Not a Parent - But Curious

@harper8

Why isn’t this practical for high stats kids applying to schools with known merit aid???

We are fortunate to be in the position to pay for our children’s college education. This took financial planning and discipline – we starting saving from the day they were born. Both H and I had parents who paid for our college education and we are glad that we can do the same for our children. Fortunately both of our children are hard-working, career-oriented, and very grateful. My S is now financially independent and in two more years we expect our D will be as well.

@project21, you do realize that your parents have to qualify to get that $160,000 loan? What if they don’t? Do you have a backup plan?

And why aren’t you considering a community college with a transfer to a 4-year school? You’d graduate with a fraction of the debt.

First of all, it won’t be 40k a year. It will be over 50 and that will go up over the 4 years (2016 OOS COA is 49k). You are talking over 200k in undergrad debt and based on your other post does not remotely sound like your parents are going to be willing to cosign for this ($173+ would be in their name or jointly) or take it out on their own. In all likelihood it will not be possible for you to attend UW, should you be accepted. I agree that direct admit is risky, and if not directly admitted, even riskier. I live in Seattle and am an alumn. While yes, it is a fabulous school, it is also huge, with giant class sizes and many kids struggling to get the classes they need to graduate on time. Or, in many cases, to find alternative majors when they can’t get admittance to their own.

Putting yourself through school is an admirable thing to do. Most who do, do it because they have no alternative, versus going after a dream school. It is unclear if your parents will pay should you stay on the east coast.

I realize you didn’t come here asking a finance question so I’ll leave that alone and hope you have backup plans that are affordable.

To answer your question, I personally largely self funded my college education. At in state rates my loans equalled in today’s dollars what would approximate today’s max student direct federal loan ($27,500 total for all 4 years). The only way I was able to keep it that low was by working 20+ hours a week during the school year and 2 full time jobs at 80 hours a week all summer long. It was manageable but it wasn’t remotely easy and it certainly isn’t conducive to the best gpa possible. Your assumptions are risky at best and I echo the advice to meet with some kind of financial planner or advisor. Frankly it doesn’t matter how great a program is if you can’t afford it.

As for my kids, we have a “deal”. The deal is this. I will pay up to the cost of our flagship (UW, at the instate full COA is 26K this year, will be slightly more next, or fall of 2016). Anything beyond that they need to do the following. Find merit scholarships. Work summers and during the school year (at less than half of what I worked mind you, 8-12 hours a week during school with ideally nothing 1st semester freshman year and 40 hours a week for 8 weeks in the summer). After the “easy” money is committed to they then would be required, as needed, to take up to their max federal loans. Depending on the school I may then decide to kick in a match to their federal loan but no more. That means they have a starting budget of 37-42 but it does require a significant commitment on their part. More than that frankly, for any student is not financially prudent in my opinion. IF they come in at or under 27…then they can work for spending money and grad school savings. They are not full ride/full tuition stats kids so that is a challenge but they are finding merit and options. Anything under 27 and I may kick that in for grad school.

I do wish you the best of luck.

This is not the student applying to UW.

Project21…where DID you apply?

Hoping you completed the Profile,where required, as well as the fafsa.

Ah sorry about that (UWconfusion)

Looks like the student may have applied to Tulane and NYU?

Since my parents paid for mine I’ll try to pay for my kids - have been putting into 529 since born but who knows if it will be enough…

I have applied to:

Cedarville University(S)
University of Colorado at Boulder(M, most likely choice, I love the area and I have a high chance of admission)
University of Michigan®
Duke University(HR)
Purdue University(HM)
Ohio State University(S)
Steven’s Institute of Technology(M)
Northeastern University(HM)
Northwestern University(Lottery winning choice)

I sure hope it’s NOT NYU. That school costs $72,000 a year, does not guarantee to meet full need for all students and doesn’t, and will most likely be unaffordable.

@project21 --which one is in-state for you.

What is your EFC?

Have you run the net price calculator on each school’s web site?

None of these schools are in state(Arizona), I dislike heat, and love grass/snow, so that’s why I’m going OOS.

I have started running the calculations, yes.

If you really have to pay for it all by yourself, you might want to reconsider your in-state options, especially if you can get some merit aid. Heat or not, 160K + is too much to borrow. You can always move to the snow when you get a job.

Answering the original question: I’m a high school junior. My parents make a reasonable income, and will help pay for at least part of college. However, I’m paying them back by getting good grades and test scores (to be eligible for merit aid), taking free/low cost dual enrolment classes now, and having a plan for college so I don’t waste time and money.

I get that you don’t like heat, but at least apply to one or two in state schools, as financial safeties. There’s no reason you HAVE to spend $40,000 a year on college.

I put myself through school and went in state since it was relatively cheap. If you’re paying for it all, do yourself a favor and don’t get over your skis on debt. Trust me on this!

@project21 as the others have asked, what is your EFC ? You stated elsewhere that you had a 3.9, not sure if that is weighted or unweighted and were hoping for a 32 ACT.

If that is accurate, yes you will almost certainly get in. Boulder would likely give you $6250 annually off of a COA of 53K at your stats. It will be a bit more than 53 as thoat is this years rate but Boulder does fix tuition for all 4 years which helps a tad.

http://www.colorado.edu/financialaid/cost/example-aid.

53k total COA
-6250 scholarship
-2400 student work during school year
-3000 student work over the summer
-5500 direct student loan.
=36K remaining /short

That leaves you with an additional 36K ish annually that would have to be financed somehow. If your parents will not take out loans in that amount or co-sign for that amount ($143 k for 4 years) you cannot consider this school or any of the others on this list. If your parents combined income is less than 99k you may be eligible for a very small grant but it’s a drop in the bucket. The results at the rest will be similar. Some maybe a bit better (Purdue and Ohio I suspect) and some worse (Duke, Northeastern, Northwestern)

The christian school is by far the most affordable of what you have listed but it is quite different from the rest so not sure of your plan there and it is still more than you can borrow directly.

If you are in Arizona you are part of the WUE and there are cold options to get you out of Arizona, but none that are on your list. Unfortunately the WUE is competitive and you are late for many of the larger awards

University of Wyoming does not limit their WUE. Your total COA annually would be around 20k I believe, at your stats.
It would put you an hour away from Fort Collins Co which is a great college down. They have lot and lots of snow. abou5 2.5 hours from Boulder so close enough to visit.

20K total COA (assuming WUE)
-2400 student work during school year
-3000 student work over the summer
-5500 direct student loan.
=9K remaining/short.

You still could not take out that 9k on your own but I suspect your parents would be far more willing to cosign for 40K over 4 years than 143. Montana Tech will have a ton of snow and is part of the WUE but will be more than U of Wyoming. Which is a really really lovely campus.

As to the OP’s original question: 1) kids can’t get loans anywhere near the COA without a cosigner, and 2) if my house is paid for and I’m on track for retirement, why wouldn’t I want them to start out with minimal to no debt.

As to the OP’s situation, almost every adult here is telling you $160k is too much debt, even if your parents cosign for the loans. A BS in Computer Engineering does not guarantee a $80k job straight out of undergrad. Even if you do land one of those jobs, it may be in a place with a very high cost of living.

Cedarville University(S) $35,000
University of Colorado at Boulder(M, most likely choice, I love the area and I have a high chance of admission) $53k
University of Michigan® $59,700
Duke University(HR) $70,000
Purdue University(HM). $41,800
Ohio State University(S). $51,000
Steven’s Institute of Technology(M). $61,000
Northeastern University(HM). $61,000
Northwestern University(Lottery winning choice) $70,000

These are roughly the costs of attendance at each of the schools on this list.

Many if these schools either give NO merit aid, or very limited and competitive merit aid.

The OOS public universities aren’t going tomgive a huge amount of aid to an OOS student.

You have Cedarville being a safety…and OSU. These are ONLY safety schools if you are sure you can pay the cost to attend.

@eandsmom You are correct, except I ended up with a 31 superscored(which I think is a pretty good result considering my estimation way back then).

I think that I will definitely be able to pay off 36K a year in student loans, considering I don’t have to pay until 6 months after I graduate.

I will be taking summer jobs/internships, and a part time job(maybe 20-30 hours a week), during my school years. I’ll have to run a calculation, factoring in all my different expenses.