Many…MANY kids go,to local,colleges. They commute from home to save money. They don’t go to OOS public universities or expensive private universities.
Most are grateful to an affordable instate, local option. Because it’s what they can afford.
Many other students work full time and attend college part time. Or they start at community college who. H usually can be paid for with that $5500 loan. And then they transfer to a four year public university in their state to complete their bachelors.
You are not considering any options except OOS publics and expensive privates.
You aren’t considering anything IN your home state.
You really aren’t considering the costs…at all…saying you will pay fully with loans from somewhere,
Sorry, but I think you are being very short sighted here.
The vast majority of parents that are helping their kids with college costs are not considering schools at the price tag you are. Most kids on this country either stay in state, commute from home or go to a community college for a couple of years to save on costs.
Some people have saved that kind of money and more, starting when their kids were born. Others have saved some but not enough and combine their savings with what they can pay in cash. Some
do a mix of savings, loan and cash. Every family and situation is different. Many figure out their budget and simply don’t look at schools outside of it. The good news for you is that you are figuring this out now before all applications dates are past or you’ve committed to a school only to realize you’ve no way to pay for it.
What matters now is that you figure out an option that you can afford either with or without your parents help but know you have significant constraints on what you can contribute on your own, completely solo.
@project21 students do go to best school they are accepted to…that they can afford. Sometime you don’t know where that is until scholarships and financial aid awards come out. That’s why you apply a range of schools including a safety you can afford and are willing to attend.
“Well how are parents paying for their children’s education then, if not by loans?”
Some parents saved and put money aside for a long time specifically for college education. We did not because I teach at a university. It turned out that my S was able to get into his dream school and it takes about 1/4 of my AGI or about 1/3 of my disposable income to fund his education. It is of course a challenge. First, our family cut expenditure: not to eat outside when we are in town, eliminate leisure travel, etc. After all these, there is still an annual budget gap that is currently funded by home equity loan (that is, my debt, not my S’s debt). Eventually, we would need to liquidate our second home for our two kids’ education. We still have a younger one in HS; we cannot pay for the elder one, but not pay for the younger one. This is the conscious decision that we made, and we are happier to see our kids happier than owning the second home. Note that we have the luxury of doing all these because we are fortunate to have enough financial resources. Many parents out there are severely constrained financially. Even they want to take on loans for their kids’ education, they are eventually turned down by the lenders.
ASU and UA are perfectly fine in-state schools. When you are financially constrained, weather should be secondary consideration or a non-issue. Or if you wish, another in-state perfectly fine NAU has cool weather like in Colorado or Ohio.
This changes EVERYTHING… You have financial need, so you should be targeting schools with great financial need.
Northeastern is a great pick on your list. You honestly shouldn’t have applied to OOS schools because they won’t meet your need. In state and private are the places you should be focused on.
There are a couple schools I recommend applying to: Trinity University and Case Western Reserve University (they are both free to apply to).
Plug in your finances in the Net Price Calculators of each school you’re applying to…
@alh that is his FAFSA EFC. The more generous schools on the list use the Profile to award need based institutional aid. We don’t know what other financial things this student has that could impact what the school decides they can pay. Home equity? Is either parent self employed?
Yes, it is possible that the reach schools on the list could be affordable options…IF he gets accepted. But those are all reaches for admission.
Still…yes…it’s possible it could work out.
I still think this student NEEDS a real safety…one that is affordable where he has a very HIGH probability of acceptance. That is missing on this list.
If you’re asking someone else to guarantee the loan you’re not paying for it yourself. Your parents are financing it and you’re promising to pay it back. But there’s ZERO risk for you. Your parents will be on the hook for anything that’s borrowed. If they can only scrape together a few hundred dollars now, why would you ask them to risk 500 times that amount so you can go to a dream school? If something happens – if you become disabled, lose your job, change your major, or die – they have to repay the loans. Who’s going to repay the money if you attend 3 years but they’re denied the loan for the 4th and you have no tuition money, no degree, and no job?
Very few majors require a specific set of schools to get a good job. You can go to an affordable in state school with minimal debt and still get a great job. Why don’t you apply to one of them so you have an affordable option in the spring?
Our older daughter borrowed the unsub amount each year (private U). Younger D we paid 100% (in-state public). We have the money because we saved it and education is important to us.
I paid for my own schooling, back when one could do so working PT at minimum wage plus a Pell grant one year. That Is no longer possible.
If we didn’t have the cash, they would have started at CC and transferred to a local 4 year, living at home all the while.
There is no way we would ever co-sign on $140K worth of loans.
You can’t get that much in student loans as an undergrad.
Yes, they are.
They are also liable to pay for the loan if you drop out of school, or flunk out of school, or finish school and can’t find a job.
It would be dumb for your parents to co-sign on loans they can’t pay, and it is selfish for you to expect them to do so.
Speaking for myself, I set limits on what I could/would pay and my kids based college choice mostly on financial aid, with some leeway based on quality/reputation of the school. I did take loans, but only what I knew I could afford – I did NOT defer payments, but used parent loans as a way of stretching my purchasing power. My offspring also worked and took loans. And I did insist that my kids apply to our in-state schools. I was not willing to pay more for out-of-state or private schools than the COA for in-state, so they absolutely needed to apply to those schools. (Though my son could also have opted to attend ASU with a NM Scholarship, which would have been a full ride).
It seems to me that you are going to come face-to-face with reality in a few months. You’ll get in where you get in, you’ll see what your financial packages are like - and if none of your options are affordable, then you won’t be going to any of them for college.
“Now, I read somewhere that EFC is basically subtracted from 15,000, and what’s left over is how much money you get.”
Omg, that now closed thread from you-know-who, with the misinfo from Uloop, is having its first visible effects. That’s nearly a direct quote.
OP, you have no basis on which to get a loan other than the student Direct loan, 5500 first year. If you do take a private loan (again, which you will not qualify for by yourself,) payments can start due before you graduate. And all along, even with the student loans, interest adds a chunk to the totals.
Suppose you get a 60k job- roughly 45k net, if you’re lucky. Roughly 3750/mo, minus rent, car, insurance, cell. internet, and some living. Now you’re paying off maaaabe 24k/year.
Of course, you could live in someone’s spare bedroom, keep the old clunker car. Sure, Dave Ramsey talks about how to bte down debt through sacrifice. But he also talks about not getting in this mess, in the first place.
Now suppose you change majors and earn 40k.
All the info you need to look into this seriously is online.
You said your parents have medical bills and loans of their own. They might not be able to borrow anything for you at all.
Are you sure your EFC is correct? You said it was “extremely high,” but I find it hard to believe that a teen who thinks nothing of borrowing $160k thinks $13k/year is a lot. Are your parents helping you run the calculators or are you doing it on your own?
What are the college’s net price calculators saying your net cost will be? Colleges won’t use the FAFSA EFC for anything except to see if you qualify for a Pell grant. If your EFC is over ~$5k, you won’t.