<p>My parents are in a lot of credit card debt (about $45,000). Could this be something we should bring up to financial aid counselors? They obviously would not know this otherwise because the FAFSA and CSS Profile do not ask about debt. Or would this not matter because the schools will not take into consideratIon any debt?</p>
<p>Or would this not matter because the schools will not take into consideratIon any debt?</p>
<p>Debt is generallY viewed as a personal choice & schools won’t increase aid to cover high spending.</p>
<p>My #1 school is Northeastern University and I Have been accepted and after financial aid I need to pay $36,000/year. </p>
<p>My #2 school is Boston University. I have not heard about my admission but I believe I will get accepted and get about the same aid as NEU. </p>
<p>My #3 school is Suffolk University. This was a safety school For me and I really thought I would get more aid than I did, especially because I got into the honors program. The cost for this school is $29,000/year. </p>
<p>There are a few other schools which I have pretty much ruled out and don’t actually know why I even applied to them. One which was a safety is going to cost about $34,000/year after aid. Basically, we are receiving , much less aid than I was planning on, unfortunately. </p>
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<p>How much can your parents pay each year? I hate to ask this since generally people with a lot of debt don’t have much money to put towards college (otherwise they’d use it to pay off debt).</p>
<p>What will you do if none of these schools are affordable?</p>
<p>I hope that younger students who read this thread realize the importance of applying to a financial safety school where they know FOR SURE how much merit aid or financial aid they’ll be getting.</p>
<p>Consumer credit card debt is not taken into consideration in most cases. The exception MIGHT be if you had to use credit cards to pay your essential bills due to a significant issue like loss of income, or high unreimbursed medical expenses.</p>
<p>I thought I had 3 financial safety’s: Suffolk university, pace university, and the university of Vermont. </p>
<p>With all three being not too difficult to get into, and my assumption that I could probably get into the honors college/program at all three, I thought this wasn’t too much of a stretch. </p>
<p>Suffolk gave 15,000/year in merit but then decided that’d be enough aid so gave no other need based aid on top of it. </p>
<p>Pace did the exact same thing but gave 19,000/year. In both cases, the total COA is 29,000 and 34,000 respectively. </p>
<p>UNH, considering the financial difficulty the state of NH is apparently in, has no money to be given out anywhere. I received an honkrs merit scholarship and presidential scholarship, both when added together total 4,000/year. I have not received any need based aid yet, but I cannot imagine it will be much. </p>
<p>I figure I’m just SOL and hoping something will turn around to work in our favor.</p>
<p>There is a reason FAFSA and Profile don’t ask about consumer debt. Using credit cards, buying cars, vacations, etc, are all ways to spend that you choose. The schools expect parents to have at least tried to save, or be responsible with what little money they do have if they don’t have enough to save for school. I hope you can find an affordable school that will work for you.</p>
<p>Is it University of Vermont, or UNH? Or did you apply to both? Are you in New Hampshire? Could you attend UNH if it is your state school, and live at home?</p>
<p>Are you an instate student at ANY of the public universities to which you applied? Very often, out of state students do not see significant aid from public universities. </p>
<p>What was your family EFC per the FAFSA? It is very possible that the merit scholarships reduced your need to a point where the school didn’t have more money to give to you. </p>
<p>None of these schools guarantee to
Meet the full need of all accepted students.</p>
<p>Oops, I did apply to both UNH and UVM, but UNH was supposed to be the financial safety</p>