
<p>davidpien, your parents may be able to take out a PLUS loan if they do not want to take a home equity loan. PLUS loans are disbursed to your college in two payments for the school year, one towards the beginning of each semester. Repayment starts after the second sum is disbursed [usu. around Feb]. They can take out a new loan for your tuition expenses every year, and they can borrow an amount that also covers your room/board and other fees, or a portion of those expenses every year. Interest paid on PLUS loans is tax deductible in certain circumstances, and when you've graduated, or they've taken the last loan, they can consolidate all the smaller loans into one, with a locked-in interest rate and payments spread over 20 years if necessary. Once you are out of college and have income of your own, you could help your parents in repaying the loan.</p>
<p>I would expect that the mid-six figures comment really meant 150K and not 500K.</p>
<p>Also the absolute salary number is meaningless without considering the cost of living where the person lives. I live in a CA county where the median house price is 810K - thats the median for the entire county not just the neighborhood. 810K will buy you a 25 year old 3 bedroom house in average condition and about a 20 mile commute to work. A person who buys that house with a 80% loan will have a $4300 per month payment - thats about 50K per year. Then add in about 12K for property taxes and insurance and your up to 62K for housing alone. Take the 150K and take off 40K for income taxes and 62K for housing and you are left with 38K for all other expenses - that makes a 43K tuition a little difficult.</p>
<p>I am an engineer and so is my brother. I make about 2.5 times what he does. But I live in CA and he lives in WA. Even I though I make so much more than he, he is far wealthier than I because his cost of living is so low. His wife doesnt work, he has new cars and goes on annual foreign vacations while we struggle from paycheck to paycheck, drive 10-15 year old cars and take local vacations. </p>
<p>You guys should do a little math before you jump to conclusions.</p>
<p>You and your parents need to sit down and work out how to divvy up that $45K. How much can they pay out of income? Since you won't be home as much some of those expenses are going to be reduced--food, utilities, any private lesson, school expenses. Mayabe $15K can be squeezed out of that. Do you have some money save or are you willing to work like a fiend this summer? Busboy, clean up work can pay well if you work double shifts. You are young and strong. My kids make a lot of money during the summer that way. Or tutoring, music lessons, organizing filies, papers, homework notebooks, on top of a regular job can reap some $$. Also, look for work possibilities at school. 10 hours or so a week could be scheduled into your life and you will find many kids do work at school. That can bring $2500-3000 into your $15K of the bill, add in the summer workathon and, you may be up to $10k. You borrow $2500 and stint on extras(used books, or buy on internet, downgrade a bit on the meal plan) plus I have worked in an extra couple thousand in the formulas since your cost is really more like $43. Also hopefully you will have a few thousand from savings to throw into the equation--cash grad gifts, savings bonds, any college savings. The other $15K, your parents may want to borrow from PLUS or other plans which can spread the payment over a long time. For $15 K the amount would come to well under $200 a month. </p>
<p>You might consider doing a sophomore semester of work instead of a junior year abroad where you take off a semester and work to earn money for the junior year and polish off some lower level courses at a local state college at cheaper rates. That would probably help your parents take a breather from a loan the following school year. However, all decide to approach this tremendous cost, be aware that your family is not alone. Many have to take stock of what their priorities are and start taking austerity measures when the college numbers become a reality. It is also a good entree for students regarding the real world and where you stand economically. As a kid you have been piggybacking on your parents socio economic status which means a pretty nice home, eating out, vacations, luxeries. Things not available to you on your own two feet financially. It is an excellent reality check for kids whose parents cannot support them their entire lives and who are so dependent on income for their life styles that retirement is an uncertainty. That is the next financial milestone to anticipate.</p>
<p>Jamimom, I definetly intend to pull my weight in helping for college. I work part time now, but will increase my hours when summer vacation comes. In addition I plan to take up a work study in college. Thanks for all the helpful advice, my parents are now looking into the pros and cons of PLUS loans vs a Home Equity Line of Credit. </p>
<p>timcob-I appreciate the understanding. We live in an area of CT where although not as extreme as where you live in CA, the price of living is still rather high, so I fully understand what you are talking about. People will often sacrifice vacations/cars/homes in order to live in an area where the public schools are good for their children. </p>
<p>thanks for all the helpful advice everyone! and bsbllallstr8, it sounds like your EFC is too high. could there have been a mistake? Can anyone who knows more about EFC calculation help bsbllallstr8 out?</p>
<p>You have no perspective on what my life is like, and no >right to judge my situation. </p>
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<p>no perspective on your life? because I'm assumed to be...what? unlike you in all respects? well, I am 3/16ths praying mantis so I don't mind someone biting my head off.</p>
<p>I didn't need to judge how your parents' 150k a year is spent - The EFCbot 3000 from FAFSA Inc. did and it said "Nein!" (because it speaks German, naturally).</p>
<p>Besides, I was a judge in my future life. A palm reader was going to tell me so, but right before I went to see her, I developed a nasty infection in one palm, from chucking upchucked chuck, which completely distorted my judiciary line and benched any future judicial aspirations I might have had. This all happened as predicted by my fortune teller. </p>
<p>Really though, I never said you were trying to lichen your financial situation to someone who treely cannot afford college. -You're not clueless. You clearly could.</p>
<p>I wouldn't blame you at all for being ****ed at your parents. After all, it's their fault you can't afford your dream college.</p>
<p>---you sure there's not even ONE bucket of money left?</p>
<p>EFC uses assets also.. my dad has 400k in real estate.. although he bought it for a total of 150k in the late 1980s and is still paying it back... we are screwed b/c the value of the real estate went way up.... He doesnt have much money in IRAs which they dont count, he decided to put his money in real estate for retirement.. and.. well... looks liks his retirement money is going to be payign for my college :/</p>
<p>awwww, someone's a little cranky, huh writingwell? Just remember, everyone here at CC loves you no matter how much (or how little) money you make!!!</p>
<p>:) </p>
<p>/gives writingwell a hug</p>
<p>oh, and sorry to hear about your fortune... I hope that nasty hand infection clears up! ;)</p>
<p>and I'm sorry to hear that bsbllallstr8 :( maybe you could plead your case to the Finaid dept? Hopefully someone on these boards who knows more on these issues than I do can help you out.</p>
<p>The following states support resident families with sons or daughters attending Bowdoin: Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and the District of Columbia. Students with official residence in these states must apply for these scholarship programs in accordance with published deadlines listed on the FAFSA form itself. In most cases, filing the FAFSA by April 15 will accomplish this task.</p>
<p>College councelors should know whether your state has grants for college. My own state gives residents two or three thousand dollars to study in state, but offers nothing to study away.</p>
<p>David, I completely empathize and can only say that the people who have posted extremely rude replies simply have nothing better to do. I'm also a rising college freshman and the 40+k that my family will have to garner for next year makes this process just THAT much more stressful. Tuition WILL BE $40+k, A LOT of money whether we're dirt poor or high middle class. Heck, no one here is Bill Gates. Furthermore, it is those people who are dirt poor that get the financial aid, and as a result, we in the middle class get shafted with almost no financial aid. </p>
<p>In my situation, my parents are 1st generation immigrants, so they don't understand the American financial system very well. We also haven't anticipated this moment, so the big college bill just sort of jumped up at us. Admittingly, we didn't plan well AT ALL. However, we're not giving up, and neither should you. My parents have always told me that I should just try my hardest and get into a good school, and they'll handle the money part. And, even though the money part is becoming a too-real aspect now, there will always be a way. I would look into loans and be sure to call your school to talk to them about this. They have specialists :)</p>
<p>Thanks for the empathy and encouraging post bean001. My parents have been exactly the same way, they always told me "Get into a good school and we'll handle the rest". I think in many ways its a big dream for immigrants to send their children to good American schools, and I am so glad that I have made my parents proud. Now, even though I could take them up on the offer of "them doing the rest" I want to do my part in helping fund this 40k+ tuition anyway I can.</p>
<p>davidpien: Your parents must be very proud of you, and the fact that you are concerned about this speaks volumes. Unfortunately this world has such a spread between the haves and have nots, and the cans and cannots, and few of us are noble enough to vicariously enjoy the good fortunes of others. We cannot know the "truth" of anyone else's life and circumstance, and so we judge, based on our own realities. Sigh. Few things are more exciting that a child who is successful, and you and your parents together will find a way to make this dream come true. Good luck.</p>
<p>I'm not sure whether this is helpful but I think I remember a chart from "barkowitz"'s blog (on MIT web site). The idea was to determine how much could be paid each month and then combine different types of loans to achieve that result. The chart (if I remember) compared different combinations of loans that could be used to pay off the same amount of money taken as a loan.</p>
<p>There are many people who are surprised by the cost. Part of the fault lies in the predominant advice on the web and on bookshelves that says there are billions of dollars of scholarship aid out there and never assume that you wont qualify etc etc etc. If you believe this stuff you can think that you will ok. There isnt much advice out there that says that if you are middle class in a high cost of living area then you will not get anything at all and will have to pay 100% of the full cost. But that is the reality for a huge number of us.</p>
<p>I think people are in the same situation regarding their retirement - not enough planning and nowhere near the millions of dollars that most of us need. It was interesting to see my annual social security letter thwat came in the mail yesterday - along with the list of entitlements that says what my retirement check would be was a disclaimer that said that I wouldnt really get that amount since the system is going bust. The decision that so many parents make to drain their resources to fund college ed shows people are still not planning.</p>
<p>I'll be attending Columbia this fall. I got little-to-nothing in aid from all the "big name" schools I applied to, with some more generous aid down on the safety end of my list. My parents are financially secure enough to ensure my education at my top choice school, (they've been dreaming about Columbia as much as I have :) ) but we still want to look into the best options for financing it.</p>