<p>This is our first year dealing with college and financial aid so it is quite an experience and I have alot of questions.</p>
<p>I received my financial aid package from the college that is my first choice. I am being offered $4500 Grant from the College, $4800 Pell grant, $1500 federal grant and $5000 in work study. The tuition for the College is approx. $32,000 including books, tuition, fees, etc. but not room & board since I will be commuting. </p>
<p>The grants total $10,800 which brings me to $21,200. Subtract the federal loans and I am at the balance of $15,700 in need of other loans. (The $5000 in work study is not included in balance I have to come up with since I have to work first for it.)</p>
<p>Since I will be commuting from out of state, it may be hard for me to complete the work study at the college. I am considering trying to keep my part time job at home on the days I do not have class. If I decline the work study what are my chances of getting any other kind of additional aid from the school? Is there a chance at all?</p>
<p>The in-state college that is my second choice is about $5000 cheaper per year and that is with me living on campus. (The commute would be even further than my first choice out of state college). So it would be a $20,000 difference over four years - do you think this is an amount low enough to make me go with my first choice instead?<br>
I would receive approx $5000 in state aid from this college since it is in my home state. Is there anyway that my first choice college might consider this and give me additional aid?</p>
<p>I assume these are both public colleges? I doubt College A will boost their offer simply because you chose to look out of state which automatically voids the $5K in state funds available from your state education system. There is a possibility that State A has the same type of funds available for their in-state students. This is an enticement to keep students within the state. You are choosing to pass on this offer.</p>
<p>Choice #2 is a public college, choice #1 is private. </p>
<p>Other questions I have are this:</p>
<p>The financial aid packge that I have been offered from my first choice college - Is this considered an good, average or low aid package considering the cost of the tuition?</p>
<p>I would be looking at approx $80,000 in student loans by the time my four years are done - I have been told by others that this is the “average” amount of loans students have at the end of their college years- is this correct?</p>
<p>I don’t think SVA is known for great FAid packages so this sounds typical (they gap).</p>
<p>As for work study:</p>
<p>If you earn a decent summer salary, you will probably have to pay taxes (Fed, NJ, and possibly NY) on some of the income you earn during the school year, regardless of whether it’s a work study job or not. Although both work study and non work study jobs are treated the same for tax purposes (both are taxable income), there is a difference when determining FAid. </p>
<p>You receive FA based on your EFC. When determining your EFC, FAFSA (and Profile) WILL NOT include work study income so having that job won’t affect next year’s EFC. But FAFSA WILL include the non work study income (higher income) when determining your EFC (resulting in a higher EFC). It’s been mentioned previously here on CC, that once you reach a certain income level, your EFC will increase $.50 for every $1 earned. </p>
<p>So, you may be better off taking a work study job. Check with your work study office to see what pay scale these jobs have. My kids have had several work study jobs with higher salaries than we expected . They found jobs that relate to their majors and can be used(will look relevant) on their resumes upon graduation. Often times, the work study jobs/salaries can be found on the school’s website.</p>
<p>One other suggestion. If you approach the NY school about FA, ask if they would consider increasing your COA to cover the cost of a computer and to account for your high commuting costs (tolls for river crossings, parking, gas). One last thing that may or may not apply here. Does NJ offer the same major as this NY school? If not, you may be able to get some $ from NJ.</p>
<p>No, the average student has around $22,000 in loans for an undergrad degree. How will you borrow $80K for undergrad? How much are your parents willing/able to pay? An debt that size will be tough to handle right out of college, unless you’re in a high-demand, high starting salary field. You’d be expected to pay around $900/month for 10 years! You can check out other payment/loan scenarios here:
[FinAid</a> | Loans | Student Loans](<a href=“Your Guide for College Financial Aid - Finaid”>Student Loans - Finaid)</p>
<p>I would call this aid package very bad. You are clearly very low income given the Pell Grant and the gap for a low income family is huge. $80K, like sk8rmom says is about 4 times the average student loan. And $5K in work study is problematic. Do they want you to work or study?</p>
<p>This school looks like it would be a poor choice for someone studying film where you can not depend on a high paying, steady job upon graduation. It’s too high for any student but would be more conceivable if you were studying accounting or engineering.</p>
<p>SVA is my first choice college. The second choice is a public in state college which does have a Bachelors in Film Degree. It is in state but a further commute so I would have to live there while attending. </p>
<p>The estimated costs are approx. $27,477 per year;
Tuition and Fees 10,003
Loan Fees 120
Room and Board 10,886
Books 1,200
Travel 1,206
Miscellaneous 4,062 </p>
<p>The financial aid package is:
Pell Grant $4100.00, State Grant $5258.00, Federal Grant $1500.00, Work Study $1600.00, Federal Loans $5500.00.<br>
Basically the cost would be $16619.00 without Work Study- In four years it would be $66,476 in loans if everything stayed the same.</p>
<p>Since $20000 is the average debt than I would assume that this is not considered a decent FA package?</p>
<p>My mother thinks that SVA is extremely expensive for the four years and that $80000 is alot of $ to be burdened with after graduation. This said, my parents are considering taking out the parent plus loans for the remainder of the balance after the federal loans for the college that I choose. I would have to contribute to paying part of the loans back after graduation.</p>
<p>The class schedules and programs for film I feel are a better at SVA and would concentrate mainly on film. Alot of the time at my second choice college would be spent attending secondary classes, english, math, etc. </p>
<p>I am just really disappointed with the cost of both colleges. I was hoping for a better fianncial aid package from SVA. Would it help to call FA there and speak with them?</p>
<p>It looks like both of these schools are way too expensive. If you qualify for such a large Pell Grant, your parent’s don’t make a lot of money. How will they pay back a large Plus loan? Have you looked at salaries for film majors and the probability of getting job in that field? Being burdened with your own large loans will probably force you into a job outside of film just to make your loan payments as opposed to letting you apprentice and hold out for film jobs when you graduate.</p>
<p>I would really consider a community college for a year and reapplying to more schools that would be more financially practical. Or doing to years at a cc and then 2 years at one of these choices graduating with half the debt.</p>
<p>"I would really consider a community college for a year and reapplying to more schools that would be more financially practical. Or doing to years at a cc and then 2 years at one of these choices graduating with half the debt. "</p>
<p>This is exactly what my mother is saying and what is being talked about now. I totally understand this. I had just wanted a more intense film program than the cc offers and to attend a college that was more reputable for film and would better on my resume than a cc. :(</p>
<p>I don’t think most kids should be taking out more than about $20-25K in loans for all 4 years. Kids who have families able to help them repay loans or who have a very high chance of making a high income may be the exception. In your case, being Pell eligible, it may be a huge issue for them to be helping you with your loans or taking out loans themselves. Parent loans are over 8% a year; your loans are at about 6%, and only some of them are subsidized and therefore not accumulating while in school. Work out the repayment numbers yourself and ask whether this is something that your parents and you should be undertaking.</p>
<p>Our family does not qualify for financial aid. Even so, we are stretching to pay college costs and both our son and we are taking out loans. Scares me to death, looking at the number of years we’ll be paying for his college education. We want to help him out with his loans as well, but if we are not able, at least he is taking well within what an undergraduate is entrusted by the government. </p>
<p>In my opinions, neither school is a good deal for you. That’s a lot of money for you and your family. Look at some alternatives that are less costly.</p>
<p>According to a Money Magazine article about college costs I just read, average amount of loans is $22,000. At private schools, 10% of the attendees will have over $40,000 of loans after 4 years. 20% of all students who have borrowed more than $15,000 end up defaulting on their loans.</p>
<p>Avoid those high amount of loans–you really don’t know how long it will take for your filmmaking career to take off.</p>
<p>Thank you all for your insight, it has really put things in perspective. I am going to call the financial aid offices tomorrow as a last ditch effort to try and get more aid. Otherwise, I will be touring the cc this week.</p>
<p>When looking at your community college, check to see if they have an articulation agreement with Montclair (if that’s where you would plan to transfer from) It would be a waste to take classes that don’t transfer. Also, although I am not familiar with film studies, I am familiar with architecture and fine arts programs where you need to have a studio class every semester. YOu need to look at whether or not you would still have to complete 4 years to fulfill the film requirements. </p>
<p>I think you should rethink your options for where you would consider going to the following year. You need to find schools that offer your major and meet a nice percentage of need. On the visual arts forum I found this link of schools that have film programs.</p>
<p>Plug in the names of the schools to determine what percentage of need these schools meet. You can immediately eliminate out of state publics, because they will probably gap you. Once you find schools that meet a nice percentage of need, check to see if you have the stats, and apply to those schools. I would only pick schools that claim to meet 92 or more of need and don’t package a high percentage of loans. </p>
<p>I noticed CUNY hunter was on the list. I think that it’s 15K tuition for OOS students. If you are able to commute it may be an affordable option between your Pell, subsidized loans, summer earnings plus any work study you get.</p>
<p>Ithaca is on the list and claims to meet 91% of need. I recall reading a post where a low income student got a fabulous financial aid package from them.</p>
<p>I have no idea what your stats are like, so it’s difficult to make recommendations, but there are a lot of schools on the list that are competetive (high SATs and GPAs) but give nice aid</p>