Paying for College? What now?

Paying for College
1

So I took the not-so-smart path a chose a college that would without a doubt leave me with considerable debt. (Over 100k after 4 years). I’m set on preparing myself for this. I want a game plan as I truly do not want to be paying this off until I am 40 if possible. What have you guys done or decided to do to pay off this debt? What can I do?

Right now I am undecided for my major, possibly business or medical is medical or some type. Obviously my job would matter. I have also considered things like ROTC (Could be too late for this, not sure if there is a sign up deadline) or just joining the armed forced afterwards. I do not see this is a means of just paying off my tuition, I am actually fairly interested in joining and it is something I am considering.

Basically I dont know what to do. I am happy with my decision choosing PSU, just want to start thinking about this future issue now.

Thanks so much for any and all responses. I was stressing last night when deciding. Have a good one!

2

How do you plan on obtaining 100k+ in loans? YOU as a student can only take on 27k over 4 years.

3

You aren’t getting it. Even in your last thread http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/1881846-psu-shu-or-fordham.html#latest you were told PSU is not affordable. There is no money fairy to help you pay for college. And ROTC is highly competitive to get a scholarship. Just saying you’re signing up for ROTC will not do it. The first people in line to pay for a college education are the student and his/her parents. If your parents can only afford $11K/year then you’ll need to possibly start at a community college.

4

In your other thread you said that your loans at PSU would be $39k/year. That’s $156k over 4 years. You said that you don’t want to be paying this off into your 40s. Let’s look at a 20 year payback period at 5% interest. That gives you monthly payments of $1,029. For 20 years. For a Penn State degree. That’s nuts.

5

Please check your other thread. There are solutions.
But attending Penn State with 160k in loans is not one of them.

6

As @“Erin’s Dad” said: ROTC is highly competitive to get a scholarship. Just saying you’re signing up for ROTC will not do it’.
You have got to rethink all of this.
What about staying home, working and going to community college in the fall while you apply to some in state school’s that are more affordable? Are you in commuting distance of a state college? Maybe you could do that.

Please don’t let pride get in the way here. Some kids feel that they must where the big college t-shirt to their high school and tell everyone where they are going and don’t want to say things did not work out. So, they stick with a plan that is simply NOT afforable and regret it later.

Say you are taking a year off to work and looking at some schools that are a better fit (true, as you need a better financial fit!). After reading your other threads, I really fear that you are not understanding that the Penn State plan is not doable.

7

On Friday, a list of colleges that miscalculated yield and thus still have a few places, will be published on the NACAC website. Many of those are pretty good and have financial aid. It’s a zero risk proposition to apply to a handful of them and see what shakes out: at best, you’ll be starting at a good college in the Fall with less debt than for PSU. At worst, nothing pans out and you’re not worse off than now.

8

You are all right in that I am not very knowledgable of this. I’m also not naive and wouldn’t think my college loans would pay themselves off. I cannot simply back out and go somewhere else, the May 1st deadline has passed. How can I simply not attend now?

Community college just isn’t an option. I set high goals for myself, this was one of them. Now all I want to know is when you said this isn’t “doable”, does that mean I literally CANNOT do it or does it simply mean it will be hard.

Personally 1k a month seems pretty low in my eyes. After college I could be supported by my family (Live at home, free meals, clothes, room, etc.) and still work my job (Whatever it may be). I could fully dedicate myself to paying off this debt which my parents agreed to help with even after college until it is fully paid off.

I think I have the solution for paying it above, but you guys keep mentioning that I can’t even borrow that much money. How in the world are people supposed to go to this “big name” colleges if they can’t borrow enough money. I am sure of the 40,000 students at PSU UP that at least one of them is in the same or a similar financial situation.

I’m very thankful for all of the answers but the stress continues, sorry if I’m being relentless but I do not understand how this can be impossible.

EDIT: Also taking a gap year is off the table no matter what. Tbh at this point changing schools is practically off the table. Just looking for answers but everyone is telling me I literally CANNOT do it.

If I join the armed forces out of my own interest in doing so, does this fix all of my financial concerns?

9

It is not impossible if your parents can qualify for the Parent Plus loans for each of the four years. But its crazy to take out such loans for undergrad even if you live at home after graduation. I know many law school graduates who had a hard time paying $1k+ per month for 10 years. Are you willing to live at home for at least 10 years to pay off these loans? You may say yes now, but you will very likely regret it long before the loans are repaid. It will seriously limit your options in life. Please don’t take this route. Everyone is trying to prevent you from make a very big mistake. There is nothing wrong with going to community college. But also try the NACAC list that people have mentioned.

10

If you start by commuting to a local community college, your degree is going to come from the university you eventually transfer to. Would getting the degree from PSU, even if you only attended two years, satisfy the high goals you set for yourself? One thing to keep in mind is that not everyone can find a job near home. If the jobs you are able to find aren’t within commuting distance of your parents, the plan of living at home for free might have to fall by the wayside.

11

You’re 17. You’re describing going back home as a man-child, and living at age 25 like a 17 year old in high school. Now, switch focus: imagine you’re 21-22, have a serious girlfriend/boyfriend, have learned how to live independently… you might have to go back home, but you’d really hate it. You’d hate having to take money from your parents for your clothes, you’d hate not being able to see your girlfriend when you’d want to, you’d hate have her come over and sleep in your childhood bedroom with your parents next door, you’d hate to have her see you live like that, you’d hate having to regress to being a teenager again when you’re an adult.
Not to mention your job may very well be 300 miles from where your parents live.
(And don’t say “well then I won’t take that job”. Because you won’t have the option of not taking that job. You’ll have to take the best offer, regardless of where it is. Even Alaska.)
Perhaps you’ll have to delay buying a car. A car you need to get to a job (note that some jobs that you get as a a college graduate may frown on your driving a pile of junk, and many jobs will require decent outfits that require a nice investment.)
Paying back the loans you’re thinking of would take 25 years. If you scrimp and scrounge you MIGHT be able to be done in 10. You’ll graduate at 21-22. Can you imagine being 31-32, living in your childhood bedroom with your wife/husband and newborn baby?

Easy. Say you won’t be coming. It’s SO common it even has a name, “summer melt”.

Joining the armed forces = no college for 5 years.
You can try for the Coast Guards but it’s too late for next year.

A normal amount you can pay back on a college graduate salary is about $300-400/month.

If you won’t take a gap year, then wait till Friday and apply to as many colleges from the NACAC list* as you can, then choose the cheapest one.

What would your major at PSU be?

  • list of colleges that miscalculated yield
12

That’s not the issue. We all agree that paying off this amount of debt will be extraordinarily difficult, not not impossible.

The question you haven’t answered, though, is where this money is going to come from in the first place. In other words, WHO is going to borrow the money (you or your parents?) and FROM WHOM are you going to borrow it???

That’s the part that we’re all questioning as impossible. You cannot borrow $30k on your own. You can’t. Period. Impossible. So here are your options:

(1) Someone with good credit cosigns the loan for you. That means they guarantee that if you don’t pay back the loan, they will. Your parents could do this, a relative could do this, a family friend could do it, or a total stranger - doesn’t matter who it is, but someone needs to cosign.

(2) Your parents borrow the money. They either take out a parent PLUS loan, or they deal with a private lender, such as their bank.

Those are your only two options.

But wait, there’s another problem! You’ll have to repeat this process three more times - for each additional year of school. And just because your parents qualify for a $30k loan the first year doesn’t mean they’ll qualify the year after. You see, every time they borrow another $30k, the more they owe. And the more they owe, the less likely they are to get approved for another loan. So, at some point, the money runs out. No more loans.

And then you have no options. You have NO WAY to pay for your remaining year(s) of college, and your parents are in debt for $30k, or $60k, or $90k . . . and that money needs to be paid back, whether you finish college or not. So their lives are ruined . . . and yours, too.

So that’s why we keep asking: how are you going to borrow the money???

13

OP, please follow the advice you are getting here. Find a different school that is affordable. If you don’t, your 25 year-old self is going to hate your 17/18 year-old self.

14

<<<<the May 1st deadline has passed. How can I simply not attend now?


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Soooooooo what! The May 1st deadline isn’t a do or die promise. Tons of kids back out after May 1st. The school can’t require you to attend.

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Community college just isn’t an option. I set high goals for myself, this was one of them. Now all I want to know is when you said this isn’t “doable”, does that mean I literally CANNOT do it or does it simply mean it will be hard.


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Who is going to lend you that much money? a bank?? no. Are your parents naive enough to cosign and qualify???

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Personally 1k a month seems pretty low in my eyes. After college I could be supported by my family (Live at home, free meals, clothes, room, etc.) and still work my job (Whatever it may be). I could fully dedicate myself to paying off this debt which my parents agreed to help with even after college until it is fully paid off.
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Are you kidding? Once you graduate, WHO KNOWS where your job will be. It could be 100 miles away or more.

You could also be in a serious relationship and not want to be living at home.

15

How much would it cost to commute to a community college for 2 years? If you can pay that with the federal student loan (~$5500/year), would your parents save the $11k they were willing to spend? You could probably save $6k by working summers or part-time during the year. As a junior and senior you can borrow $7500/year. That would give you $11k x 2 = $22k (from your parents) + $6k (work earnings) = $28k. If you divide that by 2 you get $14k/year; added to the $11k your parents can pay/year + the $7500/year federal student loan you can get as a junior and senior and you have ~$32k/year you can spend per year for your junior and senior year. You could have a degree from a 4-year college but your total debt would still only be $27k (the amount of your federal student loans).

16

You have deposit at PSU. so that is there no matter what. It is very expensive, so keep an open mind and see what schools are on the list friday. there may be a great solution! Just give it a chance.

You can only borrow $5500 in year 1. That is why ppl are saying impossible. Your parents would need to qualify for the rest.

Lots of kids forfeit their deposit and go somewhere else. Maybe they get off a waitlist. Maybe they get better financial aid. It’s normal.

Please say you will look on friday, ok?

17

Your parents will spend $11k per year.

How much would it cost for you to go to Seton Hall

BTW…who cares that your relatives are excited for you to go to PSU…they aren’t paying and they won’t be making loan payments.


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My gpa is like a 3.3 but I had a rough freshman year, the last two years have been around a 3.5. My SAT was a 1760 superscored and 1730 not. Since these are all not affordable, what is my best option to make them more affordable? Apply for more g…

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And you’re undecided about major or career goal, but you want to earn a lot of money. Well…

18

You’ll be undecided because you have no idea what you want to do and you’ll end up with $150,000 in debt. Dude, this whole situation sounds borderline disasterous…
If you are 100% set on not doing a gap year or community college, you could go into the military for 4 years and then attend PSU, having your college expenses paid for that way. You did mention that you are interested in ROTC, so you probably won’t be miserable if choose the military route.

19

All that happens is that you lose your deposit. Lots of students end up not attending where they deposited for various reasons – it even has a name (“summer melt”). Your plan is completely, totally nuts. You will look back in several years and wonder how you could have been so ridiculous to think that you HAD to stay on this path when other options are open. Do NOT let your pride ruin your finances for the next 20 years of your life.

If you are thinking your parents will borrow for you, really? Do you want to put their retirement at risk if something happen and you can’t help pay the loans back? It is really very selfish to stick with this plan – hard on your parents, hard on your future family if you have to suck up over $12,000 per year of income for this for many years. (and that is AFTER TAX payments – you may think a salary you plan on getting sounds like plenty, but you are forgetting all the withholdings that occur). Adding in that you likely will have trouble getting started saving for your own retirement if you do this.

So to recap, you have options:

  • Look at the list of colleges about to be published and apply to some that may offer you FA. You can just lose the deposit at PSU if you decide to attend one of them instead.
  • Rethink your prideful stance on community college. You won’t be proud of the debt if you do manage to borrow enough to get through.
  • Go off to PSU. Drop out after one semester because you can’t pay the bills for 2nd semester. Start over trying to be a transfer student when the odds of decent FA or merit aid are very low, because transfers don’t get good aid. (this is the worst option)
  • Take a gap year. Work to earn money, and apply to schools with more reasonable prices the next time around.
20

OP please re-read this:

“Go off to PSU. Drop out after one semester because you can’t pay the bills for 2nd semester. Start over trying to be a transfer student when the odds of decent FA or merit aid are very low, because transfers don’t get good aid. (this is the worst option”

Dear friends of ours were thrilled when their younger son got into a private Catholic college in NYC. Their older son was not a great student but the younger one, well, they all had put their dreams for him. He did not have help navigating the financial aid system bc his parents had not gone to college. After he enrolled they were still trying to figure out how this whole thing worked. They were willing to borrow fro banks to supplement his subsidized loans but they were putting their house on the line. He had to drop out after one semester.

The worst was yet to come: since he owed the school money, he could not get his transcript released in order to apply anywhere else. So he has been stuck at a dead end job for four years paying back thousands of dollars for one semester at a school where he did not even get a degree. His college buddies graduated last May.