<p>3)Caps the amount of need-based loans offered to any student at approximately 25 percent of U.Va.s in-state cost of attendance over four years, and will meet all need above that amount with grants. All students, regardless of state residency, will receive the in-state cap level.
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<p>So, approximating UVA's in-state cost of attendance at $20K per year, that means that a student will graduate with 25% of $80K, or $20,000, in loans? Somehow that isn't as impressive as the initial impression I had gotten...</p>
<p>I’m an AccessUVA student and I think the plan is pretty good, especially for a state school and when you consider COA increases of at least 10% a year for the foreseeable future. What’s with the entitled attitude?</p>
<p>I was an OOS Access UVA recipient with a low EFC (approx 4-5k). They base COA on tuition plus room and board, and for OOS that was approx. 34k now (several thousand higher now). Based on my need, I received enough in grants to cover the full cost of tuition (approx. 26k at the time) and was offered work study and stafford loans to cover the rest. The awesome part for me, however, was that I did not live on grounds (2nd year transfer) so it was not <em>necessary</em> for me to accept the stafford loans or the work study. I lived in an affordable apartment, worked here and there and used savings or some help from family to cover my living expenses. I left UVA with some debt, but that was primarily because I chose to take a slew of summer session courses and a study-abroad j-term course for which financial aid is not as plentiful. </p>
<p>All in all, it really depends on your situation. You may leave UVA with 0 debt/loans or you may leave with 20k in loans. Over a 10 year repayment schedule, that’s about $200/month. It’s a burden, but it’s not crippling.</p>
<p>Oh, and PS…I know plenty of kids who can’t get an in-state education at a 4-year school for $20k. I have friends (here in PA) that lived at home, worked full-time jobs while in school – a state school – and graduated with 25-30k in loans.</p>
<p>I was just surprised because I had heard that AccessUVA was some wonderful, top-notch aid program, when in reality, a student who can’t pay full freight will graduate with $20,000 in debt, which is roughly the national average, from what I’ve heard. I’m not saying it’s a bad program, but simply that it isn’t as awe-inspiring as I had made it out to be.</p>
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<p>Lol, you guys don’t even understand my complaint. If I were to attend UVA, I (my family) would be paying tens of thousands of dollars in tuition per year, according to whatever UVA felt we could afford, and I would graduate with $20,000 in debt, on top of that. Not exactly a bargain.</p>
<p>As for wahoogrl, I appreciate your more constructive post. Of course I’m still considering UVA, but things are just different now. I think that my EFC is relatively high (upper-middle class family), so I’m just afraid of that much debt after graduating. Time will tell…</p>
<p>My family will most certainly be able to contribute significantly to the COA, but by no means will we be able to cover everything (I don’t yet know our exact EFC). So, UVA will meet us most of the way with scholarship grants, except for an amount equivalent to “approximately 25 percent of U.Va.’s in-state cost of attendance over four years,” which will be covered in loans. So, we’ll be paying our EFC, and then $20,000 in loans on top of that after I graduate.</p>
<p>Again, I’m not trying to say that this aid commitment is a bad program. In fact, it’s better than a lot of financial aid programs at other schools I’m applying to. I just had the impression that it would be even better still.</p>
<p>You have to understand that while this program tries to offer something to everyone, that it is meant ideally to assist students with the greatest need as their families are UNABLE to help finance the education.</p>
<p>To many low-income, out-of-state (or even in-state) students, this program opens up doors for them as they may be able to attend UVA at a 4-year comparable rate to many other state-schools (even if that school is in their home state for OOS) and yet provide a superior education. For me, I would have never been able to consider UVA with out it no matter how much I loved the school.</p>
<p>PS: Don’t forget about the education tax credits you will be eligible for. You’ll get tax credits for your courses and that translates into money saved!</p>
<p>Why not accept the work study? Work study most of the time is free money, except for the rare times that you actually have to do work.</p>
<p>Food service and retail: bending over backwards cleaning everything and constantly being multitasked to do stuff, nonstop for amazingly long work shifts </p>
<p>Work study: I can do my lab report and read my textbook except for the occasional times I actually have to do something.</p>
<p>Part of this is because the federal government like pays 67% of your paycheck. So if your workstudy position is 9 dollars an hour, the federal govt chips in 6 dollars, so your employer only has to pay 3 dollars an hour.</p>
<p>The best part is that you can work graveyard shifts (for positions that have them) to accommodate your schedule, even for those who take like 22 credits a semester. Weren’t you going to pull an all-nighter anyway, studying for the exam? Well pull one being a “Research Assistant” at the Hospital from 11 pm to 7 am, where you’ll basically be sitting behind a desk studying (or writing that paper) 75% of the time. Bling! a) You just crushed that exam. b) You’re 72 dollars richer</p>
<p>(Also, I’m in “danger” of not hitting my loan cap by around 8k, just because this year’s aid has been so generous.)</p>
<p>I chose not to since I accepted off-grounds employment that both paid better and gave me a lot of flexibility. Not saying that work study isn’t a great option for some people, but at that time, it wasn’t necessary for me.</p>