<p>Alright guys, so college is basically going to cost me 18k/year to attend. This is what my fin.aid award included:</p>
<p>2,000 work study (knocks it down to 16k)
3500 in stafford loan
1000 in perkins loan</p>
<p>So basically, after the smoke clears, i will need a parent PLUS loan of around 10,000 a year. My parents are willing to take it out the first year, but the next 3 i will be responsible for (they will take it out but i will pay them back).</p>
<p>Working in the summer, i'll be able to make around 2k as well.</p>
<p>So, in rough figures, your parents want you to pay 30,000 in plus loans + about 25 thousand in student loans, for a total of at least 55,000? Do you have other options? That is a lot debt.</p>
<p>Is the $18k the actual cost of tuition/room/board/fees, or is it the COA budget (which includes estimates for books, travel, misc)? If it is actual, you cannot deduct the work study - that is earn-as-you-go & cannot be subtracted from your bill. If it’s the COA, you can reduce the amount needed by being as frugal as possible - your misc. costs can be lowered if you are very careful. For example, buy your books used (you can get some great deals online, even with expedited shipping costs included).</p>
<p>You will be able to borrow another $2000 in an unsubsidized loan, even though it’s not offered to you. That would reduce the amount of the potential PLUS loan by $2000. Also, if your parents are turned down for a PLUS, you could borrow another $4000 in unsubsidized loan. In the end, you will have to do either a PLUS or a private (alternative) loan.</p>
<p>Yes, you should be able to take out $5500 for your first year of Stafford loan. See if you can get a part time job immediately and try to earn as much as you can. This is tough. You’re going to a reasonably priced college, but that’s a lot of loans. I can understand why you’d take that on, though. Hard to do too much less.</p>