Now that acceptances are rolling in for our two seniors (aviator and musician), I need to help figure out how they are going to pay for their tuition. We aren’t in a position to pay for more than housing (maybe) since we will have 4 in college and my hubby is disabled. Our EFC is low ($2,100) but not much in financial aid so far.
So two questions
When should our two seniors start applying for student loans to see if they can get them? I doubt that my hubby or I can co-sign (our credit isn’t good from 3 brain surgeries that my hubby had) - but my elderly mother (with assets) can co-sign. Should they start applying now to test the waters? My mother doesn’t want to fund their college as she knows that my hubby and I will likely need the $$ more than they will in the future (I’ve also have had cancer twice) but I would hope that her assets would be enough for her to co-sign…any thoughts on that?
Regarding the Parent Plus loan (we don’t plan to use them) - I understand if we apply and are rejected then our kids can get more in subsized loans. What are the chances that we will be rejected? (we have tons of medical bills and have thought about applying for bankruptcy but for now we just avoid the collection calls. (don’t get me started on how bad the healthcare insurance system is in the U.S.).
Thanks for your help on this.
Our kids are trying to minimize debt - but some is inevitable. The good news is that our aviator is pretty much guaranteed a good paying pilot job with a signing bonus after college, although the cost of college and flight training is not cheap in the meantime ($100k over 4 years is likely). Musician is on the scholarship audition trail - and is more reticent to take on a lot of debt.
They will get the $5,500 federal sub/unsub loan without needing to plan ahead (it’s applied for through the school). Any additional loans they need won’t need to be applied for too much in advance - the approval process is pretty quick.
Your kids will each be eligible for the standard student loans ($5,500 freshman year, $6,500 sophomore year, $7,500 junior year, and $7,500 senior year). Those should be in their aid packages. No need to do anything about the loans just yet. Follow the instructions from the financial aid offices.
If a parent applies for a PLUS loan, and is denied, the student can borrow $4000 more.
Do not ask grandma to cosign. If anything happens that will make it impossible for the kid to pay back the loan, grandma will have to pay it off.
It looks like the aid packages so far are unaffordable. Your kids might want to think about gap years to reconstruct their application lists.
The best aid comes from colleges. Students shouldn’t take more than the federal student loans (~$27k total over 4 years). It sounds like they need a list of less expensive schools. Did they apply to any financial safeties? How old are the other 2 children? Will they overlap in college at all?
I’m interested in knowing what kind of “good paying” pilot jobs are out there for a newly trained pilot with minimal flight hours. I guess it depends on your own definition of “good paying,” but by my definition, it typically takes years of flying and thousands of flight hours before the pay becomes substantial.
I disagree with this statement in general. This cap hasn’t gone up in many years but the cost of attendance has. I think one has to do the actual calculation from among the available options. For many students it is simply not possible to attend college within this limit. Depending on the field of study and the potential for a lucrative professional life, it certainly makes sense for some to borrow well above this limit. The decision needs to be made in the context of the ability to pay back the loan with the after college salary, versus the option of not going to college, or going to a community college or vocational training and living with a lower salary.
For anyone else reading this thread…the time to crunch the numbers is BEFORE applications are sent. Not after. What happens if all of acceptances are unaffordable?
Did you use the net price calculators at least? This would give you a decent estimate of your net costs for each student at each college. Some NPC do not include merit money…and for your musician that merit will be based on the strength of his audition relative to others auditioning on the same instrument.
@ClassicRockerDad these KIDS can’t borrow all that money in their names only…and this family has a lot of kids who will be in college at the same time. The parents would be on the line as either co-signers or taking out loans in excess of the federally funded Direct Loan. That might be possible for the parents…and it might not be.
If your mother doesn’t want to pay for your children’s college educations please don’t ask her to cosign hundreds of thousands of dollars in loans. If your children can’t pay then your mother will be expected to, and these loans can’t be discharged in bankruptcy.
I’m sorry your family is struggling, but allowing your children to take on enormous debt when you’re in no position to help them isn’t wise. If your mom cosigns loans but passes away before the children graduate where will the money come from to pay the rest of their college costs? You don’t want them to end up with 6-figure debt and no degree.
I don’t think the road to being a pilot requires an expensive school. My son’s friend is doing it. He took flight lessons and is getting hours in training other people. The path he described to me didn’t involve college at all. It does involve getting lots of flight hours in.
I think you need to find affordable options for all 4 years. If that means taking a gap year and applying to a new list that’s what I’d do. Are their stats high enough for merit? Can they commute anywhere?
If this is the route you have to take (and it’s risky to burden your kids with such debt), then you need your mom to explore that now. Ive recently heard that some banks will not accept an elderly cosigner because they fear that the cosigner (guarantor) will die before the debt is paid…and if that were to happen, they would insist that the balance be immediately paid in full (because the guarantor would no longer exist).
And…you don’t know how this will all turn out. Your mom may be approved for a year or two, but then declined. Or she may be approved for 2 kids, but not 3 or 4…since all that debt would still be outstanding and hurting her credit rating. She may have assets, but unless she has a $300k+ annual income, her debt ratios would become too big and she’d be declined.
I think it’s better for you to find cheaper schools for your kids.
What state do you live in? Some states like Florida have good affordable instate public options.
With a FAFSA EFC of $2,000 they would get a Pell Grant of about $4,000, their student loan of $5,500 and they can work in the summer to earn maybe $3,000.
Are there any schools that are affordable with that budget of about $12,500?
Can they commute to a school?
Did they apply to schools where they could get full tuition with their stats?
As for the medical bills, it sounds like you have a big family and low income. Does the hospital have program for payment assistance that you could qualify for?