<p>I recently visited Rice and fell in love with it. However, I'm almost positive that my family would be expected to pay the full almost-50k. I do have a bit of an unusual circumstance because my dad went back to school a few years ago and our income dropped dramatically during that time period. He's out of school and working again now, and based on our past tax return or whatever it is they look at, we would almost definitely not qualify for any financial aid... but my family is still struggling to keep up with bills and my dad's student loans because everything was messed up while he was in school. So, is there a chance that Rice (or any college for that matter) would consider this when determining my family's expected contribution, even if our income is high now? </p>
<p>In the information session, they said that loans are capped at $2,500 per year. In theory, that sounds great, but what happens if you're expected to pay full tuition but realistically cannot? Would you not be able to take out any other loans? Assuming my parents paid about 15 grand a year, there's no way I'd be able to make over 30 grand a year if I worked. I really don't want to cause my parents this much stress, especially since I have two younger siblings who are going to be going through the same thing soon enough. Are loans always capped at $2,500 or is that just when you're under a financial aid contract or something? I've tried figuring it out from the website but it's a little confusing, sorry!</p>