<p>So NYU wants my mom to take out 20k in PLUS loans, problem is she might not qualify due to bad credit history. What happens now?</p>
<p>Also, assuming she gets the loan, I might get a graduation present from my aunt for a ton of money (tens of thousands). Can I give that to my mom to pay of the loan for 1 year all at once? Would that be a problem, because if it weren't for that we would have to wait until she got a job to start paying.</p>
<p>If you get “tens of thousands” from your aunt this June, why would your mom have to take out a loan this year? Why not just directly use that money to pay your tuition this year.</p>
<p>That said, you can’t afford NYU. It’s ridiculous to think that in the future years your mom would be able to get such loans and also pay them back.</p>
<p>If your aunt is so rich, why not ask her to pay for NYU. Otherwise, you’re going to find yourself transferring out after the first year or so. Your mom might get a loan one year, but she won’t likely after that.</p>
<p>This may sound stupid…but did you have to apply for a PLUS loan, besides filling out the FAFSA form?..im so confused with how this whole thing works…i filled out my FAFSA form but on my netPartner account it says they did not recieve “Diresct subsized stafford prom not”…etc…what does that mean? I cant call the office cuz theire closed so i need helppp! ahhh</p>
<p>Only parents can apply for a Plus loan if you’re under 24.</p>
<p>okay but students have to apply for the other loans? If i just appplied for FAFSA, can i still get loans?</p>
<p>You have to fill out a promissory note and take a short online loan counseling program in order to get the loans.</p>
<p>miishal, Garda is right and somewhere in your school’s FA award enclosures, or on their website, there will be an explanation of your school’s procedure. If you can’t find it, search their website for MPN (master promissory note).</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Isn’t the Master Promissory note on the Gov’t student aid website?</p>
<p><a href=“Federal Student Aid”>Federal Student Aid;
<p>The school may provide a link to that, but the search should also come up with their procedure. All first time borrowers have to take the online course before signing the eMPN and the school has to have a record of that so I think it’s probably best to do everything through their website.</p>
<p>Do whatever you can to avoid the PLUS loan - it’s an, ahem, ‘bear’ (I was going to use another “b” word) - 8 point something interest rate, payable over 10 years - 4% fee charged by Uncle Sam to originate the loan. </p>
<p>Pin down what your grandparents are willing to do.</p>
<p>One caution - if you received other, need-based financial aid, your grandparents resources probably have to be accounted for. (The PLUS loan is not need-based financial aid - it’s a “gap” solution for your unmet need.)</p>
<ul>
<li>Andy Lockwood</li>
</ul>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>Where does he mention that he has grandparents that are willing to help pay? </p>
<p>The OP mentions that his aunt may give him a generous graduating gift of money. I would be surprised that any aunt would give “tens of thousands” for graduating from high school, but if she’s willing and able to do so, that would suggest that she might help with college costs overall.</p>
<p>But, that said, NYU is not likely do-able. Unless the aunt is Bill Gate’s wife, she’s not likely going to be giving you $80k for your NYU shortfall for 4 years. And, your mom can’t afford the Plus loans and won’t likely qualify.</p>
<p>You’re better off taking whatever money your aunt gives you (especially if it’s a one-time only monetary gift) and use it towards a less expensive school. Otherwise, you’ll blow it on the first year at NYU, and then have to transfer out for years 2, 3, and 4 because you won’t have the money for those years.</p>
<p>If your Aunt is willing to give you “a ton of money (tens of thousands)”, I would ask her to give 1/4 of it each year directly to the college that you are going to attend. The college will not care who makes the payment and it can be used to pay your mother’s portion of the EFC.</p>
<p>Your Aunt is not required to report a gift paid to a college on your behalf. How you want to handle the reporting of this money on your taxes/FAFSA is up to you. However it is unlikely that a gift from your Aunt paid directly to the college on your behalf will be something either FAFSA or the IRS will even know about unless YOU report it. I think it is understandable that a student just getting started in college might not know that a tuition gift from an Aunt paid directly to the college would be something that needs to be reported. Just my opinion…</p>
<p>I think it would need to be reported.</p>
<p>But, in any case, I have strong doubts that any aunt is going to give a student “tens of thousands” simply for graduating from high school. My sister’s h has a very rich aunt, and she gave my nephew $5000 for graduating from high school - and that is a huge amount for an aunt (or anyone!) to give for a high school graduation. I can’t imagine an aunt giving “tens of thousands” - that would be at least $20k.</p>
<p>^^^
You are suggesting that the OP is lying about what their Aunt is actually willing to contribute? I’ll assume they are being truthful and limit my advice to the best way of using such a generous sum of money. Of course if the OP wants our opinion on whether “any aunt is going to give a student “tens of thousands” simply for graduating from high school”, they will already have yours.</p>
<p>A huge amount of money is always relative.</p>
<p>The OP has TWO problems – the first one is that mom has a bad credit rating and may not be approved for a loan. </p>
<p>That’s a problem but it is the smaller of the two. The other, much huger, problem is this: how is mother going to pay back the $20K??? If this is the student’s freshman year, we can expect poor ol’ mom to be hit with another 20K in loans for sophomore, junior and senior year, leaving mom with $80K in debt PLUS INTEREST. Mom may loose her home, her car, her savings . . .</p>
<p>It may be that this family cannot afford for the student to attend NYU. Unless mom has 1) a new and fabulous paying job or 2) a big inheritance coming, this looks like disaster. </p>
<p>There’s a reason people have to be approved for loans. It keeps people from getting into a debt load that they have no hope of handling.</p>
<p>*
You are suggesting that the OP is lying about what their Aunt is actually willing to contribute?*</p>
<p>No, I’m not suggesting that the OP is lying. I’m only questioning whether such an expectation is reasonable. I’m also not sure if there might be a tax liability if an aunt were to give that much. And, such a gift may hurt aid for the following year, causing a bigger gap!</p>
<p>We’ve had kids on CC before that have had high expectations of how much their parents will pay, how high their next SAT score will be, etc. These kids aren’t lying. They may just be letting their hopes get in the way of a realistic expectation.</p>
<p>That said, I was the one that said that if the aunt is THAT wealthy and willing to give $20k+ as a high school grad gift, then perhaps the student should find out if she would be willing to pay for his college education. To me, someone who is willing to give “tens of thousands” for a high school graduation would be someone who must think college is even more important and therefore financially worthwhile.</p>
<p>The aunt may not be willing to pay $80k for the annual NYU shortfall, but she might be willing to pay the difference at a SUNY or something. </p>
<p>NYU is not affordable at this point.</p>
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</p>
<p>This should be the name of this forum. It seems like a good 80% of threads on the Financial Aid and Scholarships forum that mention NYU can be neatly answered.</p>
<p>^^^</p>
<p>True…</p>
<p>I would love to see an honest breakdown of who goes to NYU. I suspect it’s a lot of affluent students whose parents can pay a lot, and some unfortunate students (and parents) who will be drowning in debt.</p>
<p>Oly is quite right, in my opinion. Though I know too many folks who qualify for a Parent’s loan when they really can’t afford to pay it back, so the second issue is probably more relevant. I also see lots of kids getting loans, some of them with high interest, and they are going to be hard pressed to repay them, if that is even possible.</p>
<p>The aunt may or may not end up giving tens of thousands of dollars. The old “bird in the bush” adage is relevant here, and that bird could be gone in 4 years. Much can happen. Four years ago, some parents had enough money in accounts that they thought they could swing some payments that are now not possible with the way the market has gone. Can’t count on future promises, especially those of some one else. Maybe the aunt will be willing to lend the money to the student and “gift” it at graduation. That could solve the problem.</p>
<p>I know some kids who do go to NYU who got excellent financial aid packages. They are middle class kids who got merit within need awards. In some cases, NYU offered the best deal. But I also know far more who were terribly gapped. NYU makes no claim to meet 100% of need. And merit only awards do not tend to be that large, from what I can see. Some kids who got merit money only got a few thousand which is a drop in the bucket towards NYU costs. If there are any large merit awards, they are not plentiful and are difficult to get. Even the merit with aid awards that are generous are reserved for the top applicants.</p>
<p>And yes, I know a lot of students and parents drowning in debt from NYU loans.</p>