I agree with @blossom. No knowledgeable NYer would go into that kind of debt for Hofstra (no offense), nor would we understand anyone else doing it either.
I have no doubt many families are choosing to put themselves and their students into crazy debt to attend their chosen college. But just because others are being financially imprudent, doesn’t mean you need to follow their lead, OP.
Will the two children overlap for a year or two? Because if your income and assets (mainly income) are too high for FA, even with two in college at the same time, yet you are unable to contribute more than $7-$8,000/year per kid, I’d be concerned that you may already be carrying a lot of debt, which means that you might not be able to qualify to borrow $20,000 per year for the next 4 years for her.
And I hate to pile on, but we didn’t seriously consider Hofstra for my very average stats kid (way lower than your D) because the quality of the education and experience did not justify the cost, even with significant merit. It’s a decent school, but there are so many other good options at that price point, especially for a kid with stats like your D’s.
@blossom
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This is for Hofstra?
OP- I live in the NY metro area. I do not know ANYONE who borrows for Hofstra. Either a kid lives at home and commutes, OR the family pays full freight and basically can afford to write the checks.
Seriously. There are less expensive options in the region like Baruch, Queens College, Brooklyn, Macauley which are commutable for a pretty vast number of college students. For dorming there is Stonybrook and Binghamton. Kids get merit aid at Fordham.
All of these colleges have stronger academic reputations than Hofstra-- at least in the NY metro area which is Hofstra’s home base.
You need to rethink this. The kids I know at Hofstra now are good, solid B students (maybe with a C or two) whose parents don’t want them too far away for various reason. Your D can surely find a better academic fit with her stats, and for SURE a better financial deal.
I assumed you were borrowing 80K for Cal Tech or U Chicago.
But Hofstra?
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Lol…I was wondering why you were singing the praises of loans earlier. Always read the fine print. 
What is an equiv school to Hofstra in Texas for such a student shut out of top 7% for UT? Why wouldn’t UA et al be on the table if Hofstra was? Kid must be stem bound if she applied to CSE at Uminn.
What other schools are on the table? Is it too late for UTDallas and their merit?
Is she a NMF??
Depending on her major and career goal… then UAB and UAH would still award her lots of merit . UAH if eng’g would work. UAB if some sort of pre-health.
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What is an equiv school to Hofstra in Texas for such a student shut out of top 7% for UT? Why wouldn’t UA et al be on the table if Hofstra was? Kid must be stem bound if she applied to CSE at Uminn.
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UT and TAMU are certainly above Hofstra. UT-Dallas is at least as good as Hofstra, if not better.
did we hear why TAMU wasn’t considered?
In another thread, the mom wonders about the student becoming an RA. Unless the school puts in writing that the student will be given an RA position for the following school years, they cannot count on that at all.
I don’t know enough about the nuances re major but this student had to get merit at A&M and UTD.
^^^
If she applied.
I wonder if the parents have considered whether they will QUALIFY to cosign all of these loans EACH year? They may qualify the first year, but once THAT debt is figured into their dropping FICO score, will they get denied during a later year? Will a parent losing a job mean that qualifying as cosigners be impossible?
I think the OP has left already.
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Maybe, but she’s been back a few hours after posting that.
Hofstra room and board is $16,790, wow.
Wait, this is for a school like Hofstra?!!! Imagine a sort of Texas State at best. Taking on debt for Hofstra when many schools in the area are much better makes even less sense. The degree is not very valuable. At all. I mean, Hofstra is basically for local kids who don’t want to attend a midtier SUNY and would rather commute, or really rich kids from New Jersey who couldn’t get into any other college.
With your daughter 's stats, plenty of excellent colleges would welcome her with open arms and wouldn’t require this level of debt.
Additionally, I’d say parent PLUS loans are better in my opinion : they can’t come after you if your child dies, the qualifying terms are easier so you’re more likely to qualify all four years*, and at least the terms are clear that you’re on the hook if your child can’t pay.
What are your child’s choices?
If none are palatable and affordable, would you be willing to grant her a gap year? People here are knowledgeable and will help you and her build a good list of schools that appeal to her and are affordable. With her excellent stats, there will be lots of possibilities.
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Yes, for Hofstra! The family isn’t from the NE, so they don’t seem to have any idea that the Hofstra is a no-big-deal school and full of average students. The DD probably just thinks…ooh…it’s private and I get to be in the NYC area.
A common problem with big student loan debt is that young kids think that they will GET all of their salary. They have no concept that a big chunk of income will go to taxes, FICA, health insurance, cell phone, rent, food, utilities, car, car insurance, repairs, etc.
If older brother borrowed a good bit, and maybe that included professional school, she may be seeing that he’s able to make large payments, but his career may be a high paying position.
Hm, this student definitely needs to use the “Nacac list” (list of colleges that miscalculated yield published around May 5th). There’ll be several colleges that are BOTH better than Hofstra and less expensive… while being OOS.
OP here:
Our DD backed us into a corner, she did not apply (against our better judgement and advice) to schools where she would pick up a lot of funding.
We started to cave when we realized the only options she left us were way more than we could reasonably afford.
Then we came to our senses.
When we started this process we made it clear we would not co-sign or take out huge parent loans. We spelled out what we were willing to spend. (would have covered a decent state school with her taking on a small portion). We have repeated our stance over and over the past two years, but heavily the past 8 months during the application process.
I admit, we let our emotions get the best of us and we waffled - I get that, she played us and our emotions and we started to buckle.
BUT, we got our senses back and have informed DD that we DO NOT support her decision to attempt to borrow a very large sum of money for ANY school, especially Hofstra although we stand by “any school” its just not worth it and some are worth more than others.
She had a lot of options here in Texas that she refused to consider so now, following her parents regaining their common sense she is in a pickle. We had a family meeting and popped her bubble.
She has a couple of options: Take a Gap year and reapply to places that are affordable, attend a CC for two years or find herself a sugar family who is willing to put their necks into a financial noose for her to go off and have her “experience” or go to work and reevaluate her priorities.
She is currently pouting and licking her wounds but I am confident that she will come around in a few days. I’d rather her be really mad at us now than in 5-6 years when all those loans come due and she cannot pay them and she wonders why we didn’t stop her.
Thank you for all the advice and suggestions - I did a ton of research, I read all your suggestions and advice, I spoke with hubby and family members and we all decided that the huge debt she thinks she can handle was not something any of us were willing to contribute to helping her achieve.
Thank you
Great choice!! Good luck to your d.
If she does decide to take a gap year, her stats would likely make her eligible for full tuition at University of Texas at Dallas. Unfortunately, the deadline for scholarship consideration was March 31.
Good news!
I’m hesitant to recommend a gap year because that may end up being one more year of listening to her whine that you’ve ruined her life.
I’m thinking it might be better to find her an affordable place soon, so she can move on with her life and embrace her new path.
What is her major and career goal?
There are still schools accepting apps AND awarding large merit.
How do you find a list of those still accepting? I’d love to give her alternatives