<p>Is it worth it?</p>
<p>It seems ridiculous but its the only school for my friend. Only acceptance.</p>
<p>$20,000 in loans plus the unsub, sub, and perkins loan would bring it to around $25,000 in loans per year.</p>
<p>Any advice? Can he appeal?</p>
<p>Sure he can appeal, but NE is like many private schools – they may not meet 100% of need, and they practice enrollment management, i.e., they may give more grant money to kids that they really want.</p>
<p>Appeal probably won’t yield anything, although you should really try. Your friend might have to use the Community College -> 4-year college transfer route, because I’m not sure that he will be willing (or even able to) take those massive loans to go there.</p>
<p>How is your friend going to qualify for $100K+ in loans before he graduates?</p>
<p>A ridiculous and UNNECESSARY amount of loans.</p>
<p>Of course the idea is a bad one, but also he’d need co-signers. His co-signers might not qualify for his 2nd, 3rd, or 4th years of college. That would even be worse. He’d end up with his degree from a state school, but a bunch of debt from a pricey private.</p>
<p>Your friend needs to either commute to a local CC/local state U, or go to a school that gave him a better package.</p>
<p>What are his other choices?</p>
<p>Hold it…Northeastern used to have a fabulous coop program. This helped many students defray some of the costs of attending. If that is a possibility for your friend, it may work out.</p>
<p>Only your FRIEND’S family can say if it’s worth it…THEY will be taking out those loans.</p>
<p>Thumper, sorry but I will disagree there. NEU does have a coop program BUT…if the student lives on campus during coop they still have to pay for the dorm, etc. Generally speaking in the four years my son has been at NEU I have found that the coop salary covers cost of living while working but not much more. Nothing left over for tuition or room/board for future semesters.
Depending on the major, in the past year or two some students have had to take unpaid coops in order to get a better position to strength their resumes…I would not count on coop money at all.
Of course, your last point about the family having to decide whether it is worth it is spot on. It’s unfortnate that this student only has one acceptance. Perhaps a gap year should come into play…</p>