@tristatecoog UCs would benefit from capacity relief and us CA with kids would benefit without having to compete with things like 139k apps to UCLA :). However, I’m realistic and I know the OOS tuition helps to bridge the budget from IS tuition and funding from the state.
As a taxpayer who pays a lot of taxes, I have to pause and remind myself this all the time.
The OOS students at UCs tend to be wealthy and smart, and the state of California has to like importing people with those two characteristics.
Can you share a link that has a simple breakdown of how student loans (types, interest type, etc) work? I worked and had scholarships so I had no loans back in the day and we are going to try our best not to take out loans with the kids (they’ll have to work part time).
I do not students can take out more than $5k/yr undergrad on their own. Am I crazy to think there’s a federal loan where kids can take out money and interests don’t kick in til after they graduate?
What school?
There are two types of federal student loans, subsidized and unsubsidized. Subsidized loans do not accrue interest during the time the borrower is in school. Unsubsidized loans start accruing interest immediately. Whether a borrower qualifies for one, or the other, or both, depends upon the school he/she applies to and I believe how much aid the borrower qualifies for under FAFSA.
The state Legislature pressured UC to cap OOS in 2017:
Here’s the info with the Federal Direct Student Loan info. Generally, undergrads can take out $27K in loans over 4 year of undergrad…$5.5K frosh year (sub and unsub combined), then $6.5K/$7.5K/$7.5K.
And OOS publics, like Michigan, continue to court kids like my D18 to forgo enrollment in the UC’s. Their poor handling of Covid, notwithstanding, Michigan’s big endowment, new buildings, remodeled dorms, smaller class sizes, no registration issues, ease of changing majors, etc. lure CA kids away from the UC’s.
D18 will graduate UMich early with two minors.
For the unsubsidized loans where interest starts accruing immediately, what’s the best way to pay off the interest so that it doesn’t tack on to the principal loan amount…monthly? At the end of the semester or academic year?
I’m looking at one of the financial aid packages my son got…aside from the merit aid they awarded him, it’s showing $691 in direct subsidized stanford loan and $2060 direct unsubsidized stafford loan per semester.
So misleading since they average the numbers out with all UCs. Merced 0% OOS, top schools 30% per Niche.
My understanding is you can pay the interest any time before the loans enters repayment at the end of deferment. At that point any interest left will then become capitalized. If D takes any Fed student loan, I will pay the interest off each year.
Same here…we’re still deciding if he’s going to take the federal loans, if he does, we’ll do the same and pay off the interest every year then.
@xcskimom we love VT! We spend every weekend there, and D21 will be at Middlebury next year. It’s been a spectacular winter!
@itsawrap, we live a town or two away from Lowell and know several people who have selected UMass Lowell. I don’t recommend living at home, those I know who have done so good not fair as well. Dealing with downtime between classes and such can be tough. There are many reasonable apartment complexes in the area if your son wanted to move off campus after a year or two.
Midd grad '91! Drove up from KY to visit the campus after being accepted, and fell in love. Later convinced my husband to leave the mountains of CO and MT for VT, since we could afford to raise a family here. Congrats to your daughter; she will have a wonderful experience.
Just an FYI we also live in Illinois and the new requirement for FAFSA to graduate can be waived. There is a simple form to fill out. We also do not qualify for any financial aid and all of my kids, including D21, were offered merit.
Yes, I know, I should’ve mentioned that but the Fafsa took about 5 mins to fill out so it was not a big deal.
Congrats to your D18. Graduating early can help defer the costs. 
We get statements at home for his federal loans and as soon as I got the first one with interest I set up the online account and just paid it. It was so small the first year that I even ended up paying off a little of the principal every couple months. The more often you pay it the less it hurts. That was my experience anyway.
FAFSA was pretty easy to fill out. Especially since I imported my tax documents from the IRS. CSS and IDOC on the other hand are a pain in the backside.